Google Business Profile: setup, reviews and insights

This guide is part of our "SEO tools explained" path. It's written for owners of local businesses and the people who run their profiles: a sweet shop in Lucknow, a dentist in Delhi, a coaching centre in Pune, and the freelancers and junior SEOs who set these up for clients. You don't need a website to start, though you'll get more from the profile if you have one.

By the end you'll be able to set up and verify a profile, choose categories and hours the way Google's guidelines expect, add photos, services and posts, ask for and answer reviews without breaking the rules, read the Performance report, add managers safely and appeal a suspension.

There are seven chapters, about 45 minutes in all. Chapter 1 says who can have a profile and who can't. Chapters 2 to 4 follow the order you'd set one up: verify, fill in the details, then photos, services and posts. Chapter 5 is reviews, chapter 6 is Performance and local ranking, and chapter 7 covers several locations, managers, suspensions, paid tools and alternatives. Guide 2's local SEO chapter covers the basics in brief; this guide goes deeper into the tool itself. The profile is free. Paid tools around it were checked on their own pricing pages on 16 October 2026.

Search "sweet shop near me" in Lucknow and Google shows a map with a few shops on it, each with stars, opening hours and a Call button. Each of those listings is a Business Profile. The owner controls most of what it says. Google fills the gaps from other sources, and customers add photos and reviews.

Creating a profile costs nothing.^[1] With it you can show your hours, website, phone number and location, post photos and videos, collect and reply to reviews, and send people to your website or booking links.^[2] Guide 1, chapter 9 explains why this matters for local search in three minutes. This guide is about the tool.

Who can have a profile

Google's rule is short: to qualify, a business "must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours."^[3] That gives three kinds of business, and you'll pick one during set-up.

The three definitions are Google's, from its verification and service-area help pages.^[4] One detail catches people out. If your place has no permanent sign outside, Google says list it as a service-area business, not a storefront.^[5]

Who can't

Google's eligibility page lists businesses that don't qualify. These are the ones most likely to matter in India:^[3]

• Online-only businesses, such as a D2C brand that sells only through its website, Amazon and Flipkart
• Lead-generation agents, for example a site that takes enquiries and sells them on to plumbers
• Rental or for-sale properties, such as a flat for rent (a sales or leasing office can qualify)
• A class or service held at a place you don't own or represent, such as a yoga batch in a society clubhouse
• Any business whose address is a P.O. box

The guidelines add two more traps. A virtual office, an address you rent only for mail, isn't eligible. And a desk in a co-working space only counts if it has clear signage, receives customers and is staffed during business hours.^[6]

When you don't need it, and what to use instead

If you aren't eligible, Google's own advice for online-only businesses is Google Ads.^[2] For organic search, an online store needs its website, Search Console and, if it sells products, Merchant Center. Our Search Console guide starts there. A brand with no local customers gets nothing from a profile that it can't get from its website.

If you are eligible, we think there's no case for skipping it. The profile is free, it is the source of the map listings, and Google points local businesses to Business Profile rather than a knowledge panel^[7] (Guide 3, chapter 7).

Where Justdial and IndiaMART fit

Indian customers also search Justdial, IndiaMART and Sulekha. Those listings bring calls of their own and repeat your name, address and phone on other sites. They don't replace a Business Profile, and the profile doesn't replace them. Guide 2, chapter 10 compares the three and explains NAP consistency, so we won't repeat it here.

What the profile can't do

It can't buy you a better position. Google states that "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google."^[8] Chapter 6 explains what does decide it. And it can't fix a slow or confusing website; the profile sends people there, so check the site before you send traffic to it.

If your business qualifies, chapter 2 creates or claims the profile and gets it verified.

Many set-up problems start in the first ten minutes: a second profile made because nobody searched for the first, or a profile verified on a staff member's Gmail. Do these steps in order and you avoid both.

