How to Open and Edit a Google Business Profile: A Checklist for Showing Up on Maps

“Dentist near me”, “breakfast in Kadıköy”, “furniture shop Beylikdüzü” — for these searches, map cards appear before websites. The source of that card is the Google Business Profile; it is free, and most businesses have either not opened one or left it half done. This guide is a single list from setup to management.

Before you open one

• Does a profile already exist? Search your business name on Google Maps. A customer or Google itself may have created it; then you claim ownership via “Own this business?” instead of creating a new one. Two profiles weaken both.
• Pick one Google account and make it belong to the business; a profile opened with an employee’s personal account leaves with the employee.

Setup steps

1. 01
   Sign in at business.google.com with the business account and choose “Add business”.
2. 02
   Enter the business name as it appears on the sign. Adding “best”, “cheap”, a city or a keyword to the name violates the rules; the profile can be suspended.
3. 03
   Choose the category correctly. The primary category decides which searches you appear in; “Dental Clinic” and “Dentist” give different results. Secondary categories come later.
4. 04
   Place the address at the exact spot on the map. Service-area businesses that do not receive customers hide the address and define a service area.
5. 05
   Enter phone and website; the website should be your homepage or the relevant service page, not Instagram.
6. 06
   Enter opening hours and keep holiday hours current. A business that shows “open” while closed collects negative reviews.

Verification

Google wants to confirm the business is really there: a code by post, phone, email or video verification. Google chooses which is offered. In video verification you show the sign, the interior and something that belongs to the business (till, equipment). Until verification completes, the profile is not fully visible on Maps.

Adding and managing photos

• Upload the logo and cover photo yourself; otherwise Google picks from customer photos.
• Exterior (so customers find you), interior, products or services, team. A few of each.
• Real, sharp, current. Stock images and over-edited shots lose trust. If you generate product images with AI, make sure the profile matches the product as it really is.
• Add regularly: a few new photos a month signals a living profile.

Reviews

• Reply to every review; to negative ones too, briefly and calmly. The reply is written for the reader as much as for the reviewer.
• Removing a review is only possible for rule violations (abuse, spam, fake); you report it and Google decides. A fair negative review is not removed; it is answered.
• Asking customers for reviews is allowed; offering a discount in return is not.

Mistakes that kill a profile

• Keywords in the name.
• More than one profile for the same business.
• Wrong category or no secondary categories.
• Hours not updated for holidays.
• Reviews left unanswered.
• A social media address in the website field.

Connecting it to the website

The profile is the strongest local traffic source to your site; address, phone and hours on your site must be identical to the profile so Google matches the two records. Our SEO and Google Business service handles profile setup, category selection and the matching on the site side together; if you have a profile, paste its address into the brief form and we will tell you what is missing.