What a Google Business Profile is, and how it works in Ireland
Your Google Business Profile is the free listing that puts your business on Google Maps and in the map results on Google Search. This guide explains how it works, how Google decides who shows up, and which of our guides to read next, wherever you’re starting from.
Updated 9 min read
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Get my free auditWhat is a Google Business Profile?
A Google Business Profile is your free business listing on Google Maps and Google Search. It shows your name, category, location or service area, hours, phone number, website, photos and reviews, and you control it once it’s verified. It used to be called Google My Business, until Google renamed it in November 2021.
- Cost
- Free. Ads shown above the map are a separate, paid product
- Old name
- Google My Business, renamed in November 2021
- Where it shows
- Google Maps, the map in Google Search, and the panel that appears when someone searches your name
- Who can have one
- Businesses that meet customers in person, at their own premises or the customer’s
- Not eligible
- Online-only businesses, unstaffed virtual offices and PO boxes
- How Google ranks it
- Relevance, distance and prominence
- Paying to rank higher
- Not possible, Google says
- Where to manage it
- business.google.com, or search your business name on Google while signed in
- Description
- Up to 750 characters, with no links, and not focused on prices or offers
Where your profile shows up
Your profile isn’t a page you send people to. It’s the information Google shows about you, in three places.
Google Maps
Someone searches the Maps app for a service, like “electrician Navan”, and gets a list of profiles and pins.
Each result shows your rating, category, hours and buttons to ring or get directions.
The map in Google Search
Search “plumber Cork” on Google and you’ll usually see a map with a few businesses, often above the websites.
SEOs call this the local pack. It’s the spot most businesses want.
Searches for your name
Search a business by name and its profile appears beside or above the results, with reviews, hours and photos.
It’s what people see when they look you up after a recommendation.
How Google decides who shows up
Google says it ranks local results on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. You can’t buy a better position. Google says there’s no way to request or pay for one, so everything comes down to what your profile, your reviews and your website show.
Relevance
How well your profile matches what someone searched for.
You control most of it: your category, services and description, and the pages on your website. Start with choosing your Google Business Profile category.
Distance
How far you are from the person searching, or from the place they name in the search.
You can’t move. But a Google Business Profile without a shopfront can show every area you work in.
Prominence
How well known your business is. Google looks at your reviews and rating, and at links to your website, among other things.
Reviews are the part you can work on every week. See how to get more Google reviews.
Local SEO experts put the primary category at the top of that list. In Whitespark’s 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors survey, it ranked as the top factor for the map. For everything else that moves you up, see how to rank higher on Google Maps.
The parts of your profile that matter most
This is what a customer sees when they open a profile on Google Maps. Every numbered part is something you control.
If you only have an hour, spend it on these, in this order.
| Part of your profile | Why it matters | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | Your real name, as on your van, sign and invoices. Adding your town or services breaks Google’s rules and can get you suspended. | How to get your business on Google Maps |
| Primary category | One of the biggest factors in which searches you show up for. | Choosing your Google Business Profile category |
| Address or service areas | Where Google places you, and where customers see that you work. | Google Business Profile without a shopfront |
| Hours and special hours | Honest hours, set for every bank holiday, stop wasted trips and angry reviews. | Irish bank holidays |
| Services and description | Every job you do, in the words Irish customers search. The description takes up to 750 characters. | Choosing your Google Business Profile category |
| Photos | Real photos of your team, premises and work show you’re real and still trading. | Google Business Profile management |
| Reviews and replies | How many, how recent, and whether you reply. People compare them before they ring. | How to get more Google reviews |
| Website | Google reads it to understand what you do, and customers check it before they call. | How to make your website SEO friendly |
Who can have a Google Business Profile?
Any business that meets its customers face to face, either at its own premises during its opening hours or by going out to them. If customers never meet you in person, you aren’t eligible, however real your business is.
| Your setup | Eligible? | How |
|---|---|---|
| A shop, clinic or office customers visit | Yes | Show your address |
| A trade or service that goes to customers | Yes | Hide your address and add service areas |
| Customers come to you, and you go out to them | Yes | Show your address and add service areas |
| A doctor, dentist or solicitor in a practice | Yes | Public-facing practitioners can have their own profile, as well as the practice’s. If you’re the only practitioner, share one profile with the practice |
| Several branches | Yes | One profile for each staffed location, never two for the same place |
| A café or pharmacy inside another business | Yes | Its own profile, separate from the business it’s in |
| A desk in a co-working space | Only if | It has your sign, receives customers and is staffed by your team during your hours |
| A virtual office or postal address you don’t work from | No | Use the address you really work from |
| An online-only business | No | Put the effort into your website instead |
What trips up Irish businesses
Most advice online is written for the US. These are the problems we see most often here.