Step 1: use an account the business owns

You need a Google Account to sign up. It can be a Gmail address or any email address you already use, including one on your own domain.^[9] We'd use an address the business controls, such as [email protected], and add people later as managers (chapter 7). When the person who set up the profile leaves, the profile stays with you.

Step 2: search before you create anything

Google, customers and old directory data often create a listing before the owner does. Search your business name and city on Google Maps. You'll land in one of three places:

A second profile is a duplicate, and Google says a profile it treats as a duplicate won't show on Search or Maps.^[10]

When someone else already owns it

A typical case: a former manager, a web designer or an agency verified the listing years ago, and nobody has the login. Go to business.google.com/add, enter the name and address, choose your business, then select Request Access and fill in the form.^[11] The current owner gets an email and has three days to reply.

• Approved: you can manage the profile.
• Denied: you can suggest edits or appeal.
• No reply after three days: you may get the option to claim it through the link in your confirmation email, but Google says this "isn't always available".^[11]

For a service-area business with no shop, Google asks you to contact support instead and choose "Transfer ownership of listing".^[11]

Step 3: verification, and the methods Google offers

Verifying is what lets you edit the profile and reply to customers.^[9] You don't choose the method. Google's help page says methods "are automatically determined by Google and can't be changed", based on your business type, public information, region and hours, and some businesses need more than one.^[9]

All details in the table are from Google's verification help page,^[9] and the video rules from its video recording page.^[5] Google also says that if your business is eligible for video verification, it recommends that option.^[9]

After you finish, Google reviews what you sent, which takes up to five business days, and on rare occasions longer. Sometimes it verifies instantly, for example when you've already verified your website in Search Console.^[9] One more reason to set up Search Console first; our Search Console guide shows how.

Recording a verification video that passes

The video is the easiest method to get wrong, because Google wants specific things on camera: three kinds of proof, and they differ by business type.^[5]

The video must not show bank account, tax or ID numbers, private information or other people's faces.^[5] That means filming the counter before customers arrive.

If verification fails or comes back

If the Get verified button reappears, Google couldn't fully verify you; try again, or try another method if more than one is offered. You may also be asked to re-verify after changing important details.^[9] Google's help pages say a new name or address can mean verifying again,^[12] and so can a change of category.^[13] So finish those fields before you verify and leave them alone afterwards unless the business really changed.

Guide 2's planned set-up video (Guide 2, chapter 10) walks through these steps on screen. Once you're verified, chapter 3 fills in the profile.

Everything in this chapter lives under Edit profile, on Google Search or in the Maps app under Business.^[12] Google reviews each change before it goes live, so don't panic if an edit takes a while to show.

Business name: the signboard, nothing else

Your name should match how the business appears on its signboard, stationery and website.^[6] Google's guidelines list what you can't add: taglines, store codes, ® signs, words in all capitals, opening hours, phone numbers or URLs, service or product words, location words, and the same name repeated in two scripts.^[6] That last one matters in India, where boards often carry the name in Hindi and English. Pick one.

Adding keywords to the name can also cost you the profile. Google says unnecessary information in the name "could result in the suspension of your Business Profile."^[6]

The names are made up. The keywords you wanted in the name belong in the categories, services and description.

Categories: "This business IS a ..."

You get one primary category and up to 9 more.^[12] Google says the categories you choose affect your local ranking,^[13] so this is the field that deserves the most thought. Its guidelines give three rules:^[6]

• Pick categories that complete "This business IS a", not "This business HAS a".
• Use as few as it takes, as specific as possible. Google adds the general ones itself.
• Don't use categories as keywords, and don't add the category of a business inside yours or next door.

For a Delhi dental clinic, the primary category is the dentist or dental clinic category you find in the list, and secondaries are only for real departments, such as orthodontics if an orthodontist practises there. For the Lucknow shop, a sweet shop category beats a general store. You can't type your own category; you pick from Google's list.^[13] Search the list for the most specific match, and look at what the top three in your local pack use.

