How to Add Your Business to Google Maps: A Step-by-Step Guide

For your business to show up on Google Maps, you need to create a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) and verify it. The process is free and takes half an hour for most businesses; the only wait is at the verification stage. In this guide you'll find the steps for adding your business to the map, common mistakes and what to do in the first week.

Is adding a business to Google Maps paid?

No. Google Business Profile is entirely free, and Google doesn't charge to raise your ranking on the map. Don't trust calls and messages that say "we'll get you to the top for a fee". The only way to appear on the map for pay is Google Ads; ads are shown separately with a "Sponsored" label and don't change the organic ranking.

Prepare before you start

• The name of your business as written on your sign
• Your full address, or the areas you serve
• Your phone number and, if you have one, your website
• Your weekly opening hours
• A few real photos: the exterior, the interior, your products or work you've done
• A Google account to manage the profile

We recommend using an account that belongs to the business rather than your personal account. You can add your employees or your agency to the profile as managers later; you don't have to share a password with anyone.

1. Check whether your business is already on the map

Search for your business's name and area on Google Maps. Your customers or Google may have added your business to the map earlier. If a profile exists, don't open a new one; request ownership with the "Own this business?" link on the profile. Opening a second profile for the same business is one of the most common reasons Google suspends profiles.

If the profile has been verified by someone else, your ownership request is forwarded to that person. If no reply comes within a set time, Google may offer another verification route to give you ownership.

2. Create the Google Business Profile

Go to google.com/business, sign in with the Google account that will manage your business and add a new business. You can do the same from the Google Maps app on your phone: tap your profile photo and open "Add your business".

3. Enter the business name and category

For the business name, write only the name you use on your sign, invoices and documents. Additions like "The best barber in Brooklyn" go against Google's rules and can get your profile suspended.

The category is one of the most important pieces of information Google looks at when deciding which searches to show your business for. Choose the narrowest, most accurate category for your business: "Seafood restaurant" rather than "Restaurant", "Dentist" rather than "Doctor". After the profile is opened, you can add up to nine additional categories; add them only for work you really do.

4. Address or service area?

This choice depends on how your business operates:

• If customers come to you (a store, restaurant, clinic, office): enter your address and make sure the marker on the map sits in front of your door.
• If you go to the customer (plumber, locksmith, cleaning, moving): don't show your address to customers; choose the areas you serve. Google allows up to 20 service areas.
• If both apply: you can show your address and add your service area as well.

Don't use a virtual office, a mailbox or an address where the business doesn't really operate. If you're in a shared office, your sign and your opening hours need to be visible there.

5. Add contact details

Enter the phone number where customers will reach you directly, and your website. If you don't have a website, you can skip this step; but having the same details on your website, your social media accounts and your sign helps Google trust your profile.

6. Verify your business

Until the profile is verified, your edits aren't published and you can't fully manage the profile. Google shows you the verification methods that apply to you: video recording, phone or text message, email or a postcard. Google decides which method comes up by looking at your business type and details. For the details of the methods and what to film for video verification, see our Google Business Profile verification guide.

7. Fill in the profile completely

After verification, add the following to your profile:

• Opening hours and special hours for days such as holidays
• Business description: up to 750 characters, a text that describes your business and your area in a natural voice
• Services or products: with their prices if you like
• Attributes: options Google offers for your category, such as wheelchair accessibility, parking, card payment and Wi-Fi
• Photos: logo, cover photo, exterior, interior, team and products

Complete profiles make it easier for Google to match your business to the right searches. Don't put links or exaggerated advertising sentences in the description.

What to do in the first week

1. Share your first post. Announce your business, a campaign or a new product with a photo and a short description.
2. Ask your first customers for reviews. Share your review link or QR code. Don't offer a discount or a gift in exchange for a review; Google forbids it.
3. Reply to every review that comes in. We explained how to reply, with examples, in our guide to replying to Google reviews.
4. Measure your ranking on the map. To find out where you rank for the words your customers will search, you can use the free Google Maps ranking analysis.

Common mistakes

• Adding a neighborhood, a keyword or a slogan to the business name
• Opening more than one profile for the same business
• Leaving the marker on the map in the wrong place
• Using stock photos or another business's photos
• Not keeping hours and phone number up to date after the profile is opened

Next step

After adding your business to the map, the real work is regular management: replies to reviews, up-to-date photos, posts and tracking your ranking. We explained how to keep this work going in our guide to ranking higher on Google Maps. If you like, BadePlus does this work for you regularly: it replies to reviews, prepares weekly posts and tracks your ranking. Start your 3-day free trial.