Google Business Profile for Contractors: Setup and Rules
Set up a Google Business Profile as a contractor or service-area business: hiding your address, service areas, categories, reviews and what gets you suspended.
For a local contractor, the Google Business Profile is often the first thing a homeowner sees: the map listing with your name, stars, phone number and photos. It is free, and for "painter near me" style searches it can bring calls before your website ranks at all. It also has rules that trip up a lot of trade businesses. Here is how to set it up properly.
Are you a service-area business?
Google splits local businesses into types:
- Service-area business: you go to the customer and do not serve them at your address. Google gives plumbers and cleaning services as examples, and most painters, handymen, roofers and landscapers fit here too.
- Hybrid business: you have a place customers visit, such as a showroom, and you also go out to jobs.
- Storefront: customers come to you.
If you are a service-area business, Google says you should remove your address from the profile, so your home address is not shown on the map. You still verify the business, but the public listing shows your service area instead of a pin.
Setting your service areas
From Google's service-area rules:
- You can list up to 20 service areas, by city, postal code or other areas.
- Your overall service area should not extend beyond about 2 hours of driving time from your base.
- Radius-based service areas are no longer allowed for new settings.
- Be specific. List the towns you actually work in.
Keep the same list on your website's service area page so the two match.
The business name rule
Use your real business name, the one on your truck, invoices and website. Google's guidelines do not allow extra information in the name:
- No marketing taglines or service descriptions ("Best Painting & Drywall Pros")
- No city or neighborhood added ("Smith Painting Dallas") unless it is really part of your legal or branded name
- No phone numbers or website addresses
Profiles with names stuffed with keywords can be suspended. If your name genuinely includes your service, like "Smith Painting," that is fine.
Categories
Pick as few categories as possible, and make them as specific as possible. Google's test is what your business is, not what it does or sells. A painting company is a "painter" or "painting contractor," not a "home improvement store." Do not add categories just as keywords.
Phone, website and hours
- Phone: a number you control that reaches your business directly.
- Website: a site that represents your business. Google does not want URLs that redirect elsewhere, including social media pages used as landing pages. Our contractor website checklist covers what that site should have.
- Hours: your real customer-facing hours. Mark special hours for holidays.
Reviews
Reviews are the part customers read first. Google's own advice:
- Ask. Share your Google review link or QR code after a job. Customers need a Google account to post.
- Reply briefly and politely. Focus on reviews where you can add something useful, rather than the same thank-you on every one.
- Handle bad reviews calmly. Do not share private information or attack the reviewer. Apologize where it fits and say what you did to fix it.
- Never pay for reviews. Offering discounts or free work in exchange for reviews, or for changing or removing negative ones, is strictly prohibited.
A simple habit works: send the review link the same day you finish, while the client is happy and the job is fresh.
Photos and posts
Add real photos of finished work, your truck and your team. Before-and-after shots of the same room or wall are the most convincing. Keep them current; a profile with photos from five years ago looks abandoned.
Common reasons profiles get suspended
- Keywords or locations added to the business name
- A virtual office or a mailbox listed as the address
- More than one profile for the same business in the same area
- A service area that stretches far beyond where you really work
- Incentivized or fake reviews
Frequently asked questions
Can I list my business without showing my home address?
Yes. If customers do not come to your address, Google says to remove it and use service areas instead.
How many service areas can I add?
Up to 20, within roughly two hours of driving time from your base.
Can I add my city to my business name to rank better?
No, unless it really is part of your business name. Adding it is against the guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
How do I get more Google reviews?
Ask every happy customer, send them the direct review link or QR code, and make it the last step of every job.
Next step
Your profile sends people to your website, so make sure it is ready. Go through the contractor website checklist, or have us build a website for your contracting business.
