Google Business Profile optimisation in India: a 12-step checklist

Google Business Profile optimisation means making your free listing on Google Search and Maps complete, accurate and active, so it shows up when nearby customers search for what you sell. Google's guide to improving your local ranking says results depend mainly on how well a profile matches the search, how far the business is from the searcher and how well known it is. You can't move your shop, but you control most of the rest. These 12 steps follow Google's current rules, including several that catch Indian businesses out.

Which popular tips are now out of date?

Steps 1 to 3: is the profile really yours?

1. Find every profile, then claim the right one

Search Google Maps for your business name, phone number and any old address. Google allows one profile per business, and a duplicate made by an old agency or a former partner splits your reviews. If someone else controls your verified profile, go to business.google.com/add, pick the listing and select Request access (service-area businesses ask Google support). The current owner has 3 days to respond, after which Google may let you claim it.

2. Keep primary ownership in your own Google account

A profile has one primary owner, who can add or remove everyone else. Managers can edit almost everything, but can't add or remove users or delete the profile. So make a Google account your business controls the primary owner and add your agency and staff as managers, as with any account a vendor sets up for you (see how to choose a web design company). New owners must wait 7 days before they can transfer primary ownership, so sort this out early.

3. Verify, and plan the video before you record

Google picks your verification methods, and you can't change them. For video, the rules are strict: one continuous, unedited clip of at least 30 seconds, recorded live on your phone through the profile. Film the street or building signs, a permanent signboard showing the same name as the profile, and something only staff can open, such as the cash drawer or your billing software (service-area businesses show nearby street signs, tools and a business document instead). The video must not show tax or ID numbers, so cover the GSTIN on any invoice you film.

Steps 4 to 7: are the basic details exactly right?

4. Use your real name, in one script

The name should match your signboard, website and letterhead, with nothing added. Google's guidelines for representing your business ban taglines, service keywords, locations and phone numbers in the name, and extra words can get the profile suspended. "Mehta Opticals" is fine; "Mehta Opticals Best Eye Test Andheri West" is not.

Maharashtra's shops law requires signboards to show the business name in Marathi, in Devanagari script, so many Mumbai boards carry the name twice. Google's guidelines say the same name must not be repeated in two scripts or languages, even if your signboard does it. Pick one, usually the spelling customers type into Google, and use it everywhere online.

5. Show an address only where customers can visit you

If customers visit you, give the full address with shop number, floor, wing and building. Google allows landmarks only where the official address doesn't pinpoint the place, and if Google can't find your address, you can drop the pin on the map yourself. If you go to customers instead, like a pest-control firm or a home baker who only delivers, hide the address and list up to 20 service areas by locality or PIN code.

Watch your GST address too. A virtual office that works for GST registration isn't eligible on Google, and a co-working desk qualifies only if it has clear signage, receives customers and is staffed during business hours.

6. Choose fewer, more accurate categories

Google's help says your categories affect your local ranking. Pick the most specific primary category that completes "this business is a", such as "Optician" rather than "Store". You can add up to 9 more, but the guidelines ask for as few as it takes to describe the core business, not one per service. Editing categories can trigger a fresh verification, so decide once.

7. Make every contact button work

Use a local number your business controls and answers, not a call-centre line, and note that verification codes can't get through an IVR menu. If your profile shows a Chat option under Edit profile and Contact, add your WhatsApp click-to-chat link but not text messaging, because with both, Google shows only the text option. Point the website button at the page that matches the profile; if the site itself is hard to find, see why a website doesn't show up on Google.

Steps 8 to 10: does the profile answer customers' questions?

8. Hours, including festival closures

Add special hours for Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Eid, Christmas and any day you open late or shut early, and confirm official holidays even when nothing changes, as Google suggests. Special hours cover up to 6 days in a row. If you shut for 7 days or more, say for a Diwali break, mark the business as temporarily closed instead.

9. Description and services in your customers' words

The description allows 750 characters and no links, prices or offers, so say what you do, for whom, where and since when. Then list each service with a short description, in the words customers use on the phone, such as "eye test" or "contact lens fitting".

These fields matter more now that Q&A is fading. Google switched off the tool that let software post questions and answers in November 2025, and its help says Q&A now works only for some categories and regions. Google Maps has also been rolling out Ask Maps in India, where Gemini answers questions about places. So put the answers about parking, UPI, home visits or languages spoken in your services, description and website.

10. Real photos, and posts with a reason

Add your logo, a cover photo and real pictures of the entrance, the inside, your team and finished work. Google asks for sharp, well-lit JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, without heavy filters. A shot of your building gate and signboard helps a first-time visitor find you in a crowded lane.

Use posts for news, such as a festive offer with dates or a new service. Google may reject a post carrying a phone number it can't link to your business.

Steps 11 and 12: how do you keep it working?

11. Ask every customer for a review, the way Google allows

Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. Its rules on fake and misleading content bar discounts or freebies for reviews, discouraging negative reviews and selectively asking for positive ones. Staff can't be given review targets or asked to get their names mentioned, and reviews from employees or family count as a conflict of interest. Break these rules and Google can stop the profile receiving new reviews, hide existing ones or show a warning that fake reviews were removed.

The honest version is simple: send your review link on WhatsApp with every invoice or finished job, and reply to reviews briefly and personally, rather than pasting the same thank-you everywhere.

12. Check the profile every month

Anyone can suggest edits to your profile, and anything Google changes shows in blue in the profile editor. When a suggested edit needs your review, you get 4 days to accept or reject it; after that, Google may publish it if other public information, such as your website, supports it. So keep the name, address, phone number and hours on your website identical to the profile. Once a month, open Performance to check searches, calls, direction requests and website clicks.

Key takeaways

• Claim one profile, own it yourself and add everyone else as a manager.
• Use your real name in one script, an honest address or service area, and few categories.
• Put the answers customers need in your hours, description, services and website.
• Ask every customer for a review, with no discounts, staff targets or family favours.
• Check suggested edits and the Performance report every month.

FAQs

Can I pay Google to rank my profile higher?

No. Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Google Ads can show your business as a sponsored result in Search and Maps, but that is labelled advertising and it stops when you stop paying. Be wary of anyone selling "Maps ranking" packages or bulk reviews; they can get your profile restricted.

How long does a new profile take to show up on Google?

Google's help says verification reviews take up to 5 business days, and new photos can take a day or two to appear. Ranking is a different matter, because it depends on your competitors and on where each searcher is standing, so nobody can honestly promise a date. Searches for your own business name usually start working well before broader ones.

What should I do about a fake or unfair review?

Reply calmly and briefly, say what you can do and offer to talk by phone, without sharing the reviewer's details. Report it only if it breaks Google's policies, for example spam or a competitor posting; Google says it doesn't remove reviews just because a business disagrees with them. If someone demands money to stop posting bad reviews, Google has a separate form to report extortion.

Do I still need a website if I have a Business Profile?

Yes. The profile description is capped at 750 characters, while a website gives every service its own page, with the detail, photos and answers a profile can't hold. It is also the one place you fully control if your profile is ever suspended or edited by someone else.

If you would rather have someone work through this list for you, Google Business Profile optimisation is part of our local SEO service, with the profile kept in your name. Nobody can promise a spot on the map, but we can show you what is holding your listing back. Send us a link to your profile, and after a short call we'll explain what we would fix first and send a fixed written quote.