Doctors, lawyers and other practitioners

Google treats doctors, dentists, lawyers and similar professionals as individual practitioners, and their names may include titles such as Dr.^[6] If a Delhi clinic has three public-facing dentists, the guidelines say the clinic gets its own profile, and each dentist may have a profile with only their own name. Support staff shouldn't have one, and one practitioner shouldn't have several profiles for different specialities.^[6]

Our view: a practitioner profile makes sense for a dentist patients ask for by name. For a junior who rotates between branches, we'd leave it.

Address or service area

Use the precise address where customers come, with shop or floor numbers on line 2. In regions where the official address doesn't pinpoint the place, Google allows nearby landmarks and cross-streets.^[6] In many Indian lanes that applies, so "near Hanuman Mandir" is fine. If the address can't be found, you can drop a pin on the map.^[6]

If customers don't come to you, remove the address and set a service area instead.^[4] The rules, from Google's service-area page:^[4]

• Up to 20 service areas, by city, postal code (in India, PIN code) or other area. No radius around your address.
• The whole area shouldn't be more than about two hours' drive from your base.
• Edit it under Edit profile, Location, then Service area. Approved changes can take up to 48 hours to show.

A Pune home tutor might list Kothrud, Karve Nagar, Warje and three nearby PIN codes. Listing all of Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Mumbai would break the two-hour rule and doesn't describe where you work.

Hours, special hours and temporary closure

Enter the hours customers can actually reach you.^[6] Then set special hours for festivals. Google's special hours cover changes or closures of up to 6 days in a row. For 7 days or more, or an unknown period, mark the business Temporarily closed.^[14] Google also suggests confirming your hours for official holidays even when they don't change, so customers can trust them.^[14]

Some businesses shouldn't show hours at all. Google lists businesses with varied hours, such as class schedules, and those that work only by appointment.^[6] For a Pune coaching centre, that rules out entering batch timings as business hours. If the front office is open for walk-in enquiries at fixed times, those are customer-facing hours, and we'd enter those.

Phone, website and chat

Give one main number plus up to two more, mobile or landline.^[12] Use a local number that reaches this location. Premium-rate numbers aren't allowed at all, and Google asks you to avoid a central call-centre number whenever possible.^[6] Google's help page notes that in India it may double-check your phone number.^[12]

For the website, link the page for this location, not always the home page, with UTM tags so the visits show separately in GA4. Guide 2, chapter 11 has the exact tags, and our GA4 guide shows where they appear.

The chat option lets customers message you on WhatsApp or by text from the profile, where it's available in your region. Under Edit profile, Contact, Chat, pick WhatsApp and paste your WhatsApp click-to-chat link, or pick Text message and add a number.^[15] If you add both, Google shows only the text option, so for most Indian businesses we'd add WhatsApp alone.

Attributes, description and the rest

Attributes are yes-or-no facts: Wi-Fi, payment options, wheelchair-accessible entrance, women-owned and others, depending on your category and country. Add them under Edit profile, More. Google says a review of the edit usually takes about 10 minutes but can take up to 30 days, and that attributes can help you appear in searches for them.^[16] Answer them honestly: "wheelchair-accessible entrance" has a definition (an entrance at least one metre wide with no steps, or a ramp over any steps).

The description can be up to 750 characters, with no links,^[12] and it shouldn't focus on offers, prices or sales.^[6] Say what you offer, what's different and how long you've been open.

Also fill in social media links (one per platform, where offered) and the opening date, month and year.^[12] Then open Profile Strength on a verified profile; it lists what's still missing.^[17]

Google can change your details too

Google updates profiles from user reports, licensed data and other sources.^[2] In some regions it may also call, text or WhatsApp the verified number to confirm details, and you can see what it collected under Edit profile, Collected info.^[12] Check the profile once a month from a private window, as a customer would see it.

The details are done. Chapter 4 adds what makes people choose you: photos, services and posts.

Chapter 3 made the profile correct. This chapter makes it worth choosing. A customer comparing three sweet shops on a phone looks at the photos and reviews long before the description.

