How do I set up a Google Business Profile as a tradesman?

Go to business.google.com/add and choose "Add your business to Google", or, if Google already shows a listing for you on Maps, claim that one instead of making a second. When it asks whether customers come to you, say no: you visit them. That makes you a service-area business, so you remove your address and list the towns or postcodes you cover. Pick the most specific category for your trade, add your phone number and services, then verify. For most trades with no shopfront, verification means a short video recorded on your phone.

Is it free to set up a Google Business Profile?

Yes. Google's own help page says you can add or claim your business at no charge, and its UK product page calls creating a profile and listing your business free. Google also says it will never ask for payment, card details or passwords, and that a caller asking for money to keep your business on Google is not Google. Hang up on anyone who says otherwise.

How do I get my business on Google Maps?

With the same Google Business Profile. There is no separate Maps sign-up: Google says that once you add and verify your Business Profile, customers can find your business on Search and Maps. So the steps on this page are the Maps steps too. If you already show on Maps under an old or unclaimed listing, claim that one rather than adding a second.

Can I have a Google Business Profile without a shop address?

Yes. If customers do not come to you, Google tells you to remove your address and enter only your service area. A plumber working from home or out of the van is the standard case. You only show an address if customers genuinely visit it, like a showroom or a yard with your signage up that customers walk into.

Can I hide my home address as a mobile tradesperson?

Yes, and Google's guidelines say you should: a business run from a residential address clears the address from the profile, and only the service areas show to the public. Google still verifies that address behind the scenes, which is why a home-based trade films the signs and landmarks in its own street for the verification video.

How long does Google Business Profile verification take?

Google says a verification review takes up to five working days. If Google offers you a postcard instead, most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30, and you must not edit your business name, address or category before you enter the code. Set the profile up well before you need the work it brings.

Can I verify my Google Business Profile without a video?

Only if Google offers you another way. Google picks the verification methods for each profile and you cannot change them. If your profile shows more than one option, phone, text, email or a live video call, you can try another. If video is the only option offered, the video is the route.

My verification video was rejected. What now?

Google tells you which requirements the video missed. Record a new one that shows everything from the first video plus whatever was missing: usually a clearer location, such as a street sign near your base, or clearer proof the business is yours, such as opening up the van with your keys and showing your tools. If the video simply would not upload, Google's advice is to upload it again.

How many service areas can I add?

Up to 20, set by town, city, postcode or another area. You cannot set a radius around your base. Google says the whole area should not stretch further than about two hours' drive from where the business is based, so list the places you actually work.

What category should a plumber or electrician choose?

The most specific one that describes your core work, as your primary category: "Plumber", "Electrician", "Roofing contractor", "Gas engineer" and so on. Google says the categories you choose affect your local ranking, and that you should use as few as describe your core business. Add a second only for real extra work, such as a plumber who also takes on heating work adding "Heating contractor".

Do I need a separate profile for each van or each town?

No. Google says a service-area business can only have one profile for the whole area it serves. Two vans, three lads and eight towns are still one business with one profile, with the towns listed as service areas.

Someone else controls my listing. How do I get it back?

It happens when a web designer, an agency or a previous boss set the profile up under their own account. Go to business.google.com/add, find your business, choose "Request access" and fill in the form. Google gives the current owner three days to respond. If they do not, you may get the option to claim the profile yourself. If they refuse, you get an email and can try to appeal.

Someone rang asking to verify my listing for a fee. Is that Google?

No. Google's own help page says it will never ask for payment, card details or account passwords, and that a caller asking for money to keep your business on Google is not a call from Google. Do not respond, do not click any links they send, and do not give them any information.

Google My Business vs Google Business Profile: what is the difference?

Only the name. Google announced in November 2021 that "Google My Business" was being renamed "Google Business Profile", and plenty of trades still call it "my GMB". Setting up a Google My Business account and creating a Google Business Profile are the same job today, and you manage the listing from Google Search and Maps while signed in to the Google account that owns it.

Last updated 2 November 2026

How to get your business on Google: Business Profile setup for trades.

