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Google Business Profile: how to set it up and why it matters

Updated November 7, 2026 · 2 min read

In short

A Google Business Profile is the card that shows up on Google Maps and beside the search results, with your address, hours, phone and reviews. It's free, and it's worth it for every business that serves an area. It works best together with a website: the profile brings the exposure, and the website convinces people to get in touch.

What a Google Business Profile is

When someone searches "accountant in Chicago" or "pizza near me", Google shows a map with a few businesses. Each business there is a Google Business Profile: name, category, address or service area, hours, phone, photos and reviews.

How to set it up

  1. Go to Google Business Profile with a Google account and choose "Add your business".
  2. Pick a name (the business's real name, with no extra keywords) and an exact primary category.
  3. Add an address, or a service area if you go to your customers.
  4. Add a phone number and the website.
  5. Verify the business in the way Google offers.

What to fill in to stand out

  • An exact category, and relevant secondary categories.
  • Opening hours kept up to date, holidays included.
  • Real photos of the place, the team and your work.
  • A short description that explains what you do and for whom.
  • Reviews: ask happy customers, and reply to every review, the negative ones too.

Why you need a website too

The profile is limited: a few lines and photos. The website is the place to explain every service, answer questions and build trust. Google also uses the website to understand what the business does. Make sure the name, address and phone are identical on the profile and the website.

Common mistakes

  • Putting keywords in the business name. It's against Google's guidelines.
  • Forgetting to update the hours.
  • Ignoring reviews.

Built into BazSite, no plugins

In WordPress, Wix and Shopify most of these take plugins or apps, each with its own settings, updates and fees, and most only work when someone runs them by hand. In BazSite they're part of the system, included in the plan and run on their own.

SEO analysis and one-click fixes On plans with SEO

An SEO score for every page and article, and with "Help me fix it" the AI writes the fixes themselves: the Google title and description, a missing paragraph, questions and answers. You approve each suggestion with a click.

In WordPress: An SEO plugin (like Yoast or Rank Math) that gives a score, and you write the fixes yourself.

Descriptions (alt text) for every image On plans with SEO

The system shows which images on the website are missing a description, and with one click the AI looks at each image and writes its description in the website's language, for Google and for blind visitors.

In WordPress: Writing them by hand, image after image, or yet another plugin.

Change text in plain words

Write "shorten the About page and add the opening hours", and see before and after for every part of the page. It works on the whole website at once too, and nothing goes live without your approval.

In WordPress: Editing by hand in the block editor or a page builder.

Change the design in plain words

Write "rounder buttons and dark blue headings", and see the page before and after, on desktop and on a phone, before you approve.

In WordPress: CSS code, theme settings or a page builder.

Ready for AI search (GEO)

Every website is open to the crawlers of ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, with an llms.txt file that sums up for them who the business is, how to reach it and what's on the website, and with structured data about the business, its questions and answers and its articles. Every new article opens with a direct answer, exactly what AI engines quote.

In WordPress: An SEO plugin (like Yoast) for structured data and llms.txt, and setting it up.

New articles every month On plans with SEO

The system picks topics from keywords that aren't on Google's first page yet, writes the articles and sends them to you for approval, or publishes on its own if you chose that.

In WordPress: Writing by hand, or an AI plugin that writes an article when asked, with no link to your Google rankings.

Built-in catalogs Depending on the plan

Listings for a realtor, treatments for a clinic, memberships for a gym: your own fields, a page for every item, a list with filters and a map. Adding an item is like filling in a form.

In WordPress: A content type with ACF or Pods, a loop built in Elementor and a filter plugin, each needing setup and updates.

A weekly website check-up

Once a week the system goes over the website and emails you about broken links, heavy images, pages without a Google title and a contact form that doesn't work.

In WordPress: A plugin or an outside monitoring service.

Accessibility check

The system goes over every page of the website against the accessibility standard (WCAG 2.1 AA) and shows what to fix: images without a description, colors without enough contrast, fields without a label and more. A color that fails is fixed with a click. Every website includes an accessibility statement.

In WordPress: An accessibility plugin or an outside scanner.

The full comparison: what's built into BazSite and what needs a plugin elsewhere →

FAQ

Does a Google Business Profile cost money?

No, it's free.

Do I need a physical address?

No. A business that goes to its customers can set a service area and hide the address.

How do I get more reviews?

Ask happy customers, with a direct link to writing a review. Don't buy reviews and don't write them for yourself.