Can I have a Google Business Profile for my business?

A Google Business Profile is a powerful tool to help your business improve its local visibility by appearing on Google Search pages and Google Maps.

It allows you to advertise services, opening times, capture and display customer reviews and even engage directly with your customers through online messaging.

We have created an article about why your small business should have a Google Business Profile here.

This article will help explain who is eligible for a Google Business Profile and how to verify your profile using Googles preferred method – A short video recording.

Which businesses qualify for a Google Business Profile?

Before we begin, it’s important to recognise that not every business is legible for a Google Business Profile.

Googles own guidelines regarding who can and cannot setup a Google Business Profile states:

“Business Profiles are built for businesses that make in-person contact with customers during specific hours.

It’s not for exclusively online businesses, or homes for rent or sale.”

Source

Let’s break down this down.

“Businesses that make in-person contact with customers during specific hours”

This means that your business either:

A) Has a street address that visitors can visit – such as shop, a restaurant or pub, a hairdresser’s or an office that allows customers to drop-in and talk to you face-to-face.

B) You operate a mobile business that will attend a customer property and provide a service – such as a plumber, electrician, mobile mechanic or care agency*

C) A hybrid of the two – like a garage that also has a call-out or roadside recovery service

*However – you will still need to register your business to a physical address.

“It’s not for exclusively online businesses, or homes for rent or sale.”

if your business provides online-only services, you only communicate through phone calls or zoom meetings, or you sell products but a customer cannot collect them from you, then you unfortunately do not qualify for a Google Business Profile!

You also cannot create a GBP to advertise a property you are selling or looking to rent.