Short answer: you get your business on Google by setting up a free Google Business Profile, and that one profile is also what puts you on Google Maps. For a trade that goes out to customers, the setup runs in six steps:

Claim your listing on Maps if one exists, or add it at business.google.com/add.
Say you visit customers, which makes you a service-area business.
Remove your home address and list the towns or postcodes you cover.
Pick the most specific category.
Add your phone number, services and photos.
Verify, usually with a short video recorded on your phone.

Most setup guides are written for a shop with a front door. A plumber working out of a van is a different setup, and getting it wrong is how trades end up with their home on the map, a listing held by somebody else, or a verification video that keeps coming back. Here is the version for you, in order, with Google's own rules linked at each step.

First things first

It is free, and Google never rings for money.

Google says creating a Business Profile and listing your business is free. So when a call or a text asks you to pay to "verify", "renew" or "activate" your listing, it is not Google. Google's own help page puts it plainly: it will never ask for payment, card details or account passwords, and if a caller asks for money to keep your business on Google, it is not a call from Google. Do not respond and do not click any links.

What you need before you start

A Google account you will keep (a separate one for the business means the listing never ends up tangled in a personal account), your business name exactly as you trade, the towns or postcodes you cover, a phone number you control, your hours, and your phone to hand for the verification video.

Step 1

Create it, or claim the one that already exists.

Before you make a new profile, search your business name on Google Maps. Google sometimes has an unverified listing for a business already, and if one exists you claim it rather than make a second. On Maps, select the listing, then "Claim this business", then "Manage now". If there is nothing there, go to business.google.com/add and choose "Add your business to Google". Both routes are in Google's add or claim guide.

If somebody else already controls it

This catches more trades than you would think. A web designer, an agency or a previous boss set the profile up under their own Google account, and now the listing with your name and your reviews on it is not yours to edit. Google has a route for exactly this.

Ask for it: at business.google.com/add, find your business and choose "Request access", then fill in the form.
Wait three days: Google gives the current owner three days to respond.
No answer: you may get the option to claim the profile yourself.
Refused: you get an email, and you can try to appeal.

The full steps are in Google's request-ownership guide.

Either way you land in the same setup. The next two steps are where a trade's setup parts company with the shop version, so take them slowly.

Step 2 and 3, the important ones

No shop address? You are a service-area business.

This is the decision the whole setup turns on. Google asks whether customers come to you or you go to them. A plumber, electrician, roofer or landscaper goes to them, which makes you a service-area business. Google's rule is short: if you don't serve customers at your business address, remove it and enter only your service area.

Say you visit customers, not that they visit you. The shop-front setup is for a place with permanent signage that customers walk into. Working from home or the van, you are service-area.
Take the home address off. Google's guidelines say a service-area business should hide its address, and that a business run from a residential address clears it from the profile. Only your service areas show to the public, so your house is not pinned on the map for every stranger who searches.
List the towns and postcodes you actually work. Up to 20, by town, city, postcode or another area. You cannot draw a radius round your base, and the whole patch should sit within about two hours' drive of where you are based. List the places you genuinely go.
One business, one profile. Google says a service-area business can only have one profile for the whole area it serves. Two vans or five towns do not earn five listings; the towns go in as service areas on the one.
Got a yard or showroom customers visit? You are hybrid. A business that serves customers at its address and also goes out to them enters both the address and the service area. That fits a kitchen showroom, a tyre bay or a yard customers collect from. The guidelines rule out a virtual office unless it is staffed during opening hours, and a PO box or remote mailbox never counts.

Get this pair right and everything after it is easier, including the verification video in step 6, because Google is checking you against exactly what you set here.

Step 4

Pick the right primary category.

Google says the categories you select affect your local ranking, so this one decides a lot about which searches you turn up for. Pick the single most specific category that describes your core work as the primary one. Not "General contractor" if you are a plumber. Then add a second only for real extra work. Google's own line is to use the fewest categories it takes to describe the business, and never to use them as keywords.

Your trade	Primary category in Google's list
Plumber	Plumber (add "Heating contractor" if you take on heating work)
Electrician	Electrician
Gas engineer	Gas engineer
Roofer	Roofing contractor
Builder	General contractor
Joiner or carpenter	Carpenter
Plasterer	Plasterer
Landscaper	Landscaper

Choose it carefully the first time. Google says adding or editing a category later can mean you are asked to verify again.

