How to set up a Google Business Profile in NZ (and show up on Maps)

To get your trade business showing on Google Maps, create a free Google Business Profile, tell Google that customers don't visit your premises so your home address stays hidden, add up to 20 service areas, pick the most specific primary category, and verify the profile. For many businesses verification now means a short video recorded on your phone, which Google says can take up to five business days to review.

Then fill in your services, photos and hours, and start asking for reviews. The setup is free and takes an hour or two, plus the wait for Google.

What is a Google Business Profile, and does a tradie need one?

A Google Business Profile is the free listing that puts your business on Google Maps and in the map results when someone searches for something like "electrician Tauranga". For a tradie, it's often the first thing a new customer sees, before your website.

It shows your name, phone number, reviews, photos, service areas and hours, and people can call you straight from it. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence (how well known a business is), and that there's no way to pay for a better local ranking. What you can control is how complete, accurate and well-reviewed your profile is.

What do you need before you start?

Have these ready so you can finish in one sitting:

• A Google account you control, not a staff member's personal one
• Your business name exactly as it appears on your signage and invoices
• A phone number that rings you directly (a mobile is fine)
• Your website address, if you have one
• The towns or suburbs you actually work in
• Your main services
• Ten or so good photos of real jobs

How do you create a Google Business Profile, step by step?

You create a profile at business.google.com/add, enter your details, set yourself up as a service-area business if customers don't visit you, then verify. Here's the order:

1. Check you don't already have one. If your business is already on Google Maps, claim that profile rather than making a second one.
2. Go to business.google.com/add and sign in with your business Google account.
3. Enter your business name. Your real-world name only. No towns, no keywords, no "best".
4. Choose your primary category. Start typing your trade and pick the most specific match.
5. Answer the location question. Google asks (wording may vary) whether you want to add a location customers can visit, like a store or office. If customers don't come to you, choose No. This sets you up as a service-area business.
6. Add your service areas, phone number and website.
7. Verify. Google shows you which verification method is available for your business.

How do you set up a service-area business and hide your home address?

If customers don't come to your address, Google's guidelines say you should hide it and show a service area instead. That covers most tradies working from home.

Google may still ask for your address so it can verify you, but it won't show it publicly once you've chosen not to. If your address is already showing, go to Edit profile > Location and turn off Show business address to customers.

The rules for service areas, from Google's own help pages:

• You can add up to 20 service areas, using towns, suburbs, postcodes or regions.
• You can't set a radius around your base.
• Your overall area shouldn't stretch beyond about two hours' driving time from where you're based.

Be realistic. A Hamilton builder might list Hamilton, Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Ngāruawāhia and Raglan, not Auckland and Tauranga because of one job there. Listing an area tells customers where you work; it doesn't guarantee you'll appear in every search there.

What if customers do visit you?

If you have a staffed showroom, yard or office that's open to customers, you're a hybrid business: you can show that address and still add service areas.

Which categories should a trade business choose?

Choose one primary category that describes what your business is, as specifically as possible, and only add extra categories for genuine parts of the business. Google says your categories affect your local ranking, and asks you to use as few as possible.

For the primary category, start typing and pick the closest match. Google's list uses its own, often American, wording, so try a few terms. Typical choices include Plumber, Electrician, Roofing contractor, Painter, Landscaper, Builder or General contractor, and Excavating contractor for siteworks and earthmoving.

Add secondary categories only for real service lines. A landscaper who also builds decks might add "Deck builder". Don't add a category for every job you've ever done, and don't use categories as keywords. Google also notes that adding or changing categories can prompt you to verify again, so get them right first.

How does Google Business Profile verification work in 2026?

Google decides which verification method you get, and you can't change it. It may be a phone call or text, email, recorded video, live video call or postcard, and you may need more than one.

Google says verification reviews take up to five business days, though some take longer.

What should a verification video show?

Video is a common method now. For a service-area business, Google asks it to show:

• Where you operate, such as street signs or landmarks near your business address.
• That the business exists, such as your tools, equipment or branded clothing. A signwritten ute helps.
• That you manage it, such as doing a job, or showing something only the business would have, like a business invoice or permit.

It must be one continuous, unedited recording of at least 30 seconds, captured live on your phone. Keep other people's faces out of shot, and cover sensitive details such as bank account, IRD or ID numbers. If a video isn't accepted, Google tells you why and you can record a new one.

Some businesses that have already verified their website in Google Search Console may be offered instant verification. While you wait, hold off editing your name, category or address, as changes to key details can trigger another review.

