How to claim your Google Business Profile

When someone searches for your business on Google, the first thing they see is the panel on the right: your name, your phone number, your opening hours, directions to your door. That panel is your Google Business Profile, and until you manage it, you cannot correct a single line of what it says.

This guide explains how to take over that profile. It costs nothing, and all you need is a Google account that belongs to the business.

First check this: the profile may already be yours

Sign in to business.google.com with the business Google account.

• If your business shows up in the list, you already manage it. You can stop reading here.
• If the list is empty, either the profile was never created or it sits in another account. Both are covered below.

Sign in with the account you opened for the business, not your personal Gmail. A profile created on a personal account is hard to hand over later — when that person leaves, the profile leaves with them.

The profile exists but it is not yours

Search for your business on Google Maps and open the profile. Scroll down and you will find the link "Own this business?".

1. Tap the link.
2. Sign in with the business Google account.
3. Google offers you a verification method.

If someone else manages the profile, Google forwards your request to them. If no answer arrives within seven days you can start the appeal process; it can take longer than that, so be prepared to wait.

How verification works

Google wants to see that you really are at that address. The method depends on the business:

• Postcard — the most common route. A printed code arrives at the address in a few days.
• Phone call or text message — offered to some businesses, done the same day.
• Video — a short recording showing the inside of the business, the sign and the equipment you work with.

Once the code reaches you, enter it at business.google.com. Until verification is complete, the changes you make to the profile do not go live.

What to do first once the profile is yours

1. Add your booking address. The profile has a booking field; put the address of your own booking page there. Someone who finds you on Google picks a time straight away instead of playing phone tag.
2. Keep opening hours and holidays current. A wrong hour means a customer arriving at a closed door, and someone who finds you closed does not try twice.
3. Upload real photos. The inside of the salon, the work area, the work you do. Managing those photos from the profile is in your hands.
4. Reply to reviews. Thank the positive ones, answer the negative ones calmly. Reviews with a reply leave the reader more confident.

Common mistakes

• Creating a second profile. A duplicate profile for the same business weakens both of them. Claim the one that exists instead of opening a new one.
• An address or phone number that is written differently in different places. Your site, your profile and your social accounts should use the same spelling — even "St." versus "Street" reads like a separate record on the search side.
• Choosing too broad a category. A category that describes exactly what you do puts you in front of the right people, unlike a generic "beauty salon".