Customers don’t type your name.
They type what they need.
People search for “plumber Novi Sad”, not a company name. Google then shows a map with a handful of businesses — and the profile is what decides which of them gets the call.
- 1 · The searchThe customer types a service and a place — “plumber Novi Sad”.
- 2 · The mapGoogle offers a handful of businesses from that area — not every one in the country.
- 3 · The profileA profile opens. That’s where it’s decided: a call, directions, or carry on looking.
When someone types your trade and your town — that’s where the battle is fought.
A Google Business Profile is your company on Google Maps and in local search: the name, the rating, opening hours, photos, and the “Call” and “Directions” buttons. For a local business it is often the first thing a customer sees — before the website.
An empty or wrong profile looks abandoned. A tidy one looks like someone worth calling. Same business, a different first impression.
How a customer finds you
A customer doesn’t type your company name. They type what they need and where they are.
Google then picks among the businesses in that zone — and shows what it knows about you: the name, the rating, the opening hours and a call button. If those details are missing or wrong, it doesn’t pick you.
An illustration, not a screenshot of real resultsWhat people ask us before they order anything.
The answers are short and deliberately come first. If you need more depth, there’s a page underneath each one that goes further.
How do I add my business to Google?
Sign in with the company’s Google account, create a Business Profile for it, enter the name, the business category, the address or service area and the contact details — then verify it. You can do all of this yourself, free of charge.
What you pay for is not “opening a profile” but making it accurate and complete: the right category, a tidy description, opening hours, photographs, and details that match the website. An empty, wrongly categorised profile exists — it just does nothing.
Why doesn’t my business show up?
In most cases it is one of four things: the profile isn’t verified, the category is wrong, the details on the profile and on the website disagree, or you are searching for yourself from a different location and while signed in — so you see a different result from the one a customer sees.
None of those is solved by overnight “optimisation”, and nobody can honestly guarantee first place. What can be put right is what is actually within reach: accuracy, completeness and consistency of the details.
I have no premises — am I allowed a profile?
You can. Google distinguishes between a business customers visit at an address and one that travels to them or works without premises for receiving visitors. The second kind is a service-area business, and for it the address does not have to be public.
That is why the address may be hidden: the profile isn’t there to bring a customer to your door but to tell them where you work. If you don’t receive customers at an address, the address is removed from the profile and a service area is defined instead — you stay visible, and your home or office address stays out of public view.
The area is set by town, postcode or other region — at most 20 areas per profile, and no wider than roughly two hours’ drive from where you work. Setting it by radius is no longer supported. We build the list with you, from the places you actually work — not the ones we’d like to appear in. A list that’s too wide brings no calls; it only dilutes the profile.
Source: Google Business Profile Help, “Service-area businesses” · accessed 20 August 2026.Whose profile is it when you finish the job?
The profile stays on your account. A business on Google sits under the owner’s account, and we work on it as an added collaborator. When the job is done, owner access is still yours — nothing has to be bought back and nothing has to be asked for.
If there is no profile yet, it is created on your account from day one. If one exists but sits on somebody else’s account, that gets sorted out first — because a profile on someone else’s account is the same problem as a domain in someone else’s name.
Is this a one-off job or a monthly commitment?
Setting up and sorting out the profile is a one-off job at a fixed price. Once it’s done, the profile works without us — there is no subscription that has to be paid for the profile to exist.
Ongoing work exists, but it is optional and never pre-selected: regularly refreshing posts and photos, replying to reviews and watching for changes belong to a higher level of maintenance. You take it only if you want someone doing that for you.
How do I get reviews — and am I allowed to ask?
You may ask a satisfied customer for a review. You may not buy one, make it conditional on a discount, or write fake ones — Google detects that and penalises it.
The best moment is right after the job is done, while the impression is fresh, with a direct link that takes the customer straight to the review form. A bad review is answered calmly and specifically; you cannot delete it — only Google can, and only if it breaks the rules.
How long does verification take?
Google states the check can take up to 5 working days. In some cases the profile is verified immediately.
If it is verified by postcard, the code usually arrives within 14 days and is valid for 30 days from issue. The other methods are phone or SMS, email, a video call and a recording — which ones you are offered depends on the trade and the details, and is not your choice.
Source: Google Business Profile Help, “Verify your business on Google” · accessed 20 August 2026.A profile isn’t “set up and forgotten”.
Six things on a profile decide whether Google shows you at all and whether a customer clicks. We go through each one.
How to ask for them — honestly.
Reviews are perhaps the strongest part of a profile; a customer trusts other people more than your own description. But Google detects and punishes fake reviews — so there is only