Photos and videos

Photos and videos appear only once the profile is verified, and Google reviews each one; it can take 24 to 48 hours to show.^[18] The specifications from Google's help page:^[18]

Google's category photo tips go further: the image should "represent reality", without excessive filters "or AI".^[19] They also suggest a minimum of three photos of each type that applies to you: outside, inside, products, at work and team.^[19] For the outside, Google suggests one from each direction customers approach. In an Indian market lane, that's the shot that stops people walking past your shop.

Set a logo and a cover photo from Photos on Search or Maps on a computer. Google doesn't promise the cover photo shows first, and it may pick a customer's photo instead if yours is low quality.^[18]

Services and menus

The services editor lets you pick suggested services for your category and add custom ones, grouped by category, with a description and price if you want.^[20] Name each service the way customers say it: "root canal treatment", "teeth whitening", "JEE foundation for class 9". Google rejects custom service names with prices, phone numbers or gibberish in them, so put the price in its own field.^[20] Food and drink businesses get a menu editor instead.^[12]

Products: not for shops in India yet

Google can show a shop's in-store products on its profile, fed by the Local Inventory app (formerly Pointy) or the Product Editor. On the day we checked, Google's product page listed eligible merchants in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland and Australia only.^[21] Its page on editing your profile lists four of those countries.^[12] Either way, India isn't on the list. An Indian shop can still photograph its bestsellers and describe them in posts.

Posts

Posts appear on your profile on Search and Maps, in the Updates or Overview tab on mobile and under "From the owner" on a computer.^[22] There are three types:^[22]

• Update: news, with a photo or video and an action button that links to your site, for example to book or learn more.
• Offer: needs a title and dates; you can add a coupon code and terms.
• Event: needs a title and start and end dates.

To add one, go to your profile and select Posts, then Add post. You can schedule a post or set it to repeat weekly or monthly, and post to several profiles at once. Posts older than 6 months are archived unless they have a date range, and a phone number in the text can get a post rejected if Google can't link it to the business.^[22]

Our view on posts: they're for the customer reading the profile, not for ranking. Google's list of what improves local ranking doesn't mention posts.^[8] A coaching centre posting its new batch dates, or a sweet shop posting Diwali box prices with an order button, is useful. A daily keyword-stuffed post is not.

Q&A today, and Ask Maps

Profiles used to have a public questions-and-answers box. Google discontinued the Q&A API for developers on 3 November 2025.^[23] Its help page now says Q&A "is available only for select business categories and regions" and that its look and function may change.^[12] So you may or may not see it on your profile.

Meanwhile, Google Maps is rolling out Ask Maps, a Gemini-powered way to ask questions about places, in the US and India on Android and iOS since March 2026.^[24] Google says Maps draws on information from over 300 million places, including reviews from more than 500 million contributors.^[24] Google hasn't said exactly which profile fields Ask Maps reads. Our advice is the same either way. Put the answers people want (parking, fees, timings, "do you make sugar-free sweets?") in your description, services, attributes and posts, where any system can find them.

Chat: Google's own chat ended in 2024

Google switched off Business Profile chat and call history on 31 July 2024.^[25] New chats had stopped on 15 July, as Social Media Today reported when Google announced it in May.^[26] The chat option you see today is different: a link to your WhatsApp or a number for text messages (chapter 3).^[15] Messages go to your WhatsApp, not to Google, so whoever answers the shop's WhatsApp now answers the profile too.

Managing the profile with Gemini

If you own or manage exactly one verified profile, you can connect it to the Gemini web app at gemini.google.com and ask it to change hours, draft review replies, create posts or show your search keywords.^[27] It needs a personal Google Account (not a work or school one), Keep Activity switched on, and you must be 18 or over.^[27] It's handy for a busy owner. Read every reply it drafts before posting; a wrong promise in a public reply is yours, not Gemini's.

Next, chapter 5: the part of the profile you don't write yourself, reviews.

