What Is a Google Business Profile and Why Does It Matter for Your Business?.

If you have ever searched for a restaurant, a plumber, or a local service on Google and seen a panel appear on the right side of the screen — or a set of three business listings with maps, star ratings, and phone numbers — you have already seen Google Business Profile in action. For millions of business owners around the world, this feature is one of the most powerful and most underutilised tools available to them. And the best part? It is completely free.

This guide explains exactly what a Google Business Profile is, how it works, and why getting it right can make a meaningful difference to how easily customers find and choose your business.

What Is a Google Business Profile?

Google Business Profile — previously known as Google My Business — is a free tool provided by Google that allows businesses to manage how they appear across Google Search and Google Maps. When someone searches for your business by name, or searches for a service you provide in a specific location, your Google Business Profile is what determines whether and how your business shows up in those results.

A complete, well-managed profile displays your business name, address, phone number, website, opening hours, photos, customer reviews, and a direct link to get directions — all without the user needing to visit your website at all. For many local searches, a well-optimised Google Business Profile delivers more visible, more immediate information than your website itself.

How Does It Actually Work?

When Google detects that a search query has local intent — meaning the person is looking for something nearby or in a specific location — it displays what is known as the "Local Pack" or "Map Pack." This is the set of three business listings that appear near the top of the search results page, above the organic website results, alongside a map showing the businesses' locations.

Appearing in this Local Pack is one of the most valuable positions in local search. Studies consistently show that the majority of clicks on location-based searches go to one of these three listings rather than to the organic website results below them. For businesses targeting customers in a specific area — a suburb, a city, or a region — visibility in the Local Pack often drives more qualified traffic than traditional website SEO alone.

Your Google Business Profile is what determines whether your business is eligible to appear in this Local Pack, and how prominently it appears when it does.

Why Does It Matter So Much?

It Is Often the First Thing a Customer Sees

Before a potential customer visits your website, reads your social media, or sees any of your advertising, they may already be forming an opinion of your business based on your Google Business Profile. Your star rating, your number of reviews, your photos, and even whether your listed hours are accurate — all of these create an impression in the few seconds a user spends scanning the search results before deciding where to click.

A complete, well-maintained profile with genuine reviews and up-to-date information signals professionalism and trustworthiness before the customer has even landed on your website.

It Drives Phone Calls, Directions, and Direct Enquiries

One of the most practical benefits of a well-optimised Google Business Profile is that it allows customers to take action without ever needing to find and navigate your website. A user can call you directly from the search results by tapping your listed phone number, get directions to your location through Google Maps, or click through to your website — all from a single profile listing.

For businesses that rely on phone enquiries, walk-in customers, or location-based visits, this frictionless path from search to action is enormously valuable. Reducing the number of steps between a customer finding you and contacting you is one of the most direct ways to improve conversion rates from local search.

It Supports Your Overall Local SEO Performance

Your Google Business Profile does not operate in isolation from your website's SEO — it works alongside it. A well-optimised profile sends strong relevance signals to Google about who you are, where you are, and what services you provide. When these signals are consistent with your website's content and your wider online presence, Google becomes more confident about showing your business in relevant local search results.

Working with a professional local SEO company in Adelaide or wherever your business is based means understanding how your Google Business Profile, your website, and your wider local citation profile all interact — and ensuring they are all working together rather than in isolation.

Reviews Directly Influence Buying Decisions

Your star rating and customer reviews are among the most influential elements of your Google Business Profile. Research consistently shows that the vast majority of consumers read online reviews before making a purchasing decision, and that positive reviews significantly increase the likelihood of a user choosing your business over a competitor.

Google also uses review signals as one of the factors in determining how prominently to display your business in local search results. Businesses with a larger number of genuine, recent, positive reviews tend to perform better in local search than those with few or outdated reviews — all else being equal.

This makes actively encouraging satisfied customers to leave Google reviews one of the highest-return activities any local business can invest time in.

What Happens If You Do Not Have One — Or Have Not Claimed Yours?

Many businesses are surprised to discover that Google may have already created a basic listing for them, using publicly available information, without any action on the business owner's part. These auto-generated listings often contain incomplete or inaccurate information — wrong phone numbers, outdated addresses, or missing hours — and without claiming the profile, the business owner has no ability to correct or update that information.

An unclaimed or incomplete Google Business Profile creates two problems. First, it may be presenting incorrect information to potential customers, leading to failed contact attempts, missed visits, or a simply poor first impression. Second, it represents a missed opportunity to signal relevance and authority to Google through a complete, optimised profile.

If you have not yet claimed and verified your Google Business Profile, doing so should be one of your first priorities in your local digital presence.

What Makes a Google Business Profile Well-Optimised?

There is a significant difference between having a Google Business Profile and having one that is genuinely working for your business. Here is what a well-optimised profile looks like in practice.

Complete and accurate business information. Every field in your profile should be filled in accurately — name, address, phone number, website, hours (including public holidays), and business category. Consistency between your profile and the information on your website and across other online directories is particularly important.

