Google Business Profile – Glossary

What is Google Business Profile?

Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is a free listing that lets businesses control how they appear in Google Search and Google Maps. A profile shows the business name, address, phone number, opening hours, website, photos, reviews and posts, and it is the basis for appearing in the local “map pack” on the results page.

For local visibility, the profile is one of the strongest local ranking signals. Google ranks local results mainly by relevance, distance and prominence – and a complete, active profile with good reviews supports all three.

Best practice:

Choose the most accurate primary category and add relevant secondary ones.
Keep name, address and phone number identical to your website and other directories.
Collect reviews regularly and reply to them, including negative ones.
Add real photos, services or products, and keep opening hours up to date, including holidays.
Use posts for offers, events and news.

For international companies with several locations, every location needs its own verified profile, managed centrally in a business group. Write profile content in the local language, use local phone numbers and link each profile to the matching country or language version of your website. Note that in some markets other platforms matter more, for example Baidu in China or Naver in South Korea.