Guide

Google Business Profile checklist for Indian businesses

When someone searches "near me", Google shows three businesses on the map before anything else. Your Google Business Profile decides whether you are one of them. Work through this list once, then keep it current.

Get the basics exactly right

• Use your real business name, the same way it appears on your signboard. Adding keywords to the name can get the profile suspended.
• Pick the most specific primary category, like "Dental clinic" rather than "Doctor". Add a few secondary categories that match real services.
• Set the right address or service area, your phone number and your website. Use the same details everywhere online.
• Add your opening hours, including special hours for festivals and holidays.

Show what you do

• List each service or product with a short description and, where it helps, a starting price in rupees.
• Add real photos: the outside so people can find you, the inside, your team and your work. Add new photos every month.
• Write a business description that says what you do, for whom, and in which areas, in plain words.

Make it easy to get in touch

• Turn on messaging if you can reply quickly, and add a booking or enquiry link.
• Make sure the phone number on the profile is answered during your listed hours.
• Link to a website page that has tap-to-call and a WhatsApp button on a phone.

Earn reviews steadily

• Ask every happy customer for a review, with a direct link sent on WhatsApp or SMS.
• Reply to every review, good or bad, politely and within a few days.
• Never buy reviews or offer gifts for them. Google removes them, and it can hurt your profile.