aideago"My business doesn't show up on Google: Business Profile rules and your website together"
For people who say "my business doesn't show up on Google", the problem is usually in one of two places. One is the Google Business Profile on the map and in the side panel. The other is your website itself. The profile is your business's listing on Google; the website is where Google and AI assistants actually understand your business. This article summarises the profile's rules according to Google's own guidelines.
Why doesn't it show up? Check these first
- You have no profile, or it isn't verified.
- Your address in the profile doesn't meet the guidelines: a virtual office or mailbox address (see below), or you show your address although you are a business that travels to customers.
- Your website has no clear information describing your business (service, area, hours, contact); Google and AI assistants take this information from your website first.
Let's go through the profile rules in order.
Who is a profile for? Three cases
1. You have a place customers come to (shop, restaurant, clinic, workshop). According to the guidelines, your business must be able to receive customers during the hours you state and be staffed. The address is shown on the profile.
2. You go to the customer (plumber, mover, cleaner, repair service). Google's wording: "If you're a service-area business, you should hide your business address from customers." That is, if you are a service-area business you are asked not to show your address to customers; for a plumber working from home, the address should be removed from the profile. The guidelines also say the service area should not extend beyond about a 2-hour drive from where your business is based.
3. You have a virtual office or a mailbox address. The guideline is clear: a rented mailing address where the work isn't done isn't eligible for a profile ("that location isn't eligible for a Business Profile"); mailboxes at remote locations are not accepted either. A virtual office can be listed only if it is actually staffed during business hours.
The important takeaway: don't invent an address to open a profile, and don't show an address in another city. That goes against the guidelines.
What if you can't open a profile?
Not every business needs a profile. If you work entirely online or don't meet the conditions in the guidelines, your visibility rests on your website. Google's starter guide asks for page titles and descriptions to be specific to the page and accurate; for a well-built site these are ordinary but decisive jobs.
How does your website complete your profile?
- Clear information: put your address (if any), opening hours, phone and services on one page as text; don't leave them embedded in an image.
- Structured data: according to Google's "LocalBusiness" documentation this data is one way of telling Google things like opening hours and departments. Also state the area you serve clearly on your site.
- Answers to questions: the questions customers ask on the phone (price, hours, how to book) should be on the site with short answers. Both Google and AI assistants can use those answers.
Is writing the city name enough?
Opening separate, near-identical pages for every city has limited value. If you really do serve that city, write what you do and for whom specifically for that city (which district, which job). One full page is better than copy pages.
aideago measures this information on your site every week and fills the gaps; details on the website and SEO service page. To test for yourself whether you appear in AI assistants, see our 15-minute test.