How to set up a Google Business Profile, and the mistakes that get it suspended

You generally need to meet customers in person, either at a place they can visit or by going to them. A cafe, salon, shop, mobile hairdresser or plumber can fit those rules. A business that only sells or consults online, with no in-person customer contact, does not qualify.

Working from home does not automatically make you ineligible. What matters is how you serve customers. If you visit them and they do not come to your home, use a service-area profile with the address hidden. If you sell age-restricted goods, Google's rules require a shopfront rather than a service-area-only profile.

If you are unsure which setup fits, read How to run a service-area business on Google without showing your home address before entering a public location.

Search Google Maps for your business name and town. A listing may already exist even if you did not create it. Claim the correct listing rather than making another one. If it is unclaimed, choose Claim this business and follow the verification steps. If another account already manages it, use Google's ownership request process.

For a service-area profile owned by someone else, Google's ownership guidance directs you to contact support for a transfer. Do not create a replacement to get around an access problem. A business normally has one profile per real location, not one for each service or town it covers.

• Sign in with a Google Account you control. If a colleague set the profile up, check which account owns it before starting again.
• Keep primary ownership with the business. Add a helper as a manager through Business Profile settings, then People and access, rather than sharing your password.
• If no profile exists, open business.google.com/add and follow the prompts to add your business.

Enter the name customers know from your signage, website and business materials. Do not add a list of services, nearby towns, phone numbers or promotional claims to make the name rank better. Google explicitly warns that unnecessary information in the name can lead to suspension.

Choose a main category that describes what the business is. Additional categories should describe genuine parts of the business, not every service you offer or every search you want to appear for. List individual jobs in the services section instead. Use a broader category if Google does not offer an accurate specific one.

Give a phone number under the business's direct control and a website address that represents the business. Check both yourself. A number copied from an old advert or a link to the wrong branch makes the listing less useful even if Google accepts it.

If the real trading name is Acme Plumbing, use that name. Put boiler repairs and the towns you serve in the appropriate service and location fields, not into an expanded business name.

A shopfront profile is for a real place where customers can visit. Google expects permanent signage showing the business name. A hybrid business both receives customers at its premises and travels or delivers to them. It can show its address and add a service area, but the premises must be staffed and able to receive customers during its stated hours.

If customers do not visit your base, hide the address and set the places you actually serve. Google lets you specify up to 20 service areas using towns, postcodes or other supported areas. A hidden address does not make a virtual office acceptable. Use the real operating base for any location information Google requests during verification.

A PO box, remote mailbox or rented postal address where you do not operate is not an eligible business location. A coworking office qualifies only when it has clear signage, receives your customers during opening hours and has your own staff there during those hours. Reception provided by the building is not a substitute for that requirement.

Verification checks that you are authorised to represent the business. Google decides which methods are available. These can include a video recording, phone or text, email, a live video call or post. You cannot demand a particular method, and some businesses need more than one.

For video verification, plan a continuous recording that demonstrates the real location, the business's equipment or operation and your authority to manage it. A service-area business can show nearby street signs, relevant tools and access to business equipment. Use the instructions shown for your profile. Do not include other people's faces, bank details, tax numbers or identity numbers.

Google says verification review usually takes up to five working days, though it can take longer. If a postal code is offered, do not change the name, address or category while waiting, or request another code unnecessarily. Those actions can invalidate the code. Keep verification codes private, including from people helping with the profile.

Add accurate opening hours, the services you provide and genuine photographs of the business. Update special hours for bank holidays or other changes. Do not choose round-the-clock opening simply because a website or voicemail is always available.

After verification, look at the profile in a private browser window as well as your signed-in management view. Try the website link, check the phone number and read the address or service areas. Confirm that the live profile reflects your changes rather than assuming that saving them made them public immediately.

If the profile cannot be found, read Why your business isn't showing on Google Maps. It explains how to separate a verification or policy problem from a listing that exists but ranks lower for a particular search.

These are policy problems, not tricks to fix by changing a few words after Google notices. Build the profile around facts you can support. Google can suspend or disable a profile that breaks its rules.

• Do not add keywords, locations or sales claims to the business name unless they genuinely form part of its real-world name.
• Do not use a borrowed address, PO box or virtual office to appear closer to customers.
• Do not display your home as a customer-facing premises if customers do not visit there.
• Do not create extra profiles for individual services or every town you cover. Google's limited exceptions for separate locations, departments and practitioners have their own conditions.
• Do not create an in-person profile for a business that operates only online.
• Do not submit false details or verification evidence. Keep documents consistent with the actual business and operating location.

Read the restriction reason in Google's Business Profile appeals tool. Review the relevant policy and correct the details that do not comply. A request for further verification is not automatically a suspension, so follow the status shown in your account rather than guessing.

Prepare supporting evidence before opening the evidence form. Google lists business registration, licences, tax certificates and utility bills as examples. It asks for the business name and address to match the profile. If your registered office differs from your operating base, explain the difference and provide evidence of where the business actually operates. Do not change the profile to a false address just to match a document.

Once you open the evidence form, you have 60 minutes to submit it for attachment to the appeal. Do not create another profile for the same business while the appeal is under review. Track the decision in the tool. If an account restriction is involved, Google's guidance says to appeal that restriction first, then the affected profiles after it is lifted. Reinstatement is Google's decision, not something a provider can guarantee.