Google Business Profile: how to set it up and optimize it (2026 guide)

When someone searches for "plumber near me" or "dental clinic in Laval", Google often shows a map and a few businesses before any website. Those results come from Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business). It's free, and it's often the very first contact between a customer and your business. Here's how to create it, get it verified and optimize it.

What is a Google Business Profile?

It's your business's public profile in Google Search and Google Maps. It shows your name, your category, your address or service area, your opening hours, your phone number, your website, your photos and your reviews. Customers can call you, get directions or visit your site in one tap.

Your business may already have a profile without you knowing it: Google sometimes creates them from public information, and users can suggest places or edits. That's why it matters to take control of it.

How to set up your Google Business Profile, step by step

Check whether a profile already exists. Search for your business name in Google Maps. If a profile shows up, request ownership instead of creating a second one: duplicates hurt your visibility.
Sign in at business.google.com with a Google account, ideally a company account rather than an employee's personal one.
Enter your exact business name, as it appears on your sign and your paperwork. Adding keywords to the name ("Tremblay Roofing – best roofer Laval") goes against Google's guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
Pick your primary category. It's one of the most important choices: be specific ("Roofing contractor" rather than "Contractor").
Add your address or your service area. If customers come to your premises, show the address. If you go to them (landscaper, electrician, cleaning), you can hide the address and list the cities or regions you serve.
Add your phone number and website.
Verify the profile. Google offers a verification method based on your situation, for example a short video of your place of business, a phone call, a text or an email. Until the profile is verified, your edits aren't published.

How to optimize your Google Business Profile

A profile that exists isn't an optimized profile. These are the elements that make the difference:

Secondary categories: add the ones that really describe your other activities, without overdoing it.
Description: in a few sentences, what you do, for whom and where. Write for people, not for robots.
Services and products: list them with a short description. They help Google match your profile to the right searches.
Opening hours, including special hours for holidays. Wrong hours frustrate customers and attract bad reviews.
Real photos: your team, your vehicles, your premises, your work. Add new ones regularly.
Attributes: accessibility, payment options, service in English and French, and so on, depending on what Google offers for your category.
Posts: updates, offers, events. An active profile gives customers a reason to choose you.
The right link: if you have several locations, link each profile to that location's page on your website.

Consistency: the same contact details everywhere

Google compares the information on your profile with your website and with directories: Yellow Pages, Yelp, chambers of commerce, industry directories. When your name, address and phone number are written the same way everywhere, Google — and AI engines like ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews — trust your information more. An old phone number or address lingering in a directory creates confusion.

Your website has to do its part too: one page per service, a clear contact page and structured data (LocalBusiness schema) that repeats the same information as your profile.

Reviews: the engine of your profile

Google states that review count and rating factor into local ranking, and reviews are also what convinces customers. Ask every customer for a review once a job is done, reply to every review, positive or negative, and never buy reviews. We explain the method in How to get more Google reviews, and our CRM can send review requests automatically.

Mistakes to avoid

Creating a second profile instead of requesting access to the existing one.
Adding keywords or city names to the business name.
Using a virtual office or a PO box: Google can suspend the profile.
Leaving the profile under a single employee's account: always add a second owner or manager in case that person leaves.
Ignoring edits suggested by users: check regularly that your information hasn't been changed.
Forgetting the profile once it's set up: a static profile loses ground to active competitors.

Frequently asked questions

Is Google Business Profile free?

Yes. Creating, verifying and managing the profile is free. You only pay if you hire a professional to manage it or if you buy Google ads.

How long does verification take?

It depends on the method offered and on Google's checks: sometimes minutes, sometimes several days. Make sure the name, address and category are accurate before you start, because inconsistencies can delay it.

Can I have a profile without a storefront?

Yes. Businesses that travel to their customers can have a service-area profile: the address is hidden and the profile shows the area you serve instead.

Does my profile help me show up in ChatGPT?

It contributes. AI assistants rely on public, consistent information: your profile, your reviews, your website and directories. To see where you stand, try our free AI visibility audit.

Rather have us handle it? Our Google Business Profile management service covers setup, verification, optimization and upkeep. Write to us for an estimate.