How to Claim Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is what makes your business show up on Google Maps and in the local "map pack" — the three results with the map that appear at the top of local searches. It's separate from your website. Claiming it takes about 20 minutes and it's free.

Step 1: Check if a profile already exists

Go to business.google.com and search your business name. Google automatically creates profiles for businesses based on public data — yours may already exist with old hours, an old address, or a phone number that's no longer current.

If a profile exists, click "Claim this business." If nothing comes up, click "Add your business."

Do not create a duplicate. Google is slow to merge or remove them, and duplicates hurt your Map Pack ranking.

Step 2: Fill in every field

Most people set up the basics — name, address, phone — and stop. That's not enough. Complete the entire profile:

• Business name: Exactly how customers know you. No keyword stuffing.
• Category: Pick the most accurate primary category. This is one of the strongest ranking signals. Get it right before you worry about anything else.
• Service area: If you go to customers (contractor, landscaper, mobile service), choose "service area" rather than a storefront address. Set it to the towns or county you actually cover.
• Phone number: Your direct line. Should match what's on your website and any other directory.
• Website: Link to your homepage.
• Hours: Keep these accurate. Google shows "Closed now" prominently — wrong hours turn people away.
• Services: Add each service individually. "Drain cleaning," "water heater installation," "emergency plumbing" — not just "plumbing."
• Photos: At least 5. Your work, your vehicle or location, you or your team. Phone photos are fine if they're clear.
• Description: 2–3 sentences on what you do and who you serve. Mention your town naturally.

Step 3: Verify the profile

Google needs to confirm you're a real business at the address or service area you listed. For service-area businesses with no storefront, they've moved to video verification.

The video needs to show: where you work from, something that connects you to the business (a laptop with your site up, a business card, mail with your name and address), and your face briefly. Record it on your phone, upload through the Google Business Profile app. Review takes a few days to a couple of weeks.

One thing that trips people: the video must be one continuous take. And you upload through the mobile app, not the browser.

Step 4: Stay active

A verified profile still underperforms if you abandon it. What "active" looks like in practice:

• Ask for reviews. A direct text to a happy customer works far better than a generic reminder: "Would you mind leaving us a Google review? It really helps." That's the whole script.
• Respond to every review. Good ones and bad ones. Twenty seconds per response. Signals to Google the profile is maintained.
• Post occasionally. Once a month is enough. An update, a photo, a seasonal offer. Most businesses never do this — it's easy to stand out.

The ranking reality

Two businesses in the same town, same services — the one with 20 reviews and an active profile beats the one with 2 reviews and a profile last updated in 2021. Every time. That's the whole game.

If you're not showing up and you're not sure why, the free audit covers this. I look at your GBP, your review count, your category selection, and your site's local signals and tell you exactly what to fix.

Text or call (516) 749-7910, or use the contact form. I respond same day.