A Google Business Profile (GBP) is the free listing Google gives your business so you can appear on Google Maps and in local search results. It's the panel that shows up on the right of the page, or the pin on the map, when someone searches for a business like yours nearby. You might know it by its old name, Google My Business.
For a local business, it's often the first thing a customer sees on Google, before they ever reach your website.
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. Creating and running a profile costs nothing. Google doesn't charge you to be listed, to show on Maps, or to collect reviews. The only real cost is the time to set it up properly and keep it active, and that's exactly where the ranking benefit comes from.
Who is a Google Business Profile for?
It suits almost any business that serves a local area or has a place customers can visit, for example:
- Trades such as landscapers, builders, plumbers and electricians
- Restaurants, cafés and takeaways
- Hair salons and barbers
- Gyms and fitness studios
- Professional services with an office
A landscaper covering Nottingham can have a profile without a shopfront, listing the areas they serve. A café would use its physical address so customers can walk in and get directions.
What does a Google Business Profile show?
Your profile puts the key facts about your business straight into Google's results:
- Business name
- Opening hours
- Phone number
- Website link
- Service areas or address
- Photos of your work or premises
- Customer reviews
- Posts and business updates
That's usually enough for someone to decide whether to call you, visit your website, or tap for directions, all without leaving the search page.
Below is an example of how a Google Business Profile appears in search results.
![Example of a Google Business Profile in search results showing NLS Landscaping [border]](/Images/Help-Centre/what-is-a-google-business-profile/what-a-gbp-looks-like-NLS-example.png)
Where your profile actually shows up
Your one profile appears in several different places on Google, and it's worth knowing them apart because they behave differently:
The map pack. Search for a service plus a place ("landscaper Nottingham") and Google shows a map with three business listings under it, above every normal website link. Those three listings are Google Business Profiles. This is the most valuable spot, there are only three places, and it's free. How Google picks the three is the whole game of local SEO.
The knowledge panel. Search for a business by name and its full profile appears as a large panel: on desktop it sits on the right of the results, on mobile it takes over the top of the page. This is what the NLS example above shows. It's your shop window for anyone who's heard your name and is checking you out.
Google Maps. Your profile is also your pin and listing inside the Maps app itself, where people search, browse reviews, and tap for directions.
Same profile, three shopfronts. Fill it in once, properly, and you're present in all of them.
What running a profile involves
Setting up is the start, not the finish. Google favours profiles that look alive, so the businesses that win the map pack treat theirs as a habit rather than a one-off:
- Photos of real jobs, added regularly. Fifty photos of genuine work beats two stock images every time.
- Reviews, asked for after every job, and replied to. This is the single biggest lever, and most businesses never build a routine for it. Our review system guide shows the exact process we set up for clients, including getting your direct review link and QR code.
- Accurate details, checked every few weeks. Anyone can suggest an edit to your profile, and Google sometimes changes your hours or details on its own using information it finds elsewhere. You won't always be notified.
- Services and updates kept current as your business changes.
None of it is difficult. If you're not sure where any of this lives, our guide on how to access your Google Business Profile shows where the dashboard is on desktop and mobile (there's no separate login, it's all inside Google Search).
Your profile vs your website
A profile doesn't replace your website, and you shouldn't think of it as a choice between the two. Your Google Business Profile is your shopfront on Google: it gets you found and earns that first bit of trust through reviews and photos. Your website is the room behind it, where you do the deeper selling and convert the enquiry.
In practice, the profile often generates the first call before anyone visits your site, but the two work best together. Our guide on local SEO vs traditional SEO explains how the local and website sides fit. And if you're not sure your website is holding up its end of the deal, our free website audit will score it out of 100 and show you where it's leaking enquiries.
Why does a Google Business Profile matter?
For a local business, the profile is one of the most valuable online assets you can own. It helps you:
- Show up for "near me" and location searches in the Google Map Pack
- Let customers call, message or get directions in one tap
- Build trust through real reviews and photos
- Support the local SEO of your wider website
Even businesses with a strong website lean on their profile for calls, messages and direction requests, because that's where a lot of local searches start and end.
It's not theoretical for us either. NLS Landscaping, the business in the screenshot above, has taken 550+ leads through their website and Google Business Profile combined over 16 months of working with us, and the profile is what put them in the map pack for their most valuable searches. The full numbers are in the NLS case study.
How do you set one up?
Setting up a profile takes around 15 minutes if you have your details to hand. We've written a full step-by-step walkthrough: how to create your Google Business Profile. If you'd rather hand it over, our Google Business Profile service covers the setup and the ongoing optimisation that gets you ranking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a physical address to have a Google Business Profile?
No. If you work at your customers' homes or premises, like a landscaper or plumber, you can set up as a service-area business and hide your address completely, listing the towns or postcodes you cover instead. Never use a fake address or a mate's unit to look established, as Google suspends profiles for that.
Is Google My Business the same thing as a Google Business Profile?
Yes, it's the same thing. Google renamed Google My Business to Google Business Profile in late 2021 and later retired the separate app, so everything is now managed through Google Search and Maps. Plenty of people still say GMB out of habit.
Do I still need a website if I have a Google Business Profile?
You'll get further with both. The profile gets you found and takes the quick phone calls, but the website is where people compare you properly, look at your work, and fill in an enquiry form. In our experience the profile wins the search and the website wins the job.
Why isn't my business showing up in the Google Map Pack?
Google picks the three map results based on relevance, distance, and how established the business looks. Common culprits are an unverified or half-empty profile, missing services, few reviews, or being based outside the area someone is searching from. Filling out every section and collecting reviews steadily is usually the fastest way in.
Can other people change the information on my profile?
Yes, and this catches a lot of owners out. Anyone can suggest an edit on your profile, and Google itself sometimes updates your hours or details using information it finds elsewhere online. Check your profile every few weeks, because you won't always get a notification when something changes.
