How to Create a Google Business Profile

Short answer: go to business.google.com/add, sign in with a Google Account, click "Add your business to Google", fill in your business details, then pick one of the verification options Google offers you. Adding or claiming a profile costs nothing. Once Google has verified it, you control how your business shows on Google Search and Google Maps.

Before you start

• A Google Account. You need one to sign up. A Gmail address works, and so does your company email address linked to a Google Account.
• Your business name as customers know it, the same as on your signboard, website and invoices. Google asks for the real-world name, without extra keywords.
• Your address or the areas you serve. If customers come to you (a shop, clinic, office), use the full address. If you go to them (a plumber, cleaner, aircon service), you set service areas by city or postcode instead, up to 20 of them.
• Your phone number, website and opening hours, and the one category that best describes your main business.

Step 1: Check whether your business is already on Google

Search for your business name and city on Google Maps. If a profile already shows and nobody has verified it, select "Claim this business", then "Manage now", instead of making a new one. Google allows only one profile per business; duplicates cause problems with how your information shows on Maps and Search. If someone else has already verified it (a former staff member or an old agency), use Google's request-ownership option rather than creating a second profile.

Step 2: Create the profile

1. Go to business.google.com/add and sign in.
2. Click "Add your business to Google".
3. Enter your business name and choose your category.
4. Add your address if customers visit you, or your service areas if you visit them.
5. Add your phone number and website, and follow the remaining on-screen steps.

Step 3: Verify your business

Until you verify, you can't fully manage the profile. Google decides which verification methods you get, based on your business type, public information, region and hours, and you can't change them. Depending on your business, you may see:

• Phone or SMS: a code sent to your business number. Automated phone menus (IVR) can't receive it.
• Email: follow the steps in the email Google sends.
• Video: a recording or a live video call showing your signboard or street, your products or equipment, and something only the owner or staff can access, such as a back room or your keys opening the door. Live calls happen during your business hours.
• Postcard: a 5-digit code by mail. Most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30 days. While you wait, don't edit your business name, address or category, and don't request a new code, or the code in the mail stops working.

After you complete the steps, Google's review takes up to 5 business days (rarely longer), and you get a confirmation email once you're verified. Never share the verification code with anyone; Google will never ask you for it.

Step 4: Complete the profile so it shows up

Google says local results are mainly based on relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how far you are from the person searching) and prominence (how well known you are, including reviews and links to your website). You can't pay Google for a better local ranking. What you can do:

• Fill in every field that applies: hours (including special hours such as public holidays), category and attributes such as parking.
• Write a plain business description of what you offer. Google doesn't allow links in it, and it shouldn't focus on prices or sale promotions.
• Add real photos of your premises, team and work.
• Ask happy customers for reviews and reply to them, good and bad.
• Keep your details up to date whenever your hours, phone or address change.

How we handle this for clients

At Leadzap Marketing, Google Business Profile access is one of the first things we ask for when a client starts with us, alongside Google Analytics and Google Ads, because local SEO for Google Maps starts there. Our tip: if the profile is set up by an agency or a staff member, make sure the business owner's own Google Account stays the primary owner, and add others as managers. That way you keep control of the profile if people change.

Want help showing up on Google Maps?

Your Business Profile is the starting point for local SEO. Leadzap Marketing's SEO services in Malaysia include local SEO for Google Maps and your Google Business Profile. Ask us for a free SEO audit or tap the WhatsApp button on this page, and we'll check what's holding your profile back.

Sources

• Google Business Profile Help, Add or claim your Business Profile (business.google.com/add, no charge, claiming on Google Maps).
• Google Business Profile Help, Verify your business on Google (Google Account, verification methods, postcard timings, 5-business-day review).
• Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google (real-world name, one profile per business, description rules).
• Google Business Profile Help, Manage your service areas (service-area businesses, up to 20 areas).
• Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google (relevance, distance, prominence; no paying for ranking).
• Google Business Profile Help, Manage your Business Profile owners & managers (one primary owner, managers' access).