If you run a business and you want to be found online, there’s one free tool you really can’t afford to ignore: your Google Business Profile. It’s the listing that shows up when someone searches for your company, or for a service “near me”, complete with your location, opening hours, reviews and photos.
The trouble is that a lot of businesses set one up years ago, fill in the basics and then never touch it again. In 2026, that’s a real missed opportunity. A well-optimised, regularly updated profile does far more heavy lifting than most people realise, from local visibility to getting recommended by AI. Here’s why it matters and how to make the most of yours.
What is a Google Business Profile?
A Google Business Profile (or GBP, formerly Google My Business) is your free business listing on Google Search and Google Maps. It’s where you display the essentials: your address, phone number, website, opening times, services and photos along with the reviews your customers leave.
It’s completely free to set up, and it should be treated as a necessity rather than a nice-to-have. Even if you don’t have a physical shopfront, having a profile puts you on the map, quite literally, when people go looking.
It’s the key to local search
More searches than ever are location-based. When someone types “IT services near me” or “marketing agency in Salisbury”, Google serves up a little map with three businesses at the top, known as the local pack. Those three spots get the lion’s share of the clicks.
The businesses that appear there aren’t there by luck. They have a complete, active and well-optimised profile that tells Google exactly who they are, what they do and where they are. If your profile is thin or out of date, you simply won’t show up and your competitors will. For any business with local customers, this is some of the most valuable visibility you can get and it costs nothing.
Getting recommended by AI
Here’s the newer, and increasingly important, reason to keep on top of your profile. As more people turn to AI-powered search to ask for recommendations, those tools pull heavily from the same trusted sources Google uses and your Business Profile is right at the top of that list.
When someone asks an AI assistant to suggest a local supplier, the businesses with accurate, detailed and well-reviewed profiles are the ones most likely to get named. A neglected listing, on the other hand, is easy to overlook. Keeping your profile complete and current is quickly becoming one of the simplest ways to stay visible in AI recommendations, not just traditional search.
Building trust and authority
Your profile is often the very first impression a potential customer gets of your business, and reviews are a huge part of that. They act as real-world proof that you’re reputable and trustworthy, and they’re one of the biggest factors Google considers when deciding who to rank.
A profile full of recent, positive reviews, with the business owner actually replying to them, signals that you’re active, credible and that you care. Responding to every review, the difficult ones included, shows prospective customers you take their experience seriously. That trust is often what tips someone into picking up the phone.
How to keep on top of it
Optimising your profile isn’t a one-off job, it’s an ongoing habit. A few things worth doing regularly:
Fill in everything. Complete every field, from services and opening hours to a keyword-rich business description. The more Google knows, the better.
- Post regularly– Use Google Posts to share offers, news and events. It keeps your profile fresh and shows Google you’re active.
- Add photos often – New images of your team, premises, products or work all help you stand out and signal activity.
- Collect and respond to reviews – Ask happy customers for reviews and reply to all of them if you can, good and bad.
- Keep details accurate – Update opening hours for holidays and make sure your contact information is always correct.
Make your profile work harder
Your Google Business Profile is one of the most powerful free marketing tools you have, but only if you keep it active and optimised. Get it right and you’ll improve your local rankings, earn more trust and put yourself in front of customers at the exact moment they’re ready to buy.
If you’d like a hand getting your profile working its hardest as part of your wider SEO and local search strategy, get in touch with our team and we’ll help you get found.
