Local search is crowded, and being visible matters. Knowing which tools to use is a good place to start.
If you own a business or work as a freelancer or independent professional and want to rank in local search in your area, read on.
If you have been wondering what Google Business Profile is and how to optimise it, perhaps because a colleague or a client mentioned it, this guide is for you.
It doesn't matter whether you have been doing SEO for years or are a web specialist just starting out: below you will find practical advice and technical detail on Google Business Profile optimisation (the service was called Google My Business until 2021), so you can get the most out of the platform, show up in local searches and stand out from competitors.
We will go through setting up and improving this free service from Google step by step:
· What a Google Business Profile is and why you need one
· Google Business Profile optimisation: 5 common questions
· How can optimising your Google Business Profile increase your visibility?
· What you can do with a Google Business Profile: benefits and features
· How to optimise your Google Business Profile in a few steps
What is a Google Business Profile and why you need one
Let's start with what a Google Business Profile is and why you need one if you run a business with a physical location, or serve customers in a set area, and want to promote your services online.
Put simply, Google Business Profile is Google's own platform that lets businesses, independent professionals and organisations manage their online presence and appear in local search results when someone searches for what they offer.
The profile appears in the search results page (SERP) and on Google Maps as a "virtual" listing with the same information you would put on a business card, plus things that help users decide: your location on the map, photos and customer reviews.
There are several other features that help you communicate locally, and we cover them in the sections below.
What Google Business Profile can do
In short: using this service is a real advantage when promoting your business.
With Google Business Profile you can show your products and services, interact with customers, share updates and publish photos, videos and more.
It is a local marketing tool that can raise your visibility online and put you in front of more people.
Google Business Profile optimisation: 5 common questions
Now that we have covered what a Business Profile is, I would like to answer some more detailed questions based on my experience in SEO training.
I am often asked questions (some of them genuine myths worth clearing up) that come from confusion with other Google services, such as Google Ads.
Here are five, with answers aimed at optimising your Google Business Profile.
1. How much does Google Business Profile cost?
Creating and managing a Google Business Profile is free. That makes it accessible to any sector, whatever the size of the business or the budget. As with SEO, you can pay to push your profile further through Google Ads, but that is not what this guide is about.
2. What can you do with Google Business Profile?
As mentioned, an optimised Business Profile lets you share key information such as your address, opening hours, customer reviews and photos. This makes your business easier to find and encourages people to book a service or buy a product. You also get performance data to see how well your online presence is working.
3. Who manages a Google Business Profile?
Usually the business owner. The tool is simple enough that you don't need technical skills to run it, and you can add managers (a member of staff or an agency) without handing over ownership.
4. How do you get found on Google Maps?
If you have ever wondered how to appear on Google Maps, the answer is: create a Google Business Profile. Once it is set up and optimised, users can find you in the suggestions as they type in the search box.
5. How do you access your Google Business Profile?
I cover how to access the profile further down, but you will need a Google account linked to an email address before you go any further.
If you don't have one, you can create it here: https://accounts.google.com/signup.
How can optimising your Google Business Profile increase your visibility?
Whether you run a restaurant, own a menswear shop or work in marketing and communications for a service business, you need to understand how an optimised Business Profile affects the growth of your business.
From a local SEO point of view, appearing in local results when potential customers search for services nearby can be what puts you ahead of your competitors. There is a big difference between a well-optimised profile and one that has been neglected and only half filled in.
6 tips for optimising your Google Business Profile
Before looking at the strengths of a well-optimised Business Profile in detail, here are a few basics from an SEO point of view. Keep them in mind:
1. Keep your opening hours up to date
2. Check that your contact details are accurate and complete
3. Add clear, detailed photos of your services or products
4. Ask your customers to leave reviews
5. Use relevant local keywords in your description, services and categories (keep the business name as it is in real life: adding keywords to it breaks Google's guidelines)
6. Share updates, offers and news.
That, in our view, is how optimising your Google Business Profile can increase your visibility. Now for the benefits.
What you can do with a Google Business Profile: benefits and features
So what can you do with a Google Business Profile? Summing up all the benefits and strengths in a few lines isn't easy, but here is an overview of what you can expect:
It's free
Worth repeating: a Google Business Profile costs nothing. It is a free promotional platform that gives you visibility online without any upfront spend.
Simple to use
The interface is simple and practical, so anyone can manage the profile, from a browser or from the Google Maps and Google Search apps.
Tailored to you
There are plenty of ways to customise it. You can shape your profile with images, videos, contact details and opening hours, so the listing is accurate and gives people a reason to get in touch.
It takes bookings for you
With a single button, Google Business Profile can take users straight into booking a service. Connect it to your booking platform and you are done.
Get people talking about you
You can receive, manage and reply to customer reviews, which builds your reputation. Encourage good reviews and always reply: it shows you pay attention to what customers need.
Easier customer contact
The profile used to have a public "Questions and answers" section. Google removed it between late 2025 and early 2026, so the answers customers look for now need to be in your description, your services list, your posts and on your website, which Google can draw on to answer questions about your business.
Build your shop window
You can publish photos, documents and graphics, as well as events and offers, giving users a full picture of your business and a reason to pay attention.
How to optimise your Google Business Profile in 10 steps
Now that the benefits are clear, here is the core of this guide: how to optimise your Google Business Profile, from creating it to fine-tuning it.
