Here’s how to add your business to Google Maps: you create or claim a free Google Business Profile. That one profile is what shows the business on Google Maps and on Google Search. Google lets you add or claim it at no charge.
The order is what keeps the setup clean. Search Google Maps for the business name and city first. Claim the listing if one comes up. Create a profile if nothing does. Then enter the real-world name, the categories and either an address or a service area, and verify.
Nearby customers look for businesses on Google Search and Google Maps. A verified profile is what puts the name, hours, phone number and address in front of them, under your control. Starting in the right place is what lets the profile hold: claim a listing that already exists instead of adding a second one, and use details that match Google’s guidelines.
Is Your Business Already on Google Maps?
Maybe. Search Google Maps for the business name and city before you do anything else. When you’re working out how to add your business to Google Maps, this first check saves rework, because a listing may already be there. There should be only one profile per business.
The search gives you one of three answers. Nothing at all, an unverified listing that nobody has claimed, or a listing someone else has verified. Each one points to a different next move.
Found an unverified one? Select it and choose Claim this business, then Manage now. Pick a verification option and follow the steps on screen. In the Google Maps app, the claim option sits under the profile’s About tab.
If someone else has verified the listing and you’re authorized to manage the business, you can request ownership from the current owner.
If nothing comes up for the name and city, the business isn’t on Google Maps yet. You build the profile from scratch.
How to Add Your Business to Google Maps From Scratch
Google’s help page on adding or claiming a Business Profile says that adding and verifying the profile is what lets customers find the business on Search and Maps, and what lets you control how its information shows up on Google. Adding or claiming it costs nothing.
Get the details together first. Have the business name exactly as it appears on the sign and the website, the address or service area, the phone number, the website and the hours at hand. If the sign and the website disagree on the name, settle that before you start. Sign in with a Google account the business owns and will keep. Then the steps run in this order.
- Go to business.google.com/add and click Add your business to Google.
- Enter the business name exactly as customers know it. Nothing added, nothing shortened. The name on Google should read like the name on the door.
- Choose the fewest categories it takes to describe the core business. Categories are the labels Google uses for what you do.
- Add the location. That’s a storefront address customers can visit, or a service area if you travel to them instead. Pick the one that matches how customers reach you.
- Add the phone number a customer would reach you on, and the website you keep up to date. Both show on the profile.
- Select a verification option Google offers for the business, then follow the steps on screen.
The location is where owners hesitate. Not sure whether to show an address or a service area? Spilt Media has a guide to storefront or service-area address setup.
Verification is the step that makes the profile yours to manage. If it stalls, here’s what to do if verification stalls.
What Does Google Need to See for the Profile to Hold?
Details that match the real world. Google’s guidelines for representing your business say a business with a physical location customers can visit, or one that travels to customers, can create a Business Profile. The profile should show the business the way it’s known in the real world, across the sign, the website and the stationery.
- The name matches the sign, the website and the stationery, and extra words in it aren’t permitted; Google says they could lead to suspension.
- The address or the service area is accurate and precise.
- A P.O. box, a mailbox at a remote location or a virtual office, which is a mailing address you rent but don’t work out of, isn’t eligible.
- A service-area business hides its address from customers.
- One business gets one profile, and a second one can cause problems with how the information displays on Google Maps and Search.
This part works in your favor. Details that match the real world are what let the profile hold, and they’re what let customers trust the name, the address and the phone number they see. You’ll also have less to fix later.
When Is It Worth Getting Help?
Spilt Media’s Google Business Profile optimization covers profile setup, including business name verification, primary and secondary category selection and service area configuration.
Spilt Media also starts with a look at how complete and accurate the profile is, so nothing is left blank or wrong. A blank field is a question a customer has to answer somewhere else.
Help pays off in a few spots. A listing someone else started or controls. More than one location. A business that serves customers at their homes and needs the service area set right. Or no time to get the details right the first time. In those spots, having someone set it up and keep it accurate takes the job off your desk.
If you’d rather hand the setup off, book a consultation with Spilt Media to set up or claim the profile and keep it accurate.
Frequently Asked Questions About Adding Your Business to Google Maps
Does it cost anything to add a business to Google Maps?
No. Google lets you add or claim a business at no charge. Google Business Profile is a free tool for managing how a business appears across Google Search and Google Maps. What it costs you is the time to get the details right.
Can you add a business you run from home?
Yes, if you travel to customers. Set it up as a service-area business and hide the home address from customers. Set the service area to the places you actually travel to. To be eligible, a business needs a location customers can visit or has to travel to customers where they are.
Can you use a P.O. box or a virtual office as the address?
No. Google says a P.O. box, a mailbox at a remote location and a rented mailing address you don’t work out of aren’t eligible for a Business Profile. Use the real location customers come to, or set up a service area instead.
Is a Google Maps listing separate from Google Search?
No. One Business Profile shows the business in both places. Add or claim it once and keep it accurate, and that’s what customers see on Google Maps and on Google Search. You manage both from the same place.