Reviews are the one part of the profile you can't write, and the part customers read most. Google lists replying to reviews among its tips for local ranking, and says more reviews and positive ratings can help.^[8] Guide 2, chapter 10 has the survey numbers and two request messages you can copy. This chapter covers the tool: links, replies, reports, appeals and penalties.

Get your review link and QR code

On a computer, go to your Business Profile and select Read reviews, then Get more reviews. Copy the link, or right-click the QR code and save it. Google says the QR code can only be made in a computer browser, not on a phone.^[28] Google suggests putting the link on receipts, in thank-you emails and at the end of a chat, and printing the QR code for your shop. It says you can also send requests by email, WhatsApp or a Facebook post.^[28]

Customers need a Google Account to leave a review, though it doesn't have to be Gmail.^[29] If a customer isn't sure they're signed in, showing them on their own phone takes ten seconds.

The rules for asking

Google's Maps content policy is specific about what a business may and may not do when it asks for reviews.^[30] We've put it in plain words:

Every item on the left comes from the fake engagement and rating manipulation sections of the policy.^[30] Two of them are easy to break without noticing. "Leave a review and get 10% off your next visit" is an incentive, even if the discount is small. And a clinic receptionist saying "please mention Dr. Kapoor's name" is asking for specific content.

Reply to reviews, good and bad

To reply, go to your profile, select Read reviews, then Reply under the review.^[32] Replies are checked against Google's policies before they go live. That usually takes up to 10 minutes, but can take up to 30 days. The reply shows as the business, not your personal name. The reviewer is notified and can change the review afterwards.^[32]

Google's reply tips:^[29] be polite and short, don't send everyone the same "thank you", and don't use a reply to promote deals. For a negative review, protect the reviewer's privacy, admit real mistakes without taking the blame for what you couldn't control, apologise where it's due, use their name and reply promptly.

Never put a patient's treatment details in a reply, even if they mentioned it first. Google's policy bars posting another person's medical or other personal information without consent.^[30]

Report a review that breaks the rules

You can report any review, but only those that break Google's policies are removed. Google says not to report a review just because you disagree with it, and that it doesn't step into disputes between businesses and customers.^[33] Reviews worth reporting are spam, off-topic, conflict-of-interest (a competitor or ex-employee), offensive, or carry personal information; the policy covers each of these.^[30]

1. Report it: profile, Read reviews, Report next to the review, choose the reason (for example Spam), Send report. Evaluation typically takes several days.^[33]
2. Track it in the Reviews Management Tool. The statuses are Decision pending; Report reviewed - no policy violation; and Escalated - check your email for updates.^[33]
3. Appeal once: if a report is turned down, the same tool lets you make a one-time appeal, for up to 10 reviews at a time. You get the result by email.^[33]

Google also uses automated spam detection, and says it can occasionally remove a genuine review by mistake; if that happens, contact support.^[33] Reviews removed for policy reasons won't be restored.^[31]

Review extortion: don't pay, report

Google describes a scam where a profile suddenly gets a run of one- and two-star reviews, followed by a demand for money, goods or services to remove them. Its advice: don't engage or pay, collect evidence at once, and report it on the merchant extortion report form.^[34] Google names WhatsApp and Telegram among the channels to screenshot. Capture the date, time and sender's number or handle, plus links to each suspicious review.

What happens to a business that fakes reviews

Google removes fake and incentivised reviews.^[30] If it decides the owner broke the fake engagement policy, it can also restrict the profile. Its examples: no new reviews for a set period, existing reviews unpublished for a set period, or a warning to customers that fake reviews were removed.^[35] Google says it emails the owner first, and the business can appeal.^[35] A warning banner on a clinic's profile costs far more than the reviews ever brought in.

India has its own standard too. In November 2022 the Department of Consumer Affairs launched IS 19000:2022, a Bureau of Indian Standards framework for collecting, moderating and publishing online consumer reviews. It applies to every online platform that publishes consumer reviews, and compliance was voluntary at launch.^[36] It doesn't change Google's rules, but it shows Indian regulators take fake reviews seriously too.

