You search for what you do plus your town, the way a new customer would, and the map fills up with three other businesses. Yours isn't there. It's frustrating, especially when you know you're good at what you do and the people who find you keep coming back.

The good news is that it's rarely a mystery. There's usually a short list of reasons, and most of them you can check yourself in an evening. Whether you run a salon, a cafe, a plumbing business or a shop, here's the order I'd go through them in. If you run a clinic, I've written a version just for clinics too.

First, check you're searching fairly

Before changing anything, make sure you're seeing what a customer sees. Local results depend heavily on where the person searching is. If you search from inside your own premises, you may see yourself when others don't, or the other way round.

Open a private browsing window on your phone, go a mile or so away, and search for your main service plus your town. Then search for your business by name. If you appear for your name but not for the service, your profile exists but isn't yet convincing Google it's the best answer. If you don't appear for your name at all, something more basic is wrong, and that's where to start.

Is your Google Business Profile claimed and verified?

The businesses on the map come from Google Business Profile, not from your website. If nobody has claimed and verified yours, or the person who set it up has moved on and taken the login with them, you have very little control over what people see.

Search Google for your business name. If a profile appears with a link to claim it, you don't manage it yet. If someone else owns it, for example a former partner or an old marketing company, Google lets you request ownership from the current owner. Verification matters for ranking as well as control: Google's own advice says verifying tells it you're authorised to represent the business, so it's more likely to show up in search results.

Also check the profile hasn't been suspended. Google can suspend profiles that break its guidelines, and it has an appeals tool if that's happened. One important point from Google's own instructions: don't create a new profile for the same business while an appeal is being reviewed.

Do you work from your address, or go to your customers?

This one catches out a lot of trades. If you visit customers rather than having them come to you, Google treats you as a service area business. Its help pages are clear that if you don't serve customers at your business address, you should remove the address from your profile and set a service area instead.

You can list up to 20 service areas, by town, postcode or similar, and Google says the overall area shouldn't be more than about two hours' drive from where you're based. Be specific and honest about where you really work. A cafe that also delivers can show its address and a service area together, which Google calls a hybrid business.

Have you chosen the right primary category?

Google says plainly that the categories you choose affect your local ranking. It asks you to pick a primary category that best describes your business, using the most specific one available. Its own example is choosing "Nail salon" rather than "Salon".

Then add a few additional categories only for the other things you genuinely are. Google says not to select a category for every product or service. If you're listed as something general when a more specific category exists, you're asking Google to guess.

Is your business name just your business name?

It's tempting to add your town or services to your profile name, like "Smith Plumbing Leeds Boiler Repairs". Google's guidelines say your name should reflect your business's real-world name, as used on your shopfront, website and stationery. Including unnecessary information isn't permitted and could lead to your profile being suspended. Keep the name honest and put your services in the categories, services list and description instead.

Does your name, address and phone number match everywhere?

Look at your website footer, your contact page, your Facebook page and any directories you're listed on. If your phone number is old in one place or your address is written three different ways, you're giving Google mixed messages and confusing customers too.

Google also says there should only be one profile per business. If you've moved, or someone made a second profile years ago, duplicates can split your reviews and cause problems with how your details show on Maps and Search.

Are you close enough to the person searching?

Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity. Relevance is how well your profile matches what someone searched for. Distance is how far you are from them. Prominence is how well known you are, which includes things like how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have.

You can't change distance. If someone searches from the other side of a city, a business nearer to them will often appear first, and nobody can fairly promise to fix that. Google also says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. What you can improve is relevance and prominence, and that's what the rest of this list is about.

Is your profile complete?

Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results. Go through every section and fill in what applies honestly:

  • Your hours, including special hours for bank holidays and closures.
  • Your services or menu, item by item, in the words your customers use.
  • A short description: who you help, what with, and where.
  • Attributes, such as Wi-Fi, outdoor seating or wheelchair access, where they apply. Google says that if you add certain attributes, you might show up in searches for places with them.
  • Your website and booking link, pointing at the right pages.
  • Real photos: the outside so people can find the door, the inside, your work and your team.

Google reviews edits before they go live, so give changes a little time to appear.

Reviews: how many, how recent, how they're answered

Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and they matter just as much for whether people choose you once they've seen you. Ask every customer, make it easy with the review link or QR code Google gives you, and reply to what people say, briefly and kindly.

Never offer anything in exchange for a review, and don't only ask the people you think will be happy. Google's policy forbids both, and UK consumer law bans fake reviews and hidden incentives too.

Does your website back it all up?

Your profile and your website work together. Prominence includes how many websites link to you, and a clear website gives Google more to go on. On the sites I build, each main service has its own page with the service and town in the title, the address and phone number match the profile exactly, and there's structured information in the code (schema) that spells out your name, address and services for search engines to read directly.

If you don't have a website yet and rely on social media, it's worth reading whether you need a website if you already have Instagram or Facebook.

When it's worth asking for help

If you've been through all of this and you're still hard to find, the website side is often what needs work. I've spent over a decade building sites made to be found on Google, and I'm happy to take a look at yours with you. I only take on a few projects at a time, so there's no pressure and no hard sell. You can see everything I help with here, or book 15 minutes to talk it through:

Book a 15-minute call

Frequently asked questions

Why does my business show up for its name but not for my service?

Your profile exists, but Google doesn't yet see it as the most relevant or prominent match for that search. Check your primary category, services, reviews and website, and remember that distance from the person searching always plays a part.

Can I put my town or services in my Google Business Profile name?

Only if they're genuinely part of your real-world business name. Google's guidelines say adding unnecessary information isn't permitted and could get your profile suspended.

I work from home and visit customers. Should my address show?

No. Google says that if you don't serve customers at your business address, you should remove it and set a service area of up to 20 towns or postcodes instead.

Can I pay Google to rank higher on Maps?

No. Google says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. What you can do is make your profile complete, accurate and well reviewed.

How long do changes take to show?

Google reviews edits before they go live, so allow a little time. Improvements from reviews and a better website tend to build up over weeks and months rather than overnight.

Sources

Checked on 7 October 2026.