Step 5

Fill in the bits that actually win jobs.

A half-finished profile looks like a half-bothered trade, and people scroll past it. The fields worth your time:

Your name, as you trade. The name on the van and the invoices, and nothing else. Google's guidelines bar extra words in the name, including the service and the place, and say breaking that rule can get a profile suspended. "Dave Hill Plumbing" is a name; "Dave's Emergency Plumber Leicester 24hr" is a keyword list.
A phone number you control. Google wants a number that reaches the business directly and is under your control, a local number rather than a call centre where you can, and never a premium-rate number. Use the same one that is on the van and your website.
Your services. List the specific jobs you take on, not the broad trade label: boiler service, bathroom fitting, drain unblocking, consumer unit change. That is what people type in.
Your hours, honestly. Set them so people know when to ring. If you take emergency callouts out of hours, say so in your services and description.
Real photos. Your van, finished jobs, a before and after, you on site. Not stock images. Real photos of your work prove you are a real trade who turns up.
A short description. Say what you do, the areas you cover, and the tickets that matter, Gas Safe, NICEIC and the like. Keep it plain; it is the blurb, not a sales pitch.

Step 6

The Google Business Profile verification video.

Setup is quick; verification is where trades get stuck. You do not choose the method: Google decides which verification options a profile gets, and you cannot change them. If more than one shows, you can try another. For a service-area trade, the option is usually a verification video, and Google sets firm rules for it: one unedited recording with no breaks, at least 30 seconds long, filmed live (nothing recorded earlier), and recorded and uploaded from your phone through the profile.

The video has to prove three things. Here is what Google asks a service-area business for, and what that looks like for a trade:

Google wants to see	What a trade films
Where you are: street signs or landmarks, not empty land	The street sign at the end of your road, then the van parked outside. Working from home, Google says to film the landmarks and signs in your immediate neighbourhood.
That the business exists: the tools, equipment or products you work with	The signwritten side of the van, then the racking, the tools and the stock inside it.
That you run it: you doing the work, or getting into business-only kit	Opening up the van with your keys and getting into the tool store, or starting a job on site.

Keep other people's faces out of shot, and anything sensitive such as bank, tax or ID numbers. Then upload it. Google says a review takes up to five working days, so set the profile up well before you are counting on it for work, not the week the diary goes quiet.

If it goes wrong

Video rejected: Google lists what was missing. Record a new one that shows everything from the first video plus the missing part. Most often that is a clearer location or clearer proof the business is yours.
Video will not upload: Google says videos sometimes fail to upload first time. Upload it again.
Offered a postcard instead: most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30. Do not change your name, address or category while you wait, or the code will not work.

Avoid these

The setup mistakes that get trades flagged.

Stuffing keywords into the business name. It is against Google's guidelines and it can get a profile suspended. If yours already has been, see Google Business Profile suspended: what to do for the fix.
Showing a home address you should hide. Set up as service-area and take the address off. It is the one setting that changes everything else.
Using a virtual office or a mailbox. A rented address you do not work from is not eligible, and neither is a PO box. Service-area with no address is the answer that verifies.
A second profile for another van or town. One business, one profile, with the towns as service areas.
Listing work you do not do. Categories and services should match what you actually turn up and do. Google says not to use categories as keywords.

Once it is live

Set up is done. Now you make it work.

A verified, filled-in profile gets you on the map. Two things then decide whether it actually brings you work, and each has its own guide. Where you show in the map pack comes down to a handful of factors you can nudge, broken down in how to rank on Google Maps once you are set up. And reviews do more than almost anything to turn a listing into a booked job; there is a right way to ask, laid out in how to get more Google reviews.

One more thing. A profile is a listing on Google's terms: a set of boxes, the same boxes every other plumber in town fills in. When someone taps through wanting to size you up, there is no page of yours to land on unless you have a proper website. That gap, seen but not chosen, is what we wrote about in do I need a website.

Straight answers

Questions trades actually ask.