What should you put in your services, description, hours and photos?

Fill in every section with plain, accurate information: the services you actually offer, a short description in everyday language, the hours you take calls, and real photos of your work. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results.

Services

Go to Edit services. Google suggests services based on your category, and you can add custom ones if yours aren't listed. Describe each in the words your customers use: "hot water cylinder replacement", not "HWC install". Google asks you to keep prices and phone numbers out of custom service names.

Description

Write a few short sentences: what you do, where you work, how long you've been at it, and anything that sets you apart, such as being a Licensed Building Practitioner. Skip the links, the capitals and the list of every suburb in the region.

Hours

Google asks for your regular customer-facing hours. For most tradies, that's when you answer the phone and quote jobs. If you genuinely work by appointment only, Google's guidelines say you shouldn't list hours. Set special hours for public holidays like Waitangi Day and Matariki.

Photos

Upload JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB. Google recommends 720 x 720 pixels, with a minimum of 250 x 250. Add your logo, a cover photo and plenty of real job photos: before and afters, finished work, your crew on site. Google says photos should be in focus, well lit and represent reality, so go easy on filters. Newer photos show first, so adding a few after each good job keeps the profile fresh.

How do you get Google reviews without breaking the rules?

Ask every happy customer at the end of the job, with a direct link to your review form. Don't pay for reviews, offer discounts for them, or only ask the customers you think will give five stars, because all three break Google's policies.

• Save your review link as a text template on your phone and send it the day the job's finished.
• Put the review QR code on your invoice or a card you leave behind.
• Reply to every review, good or bad, briefly and politely.

Google's policies also rule out reviews from your own staff and discouraging negative reviews. In New Zealand, the Commerce Commission has guidance for businesses on collecting and publishing reviews, because misleading review practices can breach the Fair Trading Act. There's more in our guide to getting more Google reviews.

Are Google Business Profile posts worth doing?

Posts are worth a few minutes a month. Think of them as a noticeboard for people already looking at your profile. You can post updates, offers and events, and Google archives posts after six months unless you set a date range.

A finished job with two or three photos and a sentence about it is the easiest post there is. Leave phone numbers out of the text, as Google may reject posts with a number it can't link to your business.

Why should your name, address and phone match everywhere?

Keeping your business name, address and phone number identical everywhere makes it easier for customers, and Google, to trust that your details are right. If your profile, website and Facebook page each show a different name or number, that's three versions of the truth.

Pick one version and use it on your website, Facebook and Instagram, directories such as Yellow, NoCowboys, Builderscrack and Finda, your quotes and invoices, and your vehicle signage. Use a number that connects straight to your business; Google prefers a local number to a call centre where possible, and doesn't allow numbers that redirect elsewhere. Our local SEO checklist for NZ tradies covers the listings worth claiming.

What gets a Google Business Profile suspended?

Profiles get suspended for breaking Google's guidelines for representing your business. These are the mistakes worth avoiding.

Keyword stuffing the name

Google says adding unnecessary information to your business name isn't permitted and could result in suspension. "Smith Plumbing" is fine. "Smith Plumbing – Best Emergency Plumber Auckland 24/7" is asking for trouble. If a town is genuinely part of your trading name, on your signage and invoices, that's fine. Bolting one on to rank isn't.

Virtual offices and borrowed addresses

A virtual office, PO Box or co-working desk you don't actually work from isn't eligible. Neither is a mate's address in a town you'd like to rank in.

Other common trip-ups

• Creating extra profiles for nearby towns. It's one profile per business location.
• Service areas stretching well beyond about two hours' drive from your base.
• Paid, swapped or staff-written reviews, which breach Google's policies and can be removed.

If you are suspended, fix the cause first, then appeal through Google's suspended profiles help page.

How do your Google Business Profile and website work together?

Your profile gets you found on Maps, and your website is where people check you out before they ring. The two should tell the same story, with the same name, number, services and areas, and link to each other.

Link the profile's website field to your homepage, make sure each main service on your profile has a matching page on your site, and use the same real photos on both. A profile works without a website, but plenty of people want to see one before ringing a tradie they don't know. If you're pricing one up, here's what a website costs in NZ.

How we handle it

Every website we build at NZ Web Services includes Google Business Profile setup, done to the guidelines above. On our Growth plan ($150 a month) we manage the profile for you on an ongoing basis. You can see what's included on our services page.

Everything in this guide, though, is something you can do yourself in an afternoon. If you'd rather hand it off along with a website, you can request a callback or call 022 324 5909 to talk it through.