- Rural addresses and the pinTownland addresses can put your pin in the wrong place. Add your Eircode and drag the pin to your door, then use the same address everywhere: see the best business directories in Ireland. Eircode missing altogether? See Eircode not showing on Google Maps.
- Working from homeMost sole traders shouldn’t show their home address. Set up a Google Business Profile without a shopfront instead.
- A trading name that doesn’t match your billsVerification can ask for paperwork in your business name. Register your trading name with the Companies Registration Office (form RBN1 for sole traders, RBN1A for partnerships, RBN1B for companies). That gives you a certificate that matches.
- A profile someone else controlsA former employee, web designer or agency set it up and moved on. Google has a process to request access from the current owner. See how to get your business on Google Maps.
- Bank holidaysIreland has 10 public holidays, including St Brigid’s Day. Set special hours for each one, and for Good Friday if you close: see the dates.
- American category namesSome categories have different names here, and when we checked in October 2026 there was no Solicitor category. See choosing your Google Business Profile category.
What’s changed recently
Google changes Business Profiles often, so plenty of advice online is out of date. These are the changes that matter most.
- 2021
Google My Business becomes Google Business Profile. Google renamed it in November 2021. The listing itself stayed the same.
- 2024
Chat and call history switched off. Google ended Business Profile chat and call history on 31 July 2024.
- 2025
Questions and answers removed. Google phased out the Q&A section on profiles from late 2025.
- 2026
Ask Maps. Google’s AI answers questions about a business using its profile, its reviews and its website. It launched in the US and India first.
The direction is clear: Google relies more and more on what your profile, your reviews and your website say about you. Keep all three complete, accurate and consistent with each other. A good place to start on the website side is how to write a service page that ranks.
Where to start
- You’re not on Google yetStart with how to get your business on Google Maps. It covers adding, claiming and verifying.
- You work from home or go to your customersRead Google Business Profile without a shopfront before you set anything up.
- Your business isn’t showing on Google Maps at allWork through why your business isn’t showing, in order.
- Your profile is suspended, or verification keeps failingUse the free Profile Rescue Kit. It finds the likely cause and writes your appeal or video script.
- You’re on the map, but not for your main serviceCheck your category first: choosing your Google Business Profile category.
- You have few reviews, or a bad oneSee how to get more Google reviews and replying to bad Google reviews.
- You’ve done the basics and still aren’t in the top threeGo to how to rank higher on Google Maps.
Guides in this section
Written for Irish businesses, using Google’s own rules and the problems we see most often.
Eircode not on Google Maps
Fix a missing or wrong Eircode on Google Maps
Read the guideGetting on Google Maps
Get on Google Maps, step by step
Read the guideNo shopfront
For trades and cleaners who work from home
Read the guideChoosing a category
Pick the category that wins the right searches
Read the guideSuspended profile
Why profiles get suspended, and the Rescue Kit to get yours back
Read the guide
When to get help
Most of this you can do yourself, and these guides are here so you can. It’s worth handing over in four cases. Your profile is suspended, or verification keeps failing. Someone else controls it. Or you’re doing everything right and still not showing up where it counts.
That’s what our Google Business Profile management is for, and the free audit below will show you where you stand now. Profile management comes with every monthly SEO plan, from €250 a month plus VAT.
Questions people ask
Something else on your mind? Email info@leadsireland.com.
Is Google Business Profile the same as Google My Business?
Yes. Google renamed Google My Business to Google Business Profile in November 2021. The listing and how it works are the same.
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. There’s no charge for the profile or for appearing on Google Maps. Ads above the map are a separate, paid product.
Can I pay Google to rank higher on Google Maps?
No. Google says there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. You can pay for ads, which are labelled as sponsored, but they don’t change where your profile ranks.
Do I need a website to have a Google Business Profile?
No, but it helps. Google reads your website to understand what you do, and most customers check it before they ring.
Can I have a Google Business Profile if I work from home?
Yes. Set up as a service-area business: Google needs your address to verify you, but it stays hidden, and customers see the areas you serve instead.
How do I get into my Google Business Profile?
Sign in to the Google Account that manages it, then search for your business name on Google, or go to business.google.com. If someone else controls it, Google lets you request access from the current owner.
What happened to questions and answers on Google profiles?
Google phased out the Q&A section on Business Profiles from late 2025. Its AI feature, Ask Maps, now answers questions using a business’s profile, reviews and website, starting in the US and India.
Can I ring Google in Dublin about my profile?
Business Profile support isn’t handled through Google’s Dublin office. Use the contact options in Google’s Business Profile help centre instead.
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