When someone nearby searches "plumber near me" or "house cleaning" on their phone, Google shows a map with a handful of businesses. If yours isn't one of them, that customer calls someone else. The good news: getting on Google Maps is free, and you control it through your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business).
This guide walks you through creating or claiming your profile, getting it verified, and checking the usual suspects when your business still won't show up. Everything here is based on Google's official Business Profile help documentation, linked at the end.
First: is your business eligible?
Google allows a Business Profile for businesses that have a location customers can visit or that travel to customers (think cleaning, plumbing, landscaping, or remodeling). According to Google's guidelines:
- P.O. boxes and virtual offices aren't allowed. If you only rent a mailing address, that address isn't eligible.
- A co-working space only qualifies if your office has clear signage, receives customers, and is staffed by your team during business hours.
- There should be only one profile per business. Duplicates cause problems on Maps and Search.
If you go to your customers: service-area businesses
If you work from home and travel to customers (like most contractors and cleaning companies), you're a service-area business. Google asks you to hide your address and list the areas you serve instead:
- You can add up to 20 service areas (cities, ZIP codes, or other areas).
- Your overall area shouldn't extend beyond about 2 hours of driving time from where you're based.
- You can no longer set a service area as a radius; it's done by city or ZIP code.
If you also have a storefront with signage where you serve customers, you're a hybrid business: you can show your address and set a service area.
Step 1: Check whether your business is already on Google
Your business may already be on Maps even if you never created it (customers or public data sometimes add it). Search Google Maps for your business name and city.
- If it shows up with "Own this business?" or "Claim this business," select it, then "Manage now," and follow the steps.
- If someone else already verified it (a former employee or a past agency, for example), you can request ownership from the current owner.
- If it doesn't show up at all, add it (Step 2).
You can do this on your phone too: in the Google Maps app, search for your business, open its listing, and look for the option to claim it.
Step 2: Create your Business Profile
- Go to business.google.com/add (works on desktop or your phone's browser) and sign in with a Google Account. A Gmail address works, and so does an account created with your business email.
- Enter your real business name, exactly as it appears on your signage, invoices, or website.
- Pick the most specific primary category you can (for example, "House cleaning service" rather than just "Service").
- Say whether customers visit you, you visit them, or both.
- Add your phone number and website.
- Choose a verification option and follow the on-screen steps.
The most common mistake: keywords in your business name
It's tempting to name your profile "Garcia Plumbing – 24 Hour Emergency Plumber Houston TX." Don't. Google's guidelines prohibit adding taglines, services, locations, hours, or phone numbers that aren't part of your real-world name, and they warn that doing so can get your profile suspended. Services, areas, and hours belong in their own fields.
Step 3: Get verified
An unverified profile is less likely to show up, and you can't fully manage it. Google automatically decides which verification methods you get based on your business type, region, and public information, and you can't change them. Common options include:
- Phone call or text with a code. Heads up: if your line uses an automated phone menu (IVR), the code won't get through.
- Email.
- Recorded video or a live video call, where you show your location, branded equipment or vehicles, and proof that you manage the business. Google recommends video when it's available.
- Postcard by mail. Most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30 days. While you wait, don't edit your name, address, or category, and don't request a new code, or the one in the mail stops working.
After you finish, Google reviews your information. Per its help center, the review can take up to 5 business days. One useful detail: if you've already verified your website in Google Search Console, verification can sometimes be instant.
Why your business isn't showing on Google Maps
If you've done all of the above and still can't find yourself, work through these causes, from simplest to most serious: the profile isn't verified yet, you recently changed your name, address, or category, you're searching too broadly, your information is incomplete or inconsistent, there's a duplicate profile, or the profile was suspended.
1. Your profile isn't verified yet
If the "Get verified" button shows up on your profile again, Google couldn't complete verification. Try again, or try another method if more than one is offered.
2. You recently changed key details
Editing your name, address, or category can trigger re-verification. Service-area edits can take up to 48 hours to appear.
3. You're searching too broadly
Not showing up for "plumber" doesn't mean you're not on Maps. Search for your exact business name plus your city. If you appear that way, your profile exists and the issue is ranking, not listing (see below).
4. Your information is incomplete or inconsistent
Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results. Check your hours, category, service area, phone, and website, and make sure your name, address, and phone match across your website, social profiles, and other directories.
5. There's a duplicate profile
Two profiles for the same business (say, one an employee created) can compete with each other or cause errors. Google allows one profile per business, or one per real location with its own staff.
6. Your profile was suspended
If Google decides your profile breaks its guidelines (keyword-stuffed name, virtual address, oversized service area, and so on), it can suspend it. If that happens:
- Don't create a new profile for the same business.
- Fix what's out of compliance and file an appeal through the Business Profile appeals tool.
- You can attach evidence such as your business registration, a business license, tax certificates, or utility bills (electricity, phone, water, internet) showing the same name and address as your profile.
- According to Google, an appeal can only be submitted once, so prepare it carefully.
You're listed: how to climb the map
Google says local results are mainly based on three factors:
- Relevance: how well your profile matches what someone is searching for. That's why the right category and a clear description of your services matter.
- Distance: how far you are from the person searching. You can't control it, but you can set your service areas accurately.
- Prominence: how well-known your business is. Among other things, this is based on how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. More reviews and positive ratings can help.
Google is also clear that you can't pay for a better local ranking (ads are separate). What does help, per Google's own tips:
- Responding to reviews, good and bad.
- Adding real photos and videos of your work, your team, and your vehicles.
- Keeping your hours up to date, including holidays.
- Having a website that clearly says what you do and where you work, ideally in both English and Spanish if you serve Hispanic customers.
Quick checklist for today
- I searched for my business on Google Maps (name + city).
- I claimed or created my profile at business.google.com/add.
- The name is my real business name, with no keywords or city.
- I chose the most specific category.
- If I travel to customers, I hid my address and added my service areas.
- My profile is verified.
- Hours, phone, and website are complete.
- I've added real photos and I reply to reviews.