Google Business Profile Setup Steps for 2025

Determine if you can actually have a Google Business Profile:

If your work is entirely remote, you probably can’t apply. But if you meet clients and customers in person during your stated hours, you probably can create a GBP. Google says “To qualify for a Business Profile, a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours.” (with some exceptions) (source)

Read the Google Guidelines Once

• Here’re the guidelines – Read here. This will help you avoid pitfalls along the way. It’s a quick read too.

Different types of business (source):

• Storefront/Shopfront business – A physical “…shopfront with clear signage…” (source) for which you are able to “Demonstrate proof of management” (source)
• “Service-area business: A business that visits or delivers to customers directly but doesn’t serve customers at their business address.” (source)
• “Hybrid business: A business that serves customers at their business address but also directly visits or delivers to customers. If your business doesn’t have permanent on-site signage, it’s not eligible as a storefront and should be listed as a service-area business.” (source)

Pre-Video Verification Steps:

1. Get all the info you’ll need for the video verification:
2. Set up an email for your business. I advise having a business email separate from your personal. You can get a free Google account and email by singing up for one. The business email is the one you’ll use for verification later.
3. Have a business card ready with information that exactly matches your GBP – Your business name at an absolute minimum. Consider using Canva to quickly create one. I made one in about 10 minutes and printed it out on some thick paper and cut it to a card size. It worked!
4. Be in the right spot: be near your address to film the sign that shows you are where you list your business.
5. Have your equipment nearby: tools (work equipment), car with your logo. In my case my equipment was my laptop.
6. Show only what you need to show Google and nothing else – nobody else’s face.
7. Decide what to call your business – Do a bit of keyword research and consider making your business name an EMD (exact match domain). Just make sure the name on your website matches the name on your GBP.
8. To do keyword research for free you can get a Google Ads account which gives you access to the Google Keyword Planner. If Google forces you to create a campaign in Google Ads, you can pause the campaign right after you create it. Be prepared to give Google your credit card information.
9. Set up your phone for verification: make sure your settings allow the verification process to use your camera, microphone, and location.
10. iPhone Pre-Verification Setup
11. Enable the browser on your phone to reveal your location to Google:
12. Settings → Privacy and Security → Location Services → Select Chrome (or whatever browser you are using for the video verification) → Check “While Using the App.”
13. Enable your phone browser to use your camera:
14. Settings → Privacy and Security → Location Services → Camera → Toggle on your browser (for me it was Chrome)
15. Enable your phone browser to use your microphone:
16. Settings → Privacy and Security → Microphone → Toggle on your browser (for me it was Chrome)

Video Verification Steps

1. Google walks you through everything. It tells you what you’ll need to show them in the video. Just take your time and read the instructions carefully. If something goes wrong, you can always start over.
2. Scan the QR code Google displays on your computer with your phone. Then Google will walk you through everything you need to do on your phone. And if you followed the pre-verification steps earlier, it should go very smoothly.

Verification Complete

When you finish verification it can take a few days for it to be approved. Also, make sure to have as much ready to put into your profile as possible. Google can sometimes suspend accounts for just changing things. Especially if it’s something big like: Name of business, Phone, Website. Try to get it done right the first time.

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