How to Create and Verify a Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile is your business's free listing on Google Search and Google Maps. When someone searches 'Beşiktaş bakery' or your business name, it's the box that appears on the right or on the map with your address, phone number, opening hours, photos and reviews. For businesses with a physical location or a defined service area, it's often the fastest visibility channel, and setting it up usually takes around 15 minutes. Verification can take a few days.

What is a Google Business Profile?

It's today's name for the service formerly known as Google My Business, and before that Google Places. You manage it through your Google account and enter the information yourself, but users can also suggest edits, add photos, ask questions and leave reviews. So rather than setting it up and forgetting it, you need to check it regularly.

There are two kinds of profile. Businesses with an address customers visit (a café, a clinic, a shop) show that address. Businesses that go to the customer (a plumber, a cleaning company, home tutoring) hide their address and list the areas they serve. If you work from home and don't receive customers, choose the second kind; your home address doesn't need to appear on the map.

Creating a profile step by step

Before creating a profile, check whether your business already has a listing on Google. Search your business name on Google Maps. Sometimes a customer or Google itself has created a listing; in that case you need to claim the existing listing rather than creating a new one. You'll see a link like 'Own this business?' on the listing.

If there's no listing, the steps are:

• Sign in with the Google account you'll use for the business. Using a shared business account instead of your personal one prevents access problems when staff change.
• On Google's business profile page, choose to create a new profile and enter the business name.
• Choose your primary category. This step is covered separately below; don't rush it.
• Say whether you have a location customers can visit. If so, enter the address and move the map pin exactly onto your door.
• Add the areas you serve (as districts or cities).
• Enter your phone number and website.
• Move on to verification.

Write the business name exactly as it appears on your sign and official documents. Stuffing keywords into the name, like 'Kadıköy Hairdresser Best Haircuts', breaks Google's rules and can get the profile suspended. Even if it seems to work for a while, getting a suspended profile back can take weeks.

Verification methods and common problems

Verification is how Google makes sure the business really exists and that you represent it. Google decides which methods to offer, depending on business type, category and region. Common ones are a code by phone or SMS, a code by email, and a video recording. In some cases a postcard, or instant verification if you've already verified your site in Search Console, may also appear.

Video verification has become more common in recent years, and it's the method we get the most questions about. Google asks you to record one continuous video. It usually needs to show: the street or familiar landmarks nearby, the sign or exterior of the business, the work area inside, and something that shows you manage the business (access to the till, the keys to the premises, a business document). Read the on-screen instructions carefully before recording; incomplete videos can be rejected.

Common problems and fixes:

• Businesses without a sign may struggle with video verification. Even a sign on the door showing the business name helps.
• Businesses using a virtual or shared office address may fail verification if they don't actually receive customers there, and this also breaks Google's rules.
• Verification can sit in review for a few days, sometimes longer. Don't keep changing profile information during this time; changes can prolong the review.
• If verification is rejected, you can reapply through Google's support channels.

Fields to fill in

Once verified, complete your profile fully. A profile with empty fields gives customers less information and sends Google fewer signals.

Opening hours are among the most checked details. Enter special hours for religious and public holidays; a customer who shows up when you're closed may write about it in a review. In the business description, say plainly what you do, where you are and what sets you apart; Google sets a character limit for this field. Add your main services or products with short descriptions. For photos, include the exterior, interior, team and examples of your work; real photos usually build more trust than stock images. Under attributes (wheelchair access, parking, card payments, Wi-Fi and so on), tick the ones that apply.

Why the category matters so much

The primary category is one of the strong signals affecting which searches Google shows you in. Choosing between 'Hairdresser' and 'Beauty Salon', or 'Plumber' and 'Boiler Service', can directly affect where you appear.

A practical way to find the right category is to see which primary category the businesses ranking at the top for your target searches use. Pick the most specific option that captures the core of your business as your primary category, and add secondary categories for your other services. But don't add categories unrelated to your business; it doesn't strengthen the profile, it makes it harder for Google to understand you.

Linking the profile to your website

The profile and the website support each other. Put your site's address in the website field of the profile. On the site, show exactly the same business name, address and phone number as on the profile. Even small differences, like 'St.' versus 'Street', can read as inconsistency.

Adding a Google Maps embed to your contact page and a link inviting visitors to leave a review also builds a bridge between the two channels. We covered ways to grow reviews within the rules in a separate article.

In the first month after setup, log in once a week to check incoming questions, user-suggested edits and new reviews. For the other steps to keep the profile active and improve map visibility, see our local SEO article.