How do I set up a Google Business Profile as a tradesman?: Go to business.google.com/add and choose "Add your business to Google", or, if Google already shows a listing for you on Maps, claim that one instead of making a second. When it asks whether customers come to you, say no: you visit them. That makes you a service-area business, so you remove your address and list the towns or postcodes you cover. Pick the most specific category for your trade, add your phone number and services, then verify. For most trades with no shopfront, verification means a short video recorded on your phone.
Is it free to set up a Google Business Profile?: Yes. Google's own help page says you can add or claim your business at no charge, and its UK product page calls creating a profile and listing your business free. Google also says it will never ask for payment, card details or passwords, and that a caller asking for money to keep your business on Google is not Google. Hang up on anyone who says otherwise.
How do I get my business on Google Maps?: With the same Google Business Profile. There is no separate Maps sign-up: Google says that once you add and verify your Business Profile, customers can find your business on Search and Maps. So the steps on this page are the Maps steps too. If you already show on Maps under an old or unclaimed listing, claim that one rather than adding a second.
Can I have a Google Business Profile without a shop address?: Yes. If customers do not come to you, Google tells you to remove your address and enter only your service area. A plumber working from home or out of the van is the standard case. You only show an address if customers genuinely visit it, like a showroom or a yard with your signage up that customers walk into.
Can I hide my home address as a mobile tradesperson?: Yes, and Google's guidelines say you should: a business run from a residential address clears the address from the profile, and only the service areas show to the public. Google still verifies that address behind the scenes, which is why a home-based trade films the signs and landmarks in its own street for the verification video.
How long does Google Business Profile verification take?: Google says a verification review takes up to five working days. If Google offers you a postcard instead, most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30, and you must not edit your business name, address or category before you enter the code. Set the profile up well before you need the work it brings.
Can I verify my Google Business Profile without a video?: Only if Google offers you another way. Google picks the verification methods for each profile and you cannot change them. If your profile shows more than one option, phone, text, email or a live video call, you can try another. If video is the only option offered, the video is the route.
My verification video was rejected. What now?: Google tells you which requirements the video missed. Record a new one that shows everything from the first video plus whatever was missing: usually a clearer location, such as a street sign near your base, or clearer proof the business is yours, such as opening up the van with your keys and showing your tools. If the video simply would not upload, Google's advice is to upload it again.
How many service areas can I add?: Up to 20, set by town, city, postcode or another area. You cannot set a radius around your base. Google says the whole area should not stretch further than about two hours' drive from where the business is based, so list the places you actually work.
What category should a plumber or electrician choose?: The most specific one that describes your core work, as your primary category: "Plumber", "Electrician", "Roofing contractor", "Gas engineer" and so on. Google says the categories you choose affect your local ranking, and that you should use as few as describe your core business. Add a second only for real extra work, such as a plumber who also takes on heating work adding "Heating contractor".
Do I need a separate profile for each van or each town?: No. Google says a service-area business can only have one profile for the whole area it serves. Two vans, three lads and eight towns are still one business with one profile, with the towns listed as service areas.
Someone else controls my listing. How do I get it back?: It happens when a web designer, an agency or a previous boss set the profile up under their own account. Go to business.google.com/add, find your business, choose "Request access" and fill in the form. Google gives the current owner three days to respond. If they do not, you may get the option to claim the profile yourself. If they refuse, you get an email and can try to appeal.
Someone rang asking to verify my listing for a fee. Is that Google?: No. Google's own help page says it will never ask for payment, card details or account passwords, and that a caller asking for money to keep your business on Google is not a call from Google. Do not respond, do not click any links they send, and do not give them any information.
Google My Business vs Google Business Profile: what is the difference?: Only the name. Google announced in November 2021 that "Google My Business" was being renamed "Google Business Profile", and plenty of trades still call it "my GMB". Setting up a Google My Business account and creating a Google Business Profile are the same job today, and you manage the listing from Google Search and Maps while signed in to the Google account that owns it.
Can I run a profile without a website?: You can, and a profile on its own is far better than nothing. But it is a listing on Google's terms: you get a set of boxes to fill in, and when somebody taps through wanting to size you up, there is no page of yours to land on and no way to make your case. The profile is how people come across you; a website is where they decide to ring. That pairing is what we build.

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