Google Business Profile Setup: A Complete Guide for New Brands

Why Google Business Profile Matters

When someone searches "coffee shop near me" or "plumber in [city]," Google shows a map pack of local businesses before any organic results. If you're not in that map pack, you're invisible to local searchers.

Google Business Profile (GBP) is free and one of the highest-ROI marketing tools available to local businesses.

Setting Up Your Profile

Step 1: Create or Claim Your Listing

Go to business.google.com and sign in with a Google account. Search for your business name. If it already appears (from public data), claim it. If not, create a new listing.

Step 2: Enter Your Business Name

Use your exact brand name — not a keyword-stuffed version. "Acme Plumbing" is correct. "Acme Plumbing Best Cheap Plumber Sacramento" will get your listing suspended.

Google actively penalizes businesses that add keywords to their name. Keep it clean and consistent with your actual brand name.

Step 3: Choose Your Category

Your primary category is the single most important ranking factor in local search. Choose the most specific category that applies:

"Coffee shop" beats "restaurant"
"Emergency plumber" beats "plumber"
"Family dentist" beats "dentist"

You can add secondary categories later, but get the primary one right.

Step 4: Add Your Location

If you have a physical storefront, add your street address. If you're a service-area business (you go to customers), list your service areas instead.

Step 5: Verify Your Business

Google will verify you own the business through one of several methods:

Postcard (most common — takes 5-14 days)
Phone verification
Email verification
Video verification (increasingly common)

Don't skip verification. Unverified profiles have severely limited features and visibility.

Optimizing Your Profile

Complete Every Section

Google rewards completeness. Fill out every available field:

Business description (750 characters — use keywords naturally)
Hours of operation
Phone number
Website URL
Attributes (wheelchair accessible, free Wi-Fi, etc.)
Products or services with descriptions
Opening date

Add High-Quality Photos

Profiles with photos receive 42% more direction requests and 35% more website clicks than those without.

Upload:

Exterior photos (so customers can find you)
Interior photos (show the experience)
Product photos
Team photos
Logo and cover image

Use real photos, not stock images. Google can detect stock photos and may penalize your listing.

Write a Compelling Business Description

You have 750 characters. Structure it:

What you do (one sentence)
What makes you different (one sentence)
Who you serve (one sentence)
Call to action (one sentence)

Include relevant keywords naturally but don't stuff them.

Managing Reviews

Reviews are the second most important local ranking factor after your primary category.

Getting Reviews

Ask every satisfied customer for a review
Send a follow-up email with a direct link to your GBP review page
Include a QR code to your review link on receipts or cards
Time your ask — right after a positive experience

Responding to Reviews

Respond to every review — positive and negative:

Positive reviews: Thank them specifically. Mention what they liked.
Negative reviews: Acknowledge the issue, apologize, offer to resolve offline. Never argue publicly.

How Many Reviews Do You Need?

There's no magic number, but aim to consistently earn new reviews. A business with 50 reviews from the past year outranks one with 200 reviews from three years ago. Recency matters.

Google Posts

GBP lets you publish posts directly to your profile. Use them:

Announce promotions or events
Share blog posts or updates
Highlight new products or services
Post weekly — active profiles rank higher

Posts expire after seven days, so maintain a regular schedule.

Common GBP Mistakes

Keyword stuffing the business name. Google will suspend your listing. Use your real brand name only.

Inconsistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone). Your business information must be identical across GBP, your website, and every other directory. Even small differences (St. vs Street) can cause issues.

Ignoring questions. Google lets anyone ask questions on your profile. Answer them promptly — unanswered questions look bad and competitors might answer for you.

Setting and forgetting. GBP requires ongoing attention — posts, review responses, photo updates, and holiday hours.

Brand Name Consistency

Your Google Business Profile name should exactly match your brand name everywhere else — website, social media, legal filings. Inconsistency confuses Google's algorithms and hurts your rankings.

Before setting up GBP, make sure your brand name is consistent across all platforms. Use BrandScout to verify name availability and secure consistency from the start.