Write down your number of reviews and average rating each month. Chapter 6 puts them next to calls and direction requests in the Performance report.

A sweet shop owner doesn't need rankings. They need to know whether the phone rang and whether people walked in. The Performance report is the closest Google gets to telling you.

Open the Performance report

Performance data is only available for verified profiles, signed in with the account that manages them.^[37] On Search, go to your Business Profile, click Performance, choose a time period and click Apply. In the Maps app, tap Business, then See more next to Performance.^[37]

What each number means

All definitions are from Google's Performance help page.^[37] Two points on that page are easy to miss. First, the data includes views, searches and actions from both organic results and Google Ads. If you run local ads, a jump in calls may be the ads, not your profile work. Second, the searches list is monthly, so don't judge last week's changes by it.

Download the data, or send it to GA4

For several locations, the Business Profile Manager lets you download a spreadsheet: tick the profiles, then Actions, Insights, choose the timeframe and Download Report.^[37] If you see "***" in the columns, the profile isn't enabled for downloads yet.

You can also link the profile to GA4. In GA4, go to Admin, Product links, Google Business Profile links, then Link, and pick the profiles. You need the Administrator or Editor role in GA4 and to be an owner or manager of the profile. Performance data such as interactions, website clicks, calls, directions, messages, bookings and menu clicks is then shared with the GA4 property, and one property can link to several profiles.^[38] Our GA4 guide covers reporting from there. We'd still tag the website link with UTM parameters, because that shows what those visitors did on your site.

How local ranking works, per Google

Google says local results are based mainly on three factors. Its summary line calls the third one "popularity", but the section that defines it is still headed "Prominence":^[8]

• Relevance: how well a profile matches what the person searched. Complete, detailed information helps Google match you.
• Distance: how far the business is from the searcher, or from the location Google infers if they don't share one.
• Prominence: how well-known the business is, based partly on how many websites link to it and how many reviews it has. More reviews and positive ratings can help.

On the same page, Google states again that you can't request or pay for a better local ranking, and keeps the details confidential.^[8] Its own list of what improves local ranking is: verify, keep information complete and accurate (address, hours, category, attributes), reply to reviews, add photos and videos, and add in-store products where eligible.^[8] Separately, its category page says the categories you choose affect your local ranking.^[13]

What that means for each of our examples:

• Lucknow sweet shop: distance is fixed by the shop's location, so customers far across the city will see shops nearer to them. Win the neighbourhood first: exact category, real photos, festival hours, a steady stream of reviews.
• Delhi dentist: relevance comes from services in patients' words ("root canal treatment", "braces for adults") and a correct primary category. Prominence comes from reviews and links, for example from a dental association or a local news story.
• Pune coaching centre: parents search by area and exam. Services and posts should name the exams and classes you actually teach.

Google Maps' new Ask Maps feature, rolling out in India since March 2026, answers questions using information from places and their reviews.^[24] Google hasn't published how it picks places. A complete, accurate profile with real reviews is still the only input you control. Guide 5, chapter 5 covers keeping your details consistent for AI answers.

Compare month with month, and this month with the same month last year. Diwali and wedding season make sweet shop numbers jump every year; that's not your profile work. Chapter 7 deals with more than one location, more than one person managing the profile, and what to do if it gets suspended.

Owners and managers

A profile can have several owners but one primary owner, plus managers. Managers can do almost everything an owner can, including editing details, replying to reviews and publishing posts. What they can't do is add or remove users or remove the profile.^[39] To add someone, go to your profile, then More, Business Profile settings, People and access, select Add, enter their email and pick Owner or Manager.^[39]

• Give each person their own Google Account; Google says this is how to share access without sharing a password.^[39]
• A new owner or manager waits 7 days before they can delete the profile, remove other users or transfer primary ownership.^[39]
• Removed users lose access, but their past review replies and posts stay on the profile.^[39]
• If the business is sold, transfer primary ownership to the new owner, so the reviews stay with the profile.^[40]

Agencies and freelancers: the rules for you

Google calls anyone managing a profile they don't own an authorised representative, and names SEO companies as an example.^[3] Its rules are clear. Never claim a profile without the owner's express consent. Work with the owner to verify. Keep them informed. Use the business's own phone number and website. Hand ownership back immediately when asked. Wherever possible, the owner should own the profile and add you as a manager.^[3] Breaking these can get the profile or your Google Account suspended.