The right primary and secondary categories. Google uses your business categories to determine which searches your profile is relevant for. Choosing the most accurate primary category and relevant secondary categories helps Google show your business to the right searchers.

A well-written business description. Your business description gives you space to explain what your business does, who it serves, and what makes it different — in a way that includes relevant keywords naturally without feeling forced.

High-quality photos. Businesses with photos on their Google Business Profile receive significantly more direction requests and website clicks than those without. Photos of your premises, your team, your work, or your products all contribute to a more engaging, trustworthy profile.

Regular posts and updates. Google Business Profile allows you to publish posts — similar to social media updates — that appear directly in your profile. Regular posts signal to Google that your profile is actively managed, which is a positive signal for local search visibility.

A consistent stream of fresh reviews. Rather than accumulating a large number of reviews at one point and then none for months, a steady flow of genuine reviews over time is more valuable for both user perception and search visibility.

Accurate Q&A management. Google allows users to ask questions directly on your profile, and these questions are publicly visible. Monitoring and answering questions promptly — and proactively adding your own frequently asked questions — is a simple but often overlooked way to improve both user experience and profile completeness.

Common Google Business Profile Mistakes That Cost Businesses Customers

Even businesses that have claimed and partially set up their profile often make avoidable mistakes that limit its effectiveness.

Incorrect or inconsistent NAP information. NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. If these details differ between your Google Business Profile, your website, and other online directories, it creates confusion for both users and Google. Consistency across all platforms is essential.

Ignoring the reviews section. Failing to respond to reviews — particularly negative ones — gives the impression that the business does not care about customer feedback. Responding professionally to all reviews, positive and negative, demonstrates engagement and builds trust with prospective customers who are reading them.

Setting and forgetting. A Google Business Profile is not a one-time setup. Hours change, services evolve, new photos become available, and customer questions arise. Treating the profile as a living part of your online presence rather than a set-and-forget task produces meaningfully better results over time.

Choosing the wrong primary category. This is a more common mistake than most business owners realise. An incorrect primary category can limit your visibility for the most important searches in your space, regardless of how complete the rest of your profile is.

Google Business Profile and the Broader SEO Picture

It is worth understanding that while Google Business Profile is a powerful tool for local visibility, it is one part of a broader local SEO strategy rather than the whole answer on its own. Local citation consistency, on-page SEO for location-specific pages, review management across multiple platforms, and the technical performance of your website all contribute to how well your business performs in local search.

An experienced SEO agency in Adelaide or your relevant city will approach Google Business Profile optimisation as part of an integrated local strategy — not as a standalone fix. The businesses that perform best in local search are typically those that have invested in all of these elements consistently, rather than optimising one channel while neglecting others.

This is particularly true in competitive markets where multiple businesses are all investing in local SEO and the marginal gains from doing things well across every channel are what separate the businesses that appear in the Local Pack from those that don't.

How Google Business Profile Fits Into a Wider Digital Strategy

For businesses investing in professional SEO services in Adelaide or anywhere else in Australia, Google Business Profile optimisation typically sits alongside website SEO, content strategy, and link building as a core component of the overall programme. The signals from a well-optimised profile reinforce the signals from a well-optimised website, and together they create a more robust and consistent presence in local search.

For businesses that also invest in broader digital infrastructure — custom web applications, ecommerce platforms, or integrated business systems — working with a software development firm that also understands SEO means your website's technical foundation supports your search visibility rather than working against it. Fast load times, clean architecture, proper mobile optimisation, and structured data implementation all contribute to both user experience and search performance in ways that a standalone SEO effort cannot fully address without the underlying technical quality being in place.

Getting Started With Your Google Business Profile

If you have not yet set up or claimed your Google Business Profile, here is the straightforward path to getting started:

Search for your business on Google. If a listing already exists, you will see an option to "Claim this business." If no listing exists, you can create one from scratch at business.google.com.

Verify your business. Google requires verification to confirm you are the legitimate owner of the business. This is typically done via a postcard sent to your business address, though phone and email verification are available for some businesses.

Complete every section of your profile. Do not leave any fields blank. The more complete your profile is, the better it tends to perform.

Add photos. At minimum, add a cover photo, a logo, and several photos of your premises or work.

Ask your happy customers to leave a review. A personalised, genuine request to a satisfied customer is the most effective way to start building your review profile.

Monitor and update regularly. Set a reminder to check your profile at least monthly to ensure information is current, questions are answered, and new reviews have been responded to.

Final Thoughts

A Google Business Profile is not a nice-to-have addition to your online presence — it is a foundational element of local digital visibility. For any business that serves customers in a specific location, whether that is a single suburb, a city, or a region, getting your Google Business Profile right is one of the highest-return investments you can make in your online presence.

The businesses that take it seriously — completing every field, managing their reviews, posting regularly, and treating it as a living part of their digital presence — consistently outperform those that set it up once and forget about it. In a competitive local market, that consistency is often the difference between appearing in the Local Pack and being invisible to the customers who are actively searching for exactly what you offer.