When someone searches for "physical therapy near me" or "accountant in Curitiba", Google shows local results in Search and Maps, with ratings, photos, hours and a call button. Some people decide right there, without opening any website. This card is the Google Business Profile: free, managed by the business itself and often forgotten from the day it was created. This guide shows what Google says carries weight, what it prohibits, and a simple routine to keep your profile working for you.
Why it appears before your website
Google explains that local results depend mainly on three factors1:
- Relevance: how much the profile matches what the person was looking for. The more complete and detailed the information, the easier it is for Google to understand what you do.
- Distance: how far the business is from those looking for it. If the person doesn't say where they are, Google uses what it knows about their location.
- Prominence: how well known the business is. This includes, for example, how many websites have links to your business and how many reviews it has. Google clearly says that more reviews and positive ratings can help.
The same text warns that there is no way to ask or pay for a better position in the local ranking1. You can't control distance. Relevance and prominence you can, and that's where the work pays off.
The profile now also feeds AI answers. Google's guide to generative AI features cites the Business Profile as one of the ways to make services visible in both AI answers and regular results2. And Ask Maps, which answers questions in conversation within Maps, relies on information from more than 300 million places and community reviews3. Google announced its arrival in Brazil, in Portuguese, in June 20264. In practice, what is written on your profile and in your reviews becomes the raw material for the response. The article about customers who search ChatGPT before calling explains this movement.
What Google requires and what it penalizes
The Google business representation guidelines are short and to the point5. Anyone who fails to comply may have their profile suspended.
| Field | What the guideline says | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Name | The real name of the business, without a slogan, service or location information, hours, phone number or website | "Example Clinic, Cheap Physiotherapy and Pilates Downtown" |
| Address | Precise address or service area; businesses that go to the customer, such as a plumber who works from home, should hide the address | Showing the home address of a business that serves customers at their homes |
| Categories | Use as few as possible, the most specific ones that represent the core business | Selecting ten categories "to show up in more searches" |
| Phone | A number that reaches that location directly, preferably local, and not a call center | Call center number that no one answers after hours |
| Hours | The actual hours you are open to the public | Holiday hours never updated |
The business description has a limit of 750 characters, does not accept links or HTML and should not be used to talk about promotions, prices or sales. Google suggests that it cover what you offer, what sets you apart, how long you have been in business and anything else that helps the customer decide6.
In practice
Open your profile and read the name out loud. If it sounds like an advertisement and not like the sign on your door, it breaks the rules and puts your profile at risk.
The fields that make a difference
Google lists what helps you show up more1:
- Verify your business. This shows Google that you are authorized to represent the company and increases the chance of the profile appearing.
- Keep information complete and correct. Address (if customers visit you), hours, including special holiday hours, category and attributes such as parking or Wi-Fi. According to Google, profiles with complete and accurate data have a greater chance of appearing in local searches.
- Respond to reviews. Helpful responses show that you value the opinion of the customers you have already served.
- Add photos and videos. Facade, reception, team working, the service being done. Prefer real photos of your business to generic images.
Also use the services editor to list what you do, with prices when it makes sense and is allowed in your industry6. The more detailed the information, the easier it is for Google to match the profile to searches from people who need exactly that1.
An example of a description, for a hypothetical accounting office: "Accounting office in Curitiba that has been serving small service businesses since 2012. Business registration, payroll, taxes and tax planning. In-person service in Batel and by video call for all of Paraná." It says what, to whom, where and since when, without empty adjectives.
Reviews: how many, how recent, and how to respond
For people comparing options, reviews carry a lot of weight, and the numbers show how much. In the United States, BrightLocal's annual survey of 1,002 consumers shows that 97% read reviews of local businesses, 47% do not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 74% only care about reviews from the last three months. After reading positive reviews, 54% check out the company's website, and about a third go straight to purchasing or scheduling7.
In Brazil, a survey by Reclame Aqui and Harmo asked 1,591 people about brick-and-mortar stores. According to the survey, 96% read reviews before choosing where to buy, nine out of ten rule out companies rated below 4 on Google and, for 76.5%, the company's responses are fundamental in their choice8. It is worth remembering that both organizations work with online reputation and that the focus is on choosing physical stores, with service providers among the 13 segments analyzed.
How to ask. Google recommends reminding customers to leave a review, with a link or a QR code to your own profile9. A good moment is right after a service that ended well.
What is prohibited. Google Maps policy prohibits10:
- offering any incentive (payment, discount, gift, free service) in exchange for a review, or to change or remove a negative review;
- discouraging negative reviews or asking for reviews only from people you expect to give praise;
- pressuring customers to leave a review while still on the premises;
- requiring staff to collect a set number of reviews.
How to respond. Google's own tips11: be professional and polite, short and direct; personalize, instead of sending the same “thank you” to everyone; do not use the response to offer a promotion; with negative reviews, acknowledge the mistake when there is one, explain limits honestly, apologize when appropriate and respond quickly. BrightLocal shows why this matters: 89% of American consumers expect a response from the owner and generic responses drive away 50% of them7.
Take extra care in health and other regulated areas. Google asks you never to expose reviewers' private information11. Clinics need even more care: under the LGPD, health data is sensitive personal data12. A response that confirms a consultation, procedure or diagnosis can expose the patient, even if they mentioned something in their review. Thank them without details and take the conversation to a private channel. If in doubt, consult whoever handles the legal side of your business. Professional councils also have their own advertising rules; the guide on clinics and advertising covers this.
In practice
Write three response templates, one for praise, one for criticism and one for a rating with no text, and adapt each one to the specific case before publishing. A template is a starting point, not a ready-made answer.
A one-hour monthly routine
The profile shows your own performance: views, search terms that led to you, calls, website clicks, direction requests, messages and bookings. Search terms are updated at the beginning of each month and can take up to five days to appear13. This means you can maintain a short routine:
- First week of the month: Check opening times, telephone numbers, services and special opening hours for upcoming holidays.
- Reply to all the reviews of the month that were left unanswered.
- Publish two or three new and real photos.
- Read the numbers: calls, website clicks and direction requests. Compare with the previous month, not with your neighbor.
- Read the search terms. If people are looking for a service you offer and it doesn't appear in your profile or on your website, that's the next page to write.
In practice
Write down the profile numbers in a simple spreadsheet, one line per month. In six months you will have your own baseline, more useful for your business than any market average.
Checklist
- The profile is verified and you have owner access.
- The name is the real name of the business, without a slogan, service or neighborhood.
- The main category is as specific as possible, with few secondary ones.
- Address, service area, telephone number and hours are correct, including holidays.
- The description uses its 750 characters to say what, to whom, where and since when.
- Services are listed in the services editor.
- There are real and recent photos of the place, the team and the work.
- All reviews from recent months have a personalized response.
- No review is requested in exchange for a discount or gift.
- The profile data matches the website and social media.
The next step
The profile and the website work together: the profile brings the person, and the website needs to confirm what the profile promised, since many people will check before calling. If you want to know how the two are today, side by side, the free diagnosis from Flowt measures the business's digital presence with fixed criteria and shows where it loses customers.
