GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE
Be easier to find when customers search nearby.
A complete Google Business Profile helps customers understand what you do, where you work, when you are available and why they can trust you—before they ever reach your website.
This page uses simplified examples. Google controls eligibility, verification and how local results are displayed.
LOCAL RESULTS
Harbour Cleaning
4.8 ★★★★★ (84)
Home cleaning · Office cleaning Open · Serves SydneyTHE FIRST CHECKPOINT
Your profile is often the first version of your business a customer sees.
Before visiting a website, customers may already be comparing nearby businesses, categories, hours, reviews, photos and contact options in Google Search or Maps.
Search
A customer looks for a service, business type or place near them.
Compare
They scan nearby options, ratings, categories and opening information.
Check
They open a profile to understand services, photos, reviews and location.
Act
They call, visit the website, request directions or continue comparing.
The profile gives customers a quick local summary. The website gives them the detail and confidence needed for a bigger decision.
HOW LOCAL RESULTS WORK
Local visibility is mainly shaped by relevance, distance and prominence.
These factors work together. A complete profile helps Google understand the business, but no agency can control a searcher’s location or guarantee a particular Maps position.
Relevance
How closely the profile matches what the customer is searching for. Accurate categories, services and detailed business information help.
What the business is and what it provides.Distance
How far the business is from the customer or the location used in the search. This changes from one searcher to another.
Where the customer is searching from.Prominence
How established and well known the business appears, including information across the web, links, reviews and ratings.
How recognised and trusted the business appears.Google states that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
Read Google’s local ranking guidanceQUICK PROFILE CHECK
Does your profile give customers enough confidence to act?
Tick what is already true. This is a simple learning check—not a ranking score.
WHAT CUSTOMERS NEED TO KNOW
A useful profile answers the basic questions quickly.
Completeness is not about filling every field with keywords. It is about representing the real business clearly and consistently.
Your Business
Primary category
- Services
- Clear and accurate
- Hours
- Current availability
- Area
- Real location or service area
- Website
- Relevant destination
Who are you?
Use the real-world business name and the most accurate primary category.
What do you provide?
List actual services so customers and Google can understand the offer.
Where do you operate?
Show a genuine customer-facing location or accurate service areas—not invented addresses.
How can customers act?
Keep phone, hours and website links current and send visitors to a useful destination.
Why should they trust you?
Use genuine reviews, real photos and consistent information across the web.
Storefront business
Customers visit a staffed location with permanent signage, such as a clinic, shop or workshop. Use the precise customer-facing address.
Service-area business
The business travels to customers, such as a cleaner, plumber or mobile detailer. Hide a residential address and list specific, accurate service areas.
Google recommends one profile per real business location and accurate address or service-area information.
Read the representation guidelinesREVIEWS AND REPUTATION
Reviews help customers judge consistency and care.
The goal is not a perfect-looking profile. It is a genuine record of customer experiences and a professional response when feedback is good, mixed or difficult.
Ask after a real experience
Make the request easy with Google’s review link or QR code, but never pressure customers for a particular rating.
Reply like a real business
A timely, specific response shows future customers that feedback is noticed and handled professionally.
Use feedback to improve
Patterns in reviews can reveal unclear communication, service gaps and strengths worth reinforcing.
SIMPLE RESPONSE EXAMPLE
“Clear communication, arrived on time and made the whole process easy.”
“Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. We’re glad the communication and timing made the service easier.”
Google allows businesses to request reviews, reply publicly and flag reviews that violate policy. Reviews based on fake or incentivised engagement are not allowed.
NFC & QR REVIEW REQUESTS
Make the review request easy while the experience is still fresh.
An NFC review card opens the business’s official Google review link with one tap. A printed QR code provides the same path for phones that do not use NFC. The card does not create reviews—it simply removes unnecessary steps.
TAP TO SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE
How did we do?
Tap your phone or scan the code to open the Google review form.Use the official review link
Copy the review link from the Google Business Profile and program it into the NFC card. Keep a QR code on the card as a reliable fallback.
Place it at the natural handover point
Use it at reception, beside the payment terminal, inside a leave-behind pack, on a receipt holder or when the completed service is handed back to the customer.
Ask consistently and without pressure
Invite customers to describe their genuine experience. Do not request a particular star rating, write the review for them or ask only the customers likely to be positive.
GOOD PRACTICE
Separate the thank-you from the review.
A business can provide a general loyalty offer or future-service coupon to eligible customers. The offer should remain available whether or not the customer leaves a review.
DO NOT TIE THE REWARD TO GOOGLE
“Leave a 5-star review and receive 10% off” is not acceptable.
Google prohibits free or discounted goods and services in exchange for reviews. The ACCC also warns that incentives for positive reviews may mislead consumers.
NFC can help beyond reviews. A separate card or landing page can help customers rebook, save contact details, view services or claim a general offer. Keep those actions clearly separate from the Google review request.
Google recommends sharing review links or QR codes on receipts, thank-you messages and in-store displays, while explicitly prohibiting incentives in exchange for reviews.
ONE CONNECTED CUSTOMER JOURNEY
The profile helps customers discover you. The website helps them decide.
They work best when the information is consistent and the profile sends people to a page that answers the next question—not simply to a generic homepage every time.
GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE
Quick local confidence
- Category and services
- Hours and service area
- Reviews and photos
- Call and website actions
BUSINESS WEBSITE
Detail and conversion
- Complete service explanations
- Projects, evidence and FAQs
- Quote, booking or purchase
- Analytics and follow-up
OWNERSHIP AND ACCESS
The business should remain in control of its profile.
The owner should keep primary ownership. Anyone helping with setup or management should use their own Google Account and receive the appropriate role—never the owner’s password.
Client remains primary owner
The business controls access, can add or remove people and keeps the profile if a working relationship ends.
Webbotica receives manager access
We can help with the agreed setup or management tasks without taking ownership away from the client.
No shared passwords
Each authorised person uses their own Google Account, making access safer and easier to remove later.
HOW WEBBOTICA HELPS
We usually set up and improve the profile as part of the wider online system.
- Ownership and verification guidance
- Accurate categories, services and business information
- Website, review and customer-journey connection
- Ongoing updates when included in a broader growth plan
It is normally included alongside website, search visibility or ongoing growth work rather than treated as a disconnected standalone product.
Google supports separate owner and manager roles so access can be shared without sharing passwords.
Read Google’s access guidanceCOMMON QUESTIONS
A few things worth knowing before setup.
Can a home-based service business use a Google Business Profile?+
Eligible businesses that travel to customers can use a service-area profile. A residential address should be hidden when customers are not served there.
Can anyone guarantee a top position on Google Maps?+
No. Local results depend on relevance, distance and prominence, and they can change based on the customer’s location and search.
Do I still need a website?+
The profile can provide quick information, but a website gives customers detailed service pages, examples, answers and a stronger path to enquire or book.
Can negative reviews be removed?+
A review can be reported when it violates Google’s policies. Disagreement or an unfavourable rating alone does not make a review eligible for removal.
Can I offer a discount for a Google review?+
No. Google prohibits free or discounted goods and services in exchange for reviews. A general loyalty offer can be provided separately, but it must not depend on leaving, changing or removing a Google review.
Who should own the profile?+
The business should remain the primary owner. Webbotica or another provider can be added with an appropriate manager or owner role for the work being performed.