How to add your business to Google Maps — step by step

A guest in an unfamiliar neighbourhood doesn't open Instagram — they open a map and type "bakery near me". If your business isn't on Google Maps, to that person you literally don't exist: not because you're bad, but because you're not on the list they're choosing from. Listing is free and takes about ten minutes; verification, which comes after, takes a few days.

Here's the whole process, including the traps that most often sink an application.

Get your details ready first

Changing details after verification is possible, but any edit to the name or address can trigger a fresh review. So prepare in advance:

• The exact business name — as it appears on your door and on your receipts.
• The address, with unit or floor if relevant.
• The category of your trade, as precise as possible.
• Phone and opening hours, weekends included.
• Photos — outside, inside, product.

Creating the profile

1. Go to google.com/business (or in the Google Maps app: menu → "Add your business").
2. Sign in with the Google account that will permanently own the profile. Use a company account, not the personal account of an employee who might leave tomorrow.
3. Type the name. If an existing profile for your business is offered, don't create a new one — claim it instead; duplicates violate the rules and end up merged.
4. Choose your primary category.
5. Enter the address and, if you travel to customers, define your service area. Businesses without premises open to visitors (tradespeople, delivery) can hide the address and show only the area.
6. Add phone and website, then submit for verification.

Verification: what to expect

Google assigns the method — you don't always get to choose. In practice you'll see:

• Video recording — today the most common method for new profiles. You record one unbroken clip showing the surroundings and your signage, the entrance, the interior, and proof you run the place (keys, till, tools, company paperwork). Film it in daylight, with no cuts and no editing.
• Phone or SMS — for well-known trades, the fastest option.
• Email on your business domain.
• Postcard by mail — slower, and less common now.
• Video call with a Google agent.

Approval usually lands within a few days. While you wait you can already fill the profile in — it just isn't public yet.

Why applications get rejected

Five common reasons, all fixable:

1. Keywords in the name. "Sunshine Bakery — Best Pastry in Town" is a violation. The name must be your real-world business name; keywords belong in categories and the description.
2. An address that isn't yours. Virtual offices, PO boxes and coworking desks don't pass unless one of your staff actually works there during opening hours.
3. Inconsistent details. Name, address and phone must match across your website, profile and directories. Differences read as a sign the listing isn't genuine.
4. Two businesses at one address with no clear difference in trade and entrance.
5. A poor video — no visible signage, or cuts in the recording, sends you back to film again.

If the application fails, you appeal through the same panel; usually fixing one of the items above is enough.

Day one after approval

An approved profile is an empty shelf. What actually brings guests are the settings that come next — categories, attributes, photos, holiday hours — and we've devoted a separate guide to the Business Profile. Work through it the same day, while you have momentum.

Then comes the part that decides whether you appear above or below your competitors: reviews. A new profile with no ratings struggles to earn trust, so start the inflow straight away — easiest through a link and QR code, as we've explained for guests. And answer every one that arrives.

Getting on the map is the ticket in. Reviews are what lift you up that list — and why some profiles never show up at all, we've covered separately.