Claiming your Google Business Profile.
If your shop doesn’t show up when you search for it on Google, or it shows up but says “Claim this business”, you need to claim or verify ownership first. Once claimed, the profile is yours to edit.
Search for your shop on Google.
Open Google in your browser. Type your shop name and your town, for example “Sarah’s Bakery, Bristol”. If your shop is already listed, you’ll see a panel on the right side of the search results with your business name, photos, and reviews. On mobile, it shows up at the top instead.
Find the “Own this business” link.
On the panel, look for “Own this business?” or “Claim this business”. Click it to start the verification process. If your shop isn’t listed at all, scroll down on the search results page until you see “Add your business to Google”, or go to google.com/business directly.
Verify with Google.
Google will ask you to prove you own the business. The options usually include:
- Phone call or text to your business number
- Postcard sent to your address (takes around 5 working days)
- Email to a business email address
- Video verification, where you record a short clip of your shop
Pick the option that works for you. Postcard is the most common, but the slowest. Video and phone are usually the fastest.
Wait for confirmation.
Once Google approves your verification, the profile is yours. You’ll get a notification, and the “Claim this business” link disappears from your listing. From here on, you can edit anything on it.
If you can’t see “Claim this business”: the profile might already be claimed by someone else, often from an old listing or a previous owner. Google has a process for requesting access, where they contact the current owner. It takes a few days. Search “Google Business Profile request ownership” for the latest steps.
Watch out for fake calls: a lot of small businesses get cold calls from people pretending to be from Google, asking for money to “fix” the listing. Google never charges to claim a profile. If someone calls and asks you to pay, hang up.
Updating your details.
Once the profile is yours, you can update everything in one place. Most edits appear within minutes. Some, like business name changes, take a few days while Google reviews them.
Open your profile to edit.
Make sure you’re signed in to the Google account that owns your business. Search your shop name on Google. The same panel comes up, but now with an “Edit profile” button. Click it.
Update each field that’s wrong.
Run down each tab and check what’s there. The main fields to check are:
- Business name. Exactly as it appears on your signage. Avoid adding keywords like “best in Bristol” or your category, Google penalises that.
- Category. Pick the most accurate primary one. You can add a few secondaries if they fit.
- Address. Your physical shop address, not a P.O. box.
- Phone number. Your shop’s main line. If you use a mobile, that’s fine, but keep it consistent.
- Hours. Regular hours and special hours for bank holidays.
- Website. Your main website, or your social media page if that’s all you have.
Add a description.
Find the “Business description” field. You have up to 750 characters. Three things to cover, in your own words:
- What you do, plainly.
- Where you do it, your area or neighbourhood.
- One thing that makes you a bit distinct. Years open, family-run, what you specialise in.
Avoid links and promotional language. Google strips them out and may flag the description for review. Keep it human.
Save and wait.
Hit save. Most edits go live within a few minutes. Some, especially name and address changes, can take a few days to get past Google’s review. You can come back any time to keep editing.
On opening hours: if you change your closing time or add a holiday, update it here too. Nothing earns a one-star review quicker than a customer driving over to find your shop closed when Google said you were open.
Adding photos.
Photos help your profile show up more often, and help customers decide whether to come in. Google says profiles with photos get noticeably more requests for directions and more clicks through to the website.
Open the photos section.
From your profile, click “Photos” or “Add photo”. This opens the photo manager.
Cover the basics first.
Five photos to add before anything else:
- Logo. Square format. Your branding, even if it’s just your shop name in a nice font.
- Cover photo. Landscape format. The headline photo that shows up large.
- Outside. A photo of the front of your shop, so people can spot it from the street.
- Inside. A photo of the space, so people know what to expect when they walk in.
- You or your team. A photo of the people who work there. Customers respond to faces.
Add more over time.
Beyond the basics, add photos of your products, your work, or specific moments. Aim for at least ten in total. Fresh photos help, since Google notices when a profile is being kept up.
Phone photos are fine. Take them in natural light if you can. What matters is that they look like what customers actually see when they’re in your shop. Real photos build trust.