Step by step:
1. Sign in to your Google account. You need one to create your profile.
2. Open Google Business Profile. Whether you want to create a new profile or manage an existing one, click "Manage now".
3. Enter your business name. This is required, and it tells Google what sector you work in. If you can't get in, someone else may already own the listing. Check whether a listing already exists: if it does, you can request access or ownership.
4. How do you verify your business on Google Business Profile? Verification is straightforward. Fill in the form with all your business details, including name, address, phone number and anything else relevant. Google then offers one or more verification methods, depending on the business:
- postcard: Google posts a card with a verification code to your business address. When it arrives, sign in to your profile and enter the code.
- phone or text: you receive a call or an SMS from Google with a verification code.
- email: the same process, by email.
Many businesses are now asked for a short video instead, showing the premises, signage and proof of management.
Once the process is complete, your business is verified on Google Business Profile.
5. Fill in the main information.
Once the profile exists, the first job is to organise the main information:
- Business category: what do you do?
- A short description of your services. A brief but complete paragraph on what makes your service strong.
- Contact details: phone number, website and business location. These three details are what users search for and, above all, what Google uses to recognise you. If you verify by postcard, this is the address it goes to. Also make sure the category you choose matches your services, because Google takes it into account when ranking you.
- Service area: this matters for local SEO. Where do you work? How far do your services reach?
- Opening hours. Keep them up to date, especially around bank holidays and planned closures.
- Additional details. The profile is highly customisable: here you can add attributes and extra information.
6. Read and reply to reviews. Reading and replying to reviews is an essential part of managing your online presence and building a good reputation. It takes little time, improves the customer experience, builds trust and shows you genuinely care about your customers.
Two tips:
- Google favours profiles with more reviews. Ask customers who were happy with your products or services to leave a review straight away. You can do it by text message, a QR code, WhatsApp or simply in person. What matters is creating an interaction that Google will notice. Don't offer incentives in exchange for reviews: Google's policies don't allow it.
- Always reply to reviews quickly. Positive or negative, a reply shows you listen to feedback, and it tells Google that your business pays attention to its customers.
7. Add photos of your products and services, and videos too. This is one of the most important parts of optimising a Business Profile. Images catch the user's eye first, so choose them carefully and keep them in a logical order.
Don't overlook videos either. They are unlikely to be indexed by the search engine, but they are a good way to show what your business can do.
8. Add the products you want to showcase. The "Products" feature, available only for some categories, lets you highlight the best items in your range. Create a separate collection for each product category, with a clear name and description.
9. Answer the common questions before they are asked. Why not give users the answers they are looking for in advance? With the public Q&A section gone, put the questions you hear most often (prices, parking, accessibility, booking) into your description, services and posts, and build a proper FAQ page on your website linked from the profile.
10. Keep customers informed with posts and updates. Who said posts are only for social media such as Facebook and Instagram? On Google Business Profile they matter too: keep them short and to the point. Use them to tell users about news, offers and events, and always finish with a clear call to action.
We hope this guide helps you create and optimise your Google Business Profile. If you would like to find out how Visilay can help with SEO consultancy or training, get in touch. We will start with an exploratory call, free of charge, to understand what you need and suggest solutions that fit.
An example of how much the profile counts in a local sector: on the UK SERP for "dentists london" (5,400 searches a month) the local pack shows three practices rated 4.8-4.9 with 212 to 903 reviews, and it sits above every organic result. We cover it in SEO for dentists (DataForSEO, Google UK, September 2026).
For hotels and other accommodation the profile carries even more weight, because it feeds the Google Hotels panel with photos, reviews and prices, and a query like "hotels london" gets around 60,500 searches a month in the UK. More in SEO for hotels.
For a medical practice or private clinic the profile matters as much as the website: patients compare ratings and reviews in the local pack before they ever open a site. How to optimise for healthcare is in SEO for healthcare.
A sector where the profile can be worth more than the website: on "therapist london" (5,400 searches a month) the local pack shows three practices with 22 to 71 reviews, and one of them, The London Practice, also ranks fifth organically with its home page (DataForSEO, Google UK, September 2026). We cover it in SEO for psychologists.
For accountants, architects and surveyors the profile captures the biggest searches, such as "accountant near me" (12,100 a month in the UK) and "architect near me" (6,600): what to put in it and what to do on the website is in SEO for professional services.
A case where the profile outweighs the website: on "pizza london" (3,600 searches a month) the local pack shows three pizzerias with between 2,000 and 7,500 reviews each, while the organic results below are almost all guides and directories such as Tripadvisor (DataForSEO, Google UK, September 2026). More data in SEO for restaurants.
If you run an estate agency, the profile is the first thing a vendor sees, before your website: "estate agents london" gets 6,600 searches a month in the UK. The local SERP data is in real estate SEO.
For a restaurant the profile already covers "where shall we eat tonight" searches; ads are for catering, parties and corporate dinners, which the profile can't sell on its own. The sums, with sector CPCs, are in Google Ads for restaurants.
For a law firm the profile matters as much as the website: "solicitor near me" gets 14,800 searches a month in the UK, and those searches are answered by the local pack. SERP data for legal searches and the pages to build are in SEO for lawyers.
For a building firm the profile weighs more than the website: in the local pack for "builders london" all three businesses are rated 5.0, but with only 4 to 18 reviews each, so a handful of extra reviews can change who shows up (DataForSEO, Google UK, September 2026). We show it in SEO for builders.
