Creating and optimising your Google Business Profile
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A Google Business Profile is the prerequisite for collecting Google reviews: without one there is nowhere to leave them. Create it from a Google account dedicated to the business, pick a precise primary category, and hide your address if you have no premises where you receive customers, which Google requires. Local ranking then depends on three factors Google names: relevance, distance and prominence.
Creating and optimising your Google Business Profile
This is the prerequisite nobody mentions enough: without a profile there is nowhere to leave a Google review. A plate pointed at Google reviews assumes that profile exists and is claimed. This guide covers creation, the rules that get accounts suspended, and what actually matters afterwards.
The three local ranking factors, according to Google
Worth starting here, because it determines where to spend effort. Google names three factors:
- relevance: how well your profile matches what someone is searching for;
- distance: how far you are from the person searching;
- prominence: how well known your business is, which includes how many websites link to it and how many reviews you have.
Two practical consequences. Distance cannot be worked on, short of moving. Relevance is settled once, by filling the profile in properly. Prominence is the only factor you feed continuously, and Google specifies that more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking.
One useful fact for cutting cold calls short: Google writes that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
Creating the profile: the decisions that matter
The flow is guided, but three choices have lasting consequences.
The account. Use a Google account dedicated to the business, not a personal one. The day an employee leaves or you sell the business, the profile transfers with the account.
The primary category. Take the most precise one available. It weighs on relevance, and therefore on which searches you appear in. Secondary categories cover the rest without diluting the main one.
The location type. You declare whether you have premises customers can visit. If you do not, Google requires the address to be hidden and you declare a service area instead.
The rules that get accounts suspended
These are the ones broken in good faith, while trying to be more visible.
One profile per area. Google specifies creating only one profile for a given metropolitan area you serve. Creating three profiles with three district names to blanket a city is grounds for suspension.
A hidden address without premises. If you have no place where you receive the public, the address must be hidden. It is not a comfort setting.
A sensible service area. Google recommends not extending the overall area beyond two hours' driving time from where the business is based. Declaring an entire country does not make you visible everywhere, it makes the profile less credible.
The trading name as it is. Adding keywords to the name, along the lines of "Cheap Plumber Central London", is the most classic cause of suspension. The declared name must be the real one.
What to fill in, in order
Once the profile is verified, the useful before the decorative:
- opening hours, including exceptional closures, because it is the most consulted information and the one that causes the most frustration when wrong;
- category and services, which feed relevance;
- phone and website, with a link that works;
- photos, starting with the exterior, so people recognise the place on arrival;
- attributes relevant to your activity: accessibility, payments accepted, facilities;
- frequently asked questions, which you may post and answer yourself.
Then the only thing that is worked on over time
Everything above is done once. After that, the only lever that keeps moving is prominence, and therefore reviews: how many, what rating, and how regular.
It is also the only point where a perfectly filled profile is not enough, since it depends on your customers. The rest of the work is making the gesture easy for them while they are still with you and pleased.
Going further
Sources: Google Business Profile Help, pages on creating a profile and on local ranking, accessed 13 September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a physical address to have a profile?
No, but the rule is strict: if your business has no premises where you receive customers, Google requires you to hide the address. You then declare a service area. Showing a home address to look established somewhere is the kind of shortcut that leads to suspension.
Can you pay for a better local ranking?
No, and Google puts it plainly: there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Paid ads are a separate, labelled placement that does not change how profiles rank organically.
Do reviews affect ranking?
Yes, through the prominence factor. Google states that more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, prominence drawing in particular on how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. It is the one factor of the three you genuinely act on.
How many profiles for several locations?
One per genuinely separate location, but Google specifies creating only one profile for a given metropolitan area you serve. Multiplying profiles across one area to cover more searches exposes the account to suspension.
Which primary category should you choose?
The most precise one describing your business, not the broadest. The primary category weighs on relevance, that is on how well your profile matches what someone is searching for. Secondary categories cover the rest of your offering without diluting the main one.
My profile already exists without me creating it, what now?
That is common: Google creates profiles from public data. Claim it rather than creating a second one, otherwise you end up with a duplicate splitting your reviews across two pages. Claiming gives you access to replies, statistics and the get-more-reviews feature.
Ready to get more reviews?
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