Google Business Profile: how to get found by people nearby

To get found by people searching for your business nearby you need three things, kept up over time: a complete Google profile with the right category, genuine reviews you reply to and a website with the same details as the profile. These are the signals Google uses, together with distance, to decide who to show on the map.

The website is the part you fully control, and it's the part we look after when we build business websites. The first step, though, is the profile: here are the steps in order.

Google's map: where the choice is made

When Google understands a search is local, such as "seafood restaurant near me" or "plumber open now", it shows a map with a few highlighted businesses, above the normal results. That's where people look when they have their phone in hand and need to choose now.

How do you fill in your Google profile?

A complete profile has a better chance of being chosen than an incomplete one, and for many businesses it's the first contact with customers. The checklist:

• The exact main category: it's one of the choices that matter most. "Seafood restaurant", not a generic "Restaurant"; secondary categories only if relevant
• Opening hours always up to date, holidays included: nothing is more annoying than "open" when it's closed
• Real, recent photos: premises, dishes, rooms, people. No pictures taken from the internet
• A description in your customers' words, not advertising speak
• Regular updates: offers, events, news. They show the business is active

How do you ask for reviews?

Reviews count twice: for your position on the map and for the customer's decision. The bare minimum:

1. Ask every customer, in the same way: a WhatsApp link after the service, an email after check-out, a QR code at the counter
2. No discounts or gifts in return, and no filtering: don't ask only the happy ones. Google's rules forbid both
3. Reply to all of them, positive and negative, within a few days. Replies are public: you're talking to future customers, not just the reviewer
4. Never buy or fake them: penalties wipe out years of work

A well-handled negative review is worth more than many anonymous positive ones: it shows how you treat customers when something goes wrong.

Where should you answer customers' questions?

Google has closed the public questions and answers on business profiles: no new ones can be added. Your customers' questions remain, though: opening hours, parking, pets, allergies, how to book. Collect them and answer them on your website, on a frequently asked questions page. That way you write the answers, clear and always up to date.

The website: the same details, everywhere

Your profile brings the customer to the door; your website convinces them to come in. Three requirements:

• Name, address and phone identical everywhere: website, Google, social media, online directories. A different abbreviation is enough to cause confusion
• A page for each important service, with real content, not copied
• Structured data for local businesses: invisible code that tells Google who you are, where you are and when you're open

And of course: fast on a phone, because local searches are almost always made there. If you're weighing up a new website, read how much a website costs too.

Voice assistants and Google's answers

More and more often, answers come from voice assistants or summaries written by Google. The same things count there too: a complete profile, genuine reviews, a tidy website. If you look after the basics, you're ready for this as well.

The most common mistakes

• A profile set up years ago and never updated
• A different address on the website and on Google
• Negative reviews left unanswered for months
• Photos taken from the internet instead of real ones
• Reviews requested only from satisfied customers

Where to start

Week one: complete every part of your profile and choose the main category carefully. Week two: make name, address and phone identical everywhere and start asking every customer for a review. The weeks after: frequently asked questions and structured data on the website. It's methodical work, not magic: that's exactly why those who keep at it stand out.