If you're a freelancer, our advice is to ask the client to add you as a manager from day one. That protects them, and it protects you from being blamed when something changes later.

Several locations

Each real location gets its own profile; a moved business updates its address instead of opening a new profile, and services don't each get a profile.^[10] Chains keep the same name and the same primary category across locations, unless a location consistently uses a different name in the real world.^[6] A Delhi dental chain with five clinics would be "Smile Dental Clinic" five times, each with its own address, hours, photos and reviews.

Google's policy overview adds one exception on moving. For businesses whose location is part of the experience, such as restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues, Google rejects address edits. You mark the old profile permanently closed and create a new one.^[41] For everyone else, update the address and expect to verify again.^[12]

For two or more profiles, Google recommends a business group, which is like a shared folder for profiles that several people can manage.^[42] With 10 or more locations of the same business, you can add them by spreadsheet in Business Profile Manager and request bulk verification under Verifications, then Chain.^[43] Bulk verification isn't open to service-area businesses, or to agencies with several different businesses in one account.^[43]

Suspended or disabled: what to do

Google may suspend or disable profiles that don't follow its guidelines.^[44] From its policy pages, the usual reasons are an ineligible business, a P.O. box or virtual office, a business Google decides doesn't exist at that address, extra words in the name,^[6] or an account with a pattern of policy breaches.^[41] If an account is restricted, every profile on it is suspended.^[41]

If your Google Account itself is restricted, appeal that first on the My accounts page, then appeal the profile.^[44] Rejected edits to your name, category, address, phone or website, and rejected photos or posts, are appealed through Google's contact form for businesses outside the UK and EEA, not the appeals tool.^[45]

Pricing: free, and the paid tools around it

The profile itself costs nothing to create or claim.^[1] The paid tools below add things Google doesn't give you: rank tracking on a map grid, review requests by SMS and email, listing management across many sites. None of them can change how Google ranks you.

All prices were read from each vendor's own pricing page on 16 October 2026 and are in US dollars; none showed a rupee price. We give rupees at ₹96 to US$1, the X-Rates monthly average for 1 to 16 October 2026.^[47]

BrightLocal offers a 14-day free trial without a card,^[48] and Local Falcon gives 100 free credits on sign-up.^[49] Both pages also list annual prices and prices for more locations or credits. Check the tax at checkout; we didn't see it stated on the pages.

Our view: a single sweet shop or clinic doesn't need any of these. The Performance report, Google's review link and a monthly check cover it. A paid grid tracker earns its cost when you manage many locations or clients and need to show where on the map each one appears.

Alternatives, and which one when

Nothing replaces a Business Profile for Google Maps. The alternatives are the other places your customers search, and the tools that check your website side of local SEO. Our free tools first:

• Free Website Audit: includes local SEO checks for a Google Business link, LocalBusiness schema and the same phone number everywhere
• Schema Markup Validator: checks the JSON-LD on your location page, with a required-fields check for LocalBusiness
• Meta Tag Analyzer: the title and description of the page your profile links to
• HTTP Status Checker: confirms the UTM-tagged website link reaches the page without a redirect chain

Want help setting up or fixing a profile? Our SEO service covers Business Profiles, reviews and location pages, and you can get a quote online. For the rest of the free toolkit, see best free SEO tools.

Test yourself

Ten questions on the whole guide. Pick an answer, check it, and see your score at the end.

Frequently asked questions

Sources