How to claim your Google Business Profile in 10 minutes
If someone searches for your business type in your town and you don't show up in the map results — this is why.
Google Business Profile (GBP) is the free listing that puts you in the map pack. Every service business needs one. Most haven't claimed theirs correctly.
The 10-minute version
- Go to business.google.com and search your business name first — it may already exist.
- Claim it or create it. Fill out every field: category, service area, hours, phone, website.
- Add at least 5 photos. Phone photos are fine.
- Verify — for service businesses this usually means a short video recorded on your phone.
I wrote a full step-by-step guide on this — including the video verification gotcha that trips most people up. Read it here.
The one thing most businesses skip
After you claim it — ask 5 happy customers to leave a review. A direct text works 10x better than a generic reminder. "Hey, would you mind leaving us a Google review? It really helps." That's the whole script.
Two businesses, same services, same town. The one with 20 reviews wins. Every time.
— Logan
