Guide

Google Business Profile for tradespeople: set it up and keep it busy with AI

16 October 2026Shaun, 20+ years in UK construction

How a UK trade sets up a Google Business Profile: category, service area, photos, posts and review replies, with prompts for the wording.

A Google Business Profile is the panel people see on Search and Maps: your name, your trade, your area, your photos and your reviews. Creating it is free. The rules are not optional. A chat tool can draft the description, a post, or a reply from notes you supply. It cannot know your category, your postcodes, or whether a complaint is fair.

Shaun, 20+ years in UK construction, still fills the facts in himself before any draft. We search the AI world every week so you don't have to. Google's own help pages, read for this guide, are linked below. If a button on your account does not match a step here, follow the screen. The labels move.

Category, name, and where you will travel

Claim the profile and verify it before you expect public edits to stick. Google's edit help (opens in a new tab) says some businesses must verify before they can change their info, and that the profile has to be verified to show on Search and Maps. Use the check Google offers you. Ignore a message from a stranger who offers to verify it for a fee.

Category. Pick a primary category that names the trade, from Google's list. You cannot invent one. Google's category help (opens in a new tab) says choose a specific category where it exists, and a more general one that still fits if the exact trade is missing. The edit help says you can add up to nine more, and that you should not use them as keywords or add one for every job. Add another category only when it is really a second trade.

Name. Use the trading name customers already know from the van, the invoice, or the card. Google's representation guidelines (opens in a new tab) say not to stuff the name with a town, a phone number, a website, or a slogan, unless those words really are the name. Put the town in the service area. Put the phone number in the phone field.

Service area, and a hidden home address. If you go to the customer and you do not serve people at your house, hide the address. Google's address help (opens in a new tab) says the address is public unless you choose not to show it, and that you should only hide it for a service-area business. If you hide it and enter no area, Google picks a local area. Edit that so it matches where you actually go.

Google's service-area help (opens in a new tab) says you set areas by city, postcode, or another area, not as a circle of miles. You can set up to 20. The whole patch should stay within about two hours' drive of where you are based. That page uses a plumber as an example, and it says one profile covers the whole area. Do not open a second profile per town. If customers visit a signed unit or yard, you can show that address and still list an area. Approved area edits may take up to 48 hours to show.

The same towns belong on your own site if you have one. The website guide is the straight version of whether that page is worth having.

Photos, the description, and a post when there is news

Photos. The edit help says you can add photos or videos of your work, and of a shop front if you have one. Use jobs you did. A van photo helps when the trading name is readable. Do not upload another firm's work, a stock kitchen, or a shot that shows the house number.

Description. This is the "From the business" box. The edit help says no more than 750 characters, no URL or HTML, and the text should be about the business rather than promotions, prices, or sales. 750 is a ceiling, not a target. Mention years in the trade only if the number is true and you want it public. The profile guide uses the same limits for directory wording. Some accounts offer a suggested description. If it adds a town, a year, or a price you did not type, delete that before you save.

Services, if the box is there. A services editor is not on every profile. If you see one, list jobs you actually do, and skip a price you do not want left public. The menu editor on that help page is for food and drink.

Posts. Google's posts help (opens in a new tab) says you can share an update, an offer, or an event, with text and a photo, and that Google checks it before it shows on Search and Maps. A useful post is a finished job with no address, or a gap in the diary next month. You do not need one every day. This guide will not quote how many days a post stays up. Google's page does not give a figure for that.

Phone and website. Put the number you answer. The edit help says the website, if you add one, needs the full address, starting with https. Leave the field empty if you have no site. Do not type a domain you do not own. A done-for-you trade site is on the websites page, intro price £199 for the first 5 customers, paid when it goes live. There is an example of the layout.

Prompts for the description, a post, and a reply

Fill the lines with notes you would show a customer. Leave a line blank rather than guessing.

Turn these notes into a Google Business Profile description. UK English. Under 700 characters.

Rules:
- Use only the notes below. Do not add a town, a year, a price, a qualification, or a guarantee.
- Do not mention a discount, an offer, or "the best".
- Do not add a website, a URL, or a phone number.
- If a note is missing, leave it out.

Trade:
Area I cover:
Jobs I do:
Jobs I do not do:
How long I have done this, if I want it said:

After you paste, check the count in the box. If the first line does not say the trade, move those words up.

Draft a Google Business Profile post about a finished job. UK English. Under 80 words. No hashtags.

Rules:
- Use only the notes. Do not name the street, the house number, or the customer's surname.
- Do not add a price, a discount, or a star rating.
- Do not claim how many jobs I have done.
- Mention a photo only if I say I will attach one.

Trade:
What was done, in a few words:
Town, if I am happy to name it:
Whether I am attaching a photo: yes or no

A public reply stays shorter than the review. The reply guide is the fuller note when a complaint needs more than a short answer.

Draft a public reply to this Google review. UK English. Calm. Under 70 words.

Rules:
- Do not include an address, a price, or a surname.
- Do not offer money, a free visit, or a discount unless it is written in "remedy" below.
- Do not ask them to change or delete the review.
- End with the contact line I give you.

Review:
[paste]

The part that is fair, in my words, or "I dispute this":
Remedy I will actually offer, or "none in public":
Contact line:

If the remedy line says none, and the draft offers a free return, delete the offer before you post. Asking another customer for a review is a separate message, on a different job. The rules for that ask are in the Google reviews guide.

The UK Trades AI Prompt Pack is free when you sign up to the weekly email: prompts for quotes, chasing payment, tax admin, and customers. The signup is on the home page.

Common questions

Can I hide my home address on Google?

Yes, if you do not serve customers at that address. Google's address help says you switch off showing the address and list a service area instead. If you hide the address and enter no area, Google picks a local area, which you can edit.

How many service areas can I add?

Google's service-area help says up to 20, set by city, postcode, or another area, not as a radius. It also says the overall area should not be more than about two hours' drive from where you are based, and that one profile covers the whole patch.

What can I put in the business description?

What you do, in plain words. Google's edit help says no more than 750 characters, no URL, no HTML, and not a focus on promotions, prices, or sales.

Can I add a category for every job?

No. Choose one primary category that names the trade. Google's edit help says you can add up to nine more, and that categories are not a keyword list for every service.