How to get your business found on Google Maps and other map apps

Why map listings matter for local businesses

For searches like "electrician near me" or "bakery Antwerp", search engines and phones commonly show a map with a short list of businesses before the ordinary results. People can call, get directions or open your website straight from that listing without visiting anything else. For a local business, the listing is often the first impression, and sometimes the only one.

This guide focuses on map listings specifically. For the wider picture of search, including your website content, read getting your business found on Google.

Step 1: claim or create your Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is the free listing that powers your business on Google Maps and in local search results.

1. Search for your business first. A listing may already exist, created by Google or a customer. If so, claim it rather than creating a duplicate.
2. Use your real business name. Exactly as customers see it on your signage, vehicles and invoices. Adding keywords or town names that are not part of your name breaks Google's guidelines and can get the listing suspended.
3. Choose your business type. If customers visit you, add your address. If you travel to customers, such as plumbers, cleaners or mobile hairdressers, set a service area and hide your address if you work from home.
4. Verify. Google asks you to prove you run the business. The method varies, and it can take some time, so start early.

Fill in every relevant field

• Primary category: the one that best describes your core business. This is one of the most important choices. Add secondary categories only if they are genuinely what you do.
• Opening hours, including holiday hours when they change.
• Phone number and website address. Link to your homepage or the most relevant page.
• Services or products, with short descriptions.
• Description: a plain account of what you do and where, without keyword stuffing.
• Photos: exterior, interior, team and work. Real, recent photos help people recognise you.

Step 2: list yourself on the other maps

Not everyone uses Google. Phones, cars and apps rely on several map sources:

Service	Where it shows up	What to do
Google Business Profile	Google Search and Google Maps	Claim, verify, complete every field
Apple Business Connect	Apple Maps, Siri and iPhone searches	Claim your place and add details and photos
Bing Places for Business	Bing search and maps	Create or import your listing
OpenStreetMap	Used by many apps and navigation tools	Check your business is mapped correctly
National directories	Local search habits in your country	Add or correct your entry in the main ones

Also check your entry in your national business register or chamber of commerce. Some directories copy data from these sources, so an old address there can spread.

Step 3: keep name, address and phone consistent

Search engines compare information about your business across the web. When your name, address and phone number (often shortened to NAP) match everywhere, it is easier to trust that the listing is accurate. When they differ, you risk duplicate listings, wrong details and customers ringing an old number.

A consistency routine

1. Write your master version. Exact business name, full address in the local format, one main phone number with country code, website address.
2. Put it on your website, in the footer and on the contact page, as text rather than an image.
3. Check each listing against the master version: Google, Apple, Bing, social profiles, directories, trade associations.
4. Fix differences such as old addresses, abbreviations that vary, or a former mobile number.
5. Remove or merge duplicates using each platform's own process.
6. Repeat when anything changes, and once or twice a year anyway.

Step 4: reviews and activity

Reviews influence both whether you appear and whether people choose you. Ask happy customers for a review shortly after a job, make it easy with a direct link, and reply to every review, positive or negative, politely and briefly. Never buy reviews or offer rewards for positive ones; it breaks platform rules and, in many countries, consumer protection law. Our guide on getting more customer reviews has practical ways to ask.

Keep the listing alive: add new photos occasionally, update hours for holidays, and answer questions that people post on it. A complete, current profile looks more trustworthy than a bare one.

Step 5: make sure your website backs it up

Your map listing and website should tell the same story. Check that:

• Your website shows the same name, address, phone and hours as the listing.
• The areas you list as your service area are mentioned on your website.
• Your homepage makes clear what you do and where, so people arriving from the map do not have to guess.
• The contact page includes a map or directions if customers visit you.
• The website loads quickly on a phone, since most map visitors are mobile. See why is my website slow if it does not.

Common reasons a business does not appear

• The listing is not verified, or verification is still pending.
• The primary category does not match what people search for.
• The searcher is far from your location or outside your service area.
• There are duplicate listings splitting your reviews and signals.
• The listing was suspended for a guideline issue, such as keywords added to the business name.

Map results also vary with each searcher's location, so a rank you see at the office is not what a customer sees across town. Focus on accuracy, completeness and reviews rather than chasing a position.

A website from The Website Builders shows your contact details consistently on every page, which makes it a reliable source to link from your map listings.

Frequently asked