Claim Your Google Business Profile

If you only do one thing from this entire series, do this one.

When somebody searches for what you do near where you work, Google shows a map with three businesses pinned on it before it shows a single normal search result. That box is where the phone calls come from. Getting into it starts with owning your Google Business Profile.

Most people we talk to are in one of three situations, and all three are fixable in an afternoon:

• They have no profile at all.
• A profile exists that Google created automatically, and nobody has claimed it.
• Someone claimed it years ago, and nobody remembers which email they used.

First, one thing that trips everyone up

Google used to have a separate dashboard at business.google.com and a Google My Business app. Both are gone. They were retired, and you now manage your profile directly inside Google Search and Google Maps while signed in to the account that owns it.

This matters because most of the guides still floating around tell you to log into a dashboard that no longer exists. If you go looking for it and can't find it, nothing is wrong with your account.

Step 1: Find out if you already have a profile

Open Google and search your business name plus your city. Then search your phone number on its own.

Look for a panel on the right side of the results, or a pin on the map. If something comes up, a profile already exists, and you're claiming rather than creating. That's the more common case by a mile, because Google generates listings on its own from phone books, other directories, and customer submissions.

If you find nothing at all under the name, the number, or the address, you're starting clean.

Do this search before anything else. Creating a second profile when one already exists creates a duplicate, and untangling duplicates is genuinely annoying. Ten seconds of checking saves a week of support tickets.

Step 2: Claim it

If a profile turned up, look for "Own this business?" or "Claim this business" on the listing. Click it, sign in with the Google account you want to own this thing forever, and follow the prompts.

A few notes on that account, because people get this wrong and it's painful to undo:

• Use a business email account, not your personal Gmail from 2009.
• Don't use an employee's personal account. When they leave, your profile leaves with them.
• Write down which account it is. Put it somewhere your business keeps records, not a sticky note.

If no profile exists, you'll be creating one instead. Same flow, you'll just be entering the details from scratch rather than confirming them.

If the listing says it's already managed by someone else, don't panic and don't make a duplicate. Google has a process to request ownership. You submit the request, the current owner gets a few days to respond, and if they don't, you can usually take it over. Slow, but it works.

Step 3: Get verified

Verification is Google confirming you're actually connected to this business. You'll get offered some combination of video recording, phone call, text, email, or a postcard with a code.

Google decides which methods you get. You often don't get a choice, and it varies by business type and category.

If you get the video option, read what it's asking for before you start recording. It generally wants to see proof you're really there and really operating: signage, your equipment, the inside of the space, and something showing you have management access, like keys or a back office. One continuous video, no cuts.

If you get the postcard, it takes a week or two. Don't reorder it repeatedly, that resets the clock.

Verification is the step that gates everything else. An unverified profile mostly doesn't show up.

Step 4: Fill in the parts that actually matter

Once you're in, there's a long list of fields. They are not equally important. In order:

1. Your primary category. This is the single most important field on the whole profile. Google leans on it heavily to decide which searches you're eligible for. Be specific and accurate: "roofing contractor" not "contractor." Pick the one that matches the money-making core of your business, and add secondary categories for the rest.
2. Name, address, phone. These have to match what's on your website and everywhere else you're listed, character for character. "Ave" in one place and "Avenue" in another is the kind of small mismatch that quietly costs you.
3. Hours. Including holidays. Nothing burns goodwill like someone driving to a closed shop that Google said was open.
4. Service area, if you go to customers instead of them coming to you. If you don't have a storefront the public visits, hide your address and set a service area instead.
5. Photos. Real ones. Your work, your team, your vehicles, your space. Not stock. This is often the deciding factor when someone is comparing three businesses that all look equally qualified on paper.
6. Services and description. Write it for a person, not for a search engine. Say what you do and where.

What to skip for now

You'll see prompts for posts, products, booking links, and Q&A. All useful eventually, none of it worth your time until you're verified with your categories and photos sorted out.

How you know it worked

Search your business name again from your phone, ideally signed out or in a private window. You should see a full profile with your photos and hours, and a set of buttons for calling and directions.

Then search what you actually do plus your city, and see whether you show up on the map at all. Wherever you land today is your starting line. That number is the one worth watching.

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That's the foundation. Everything else in Launchpad builds on top of a claimed, verified profile, so don't skip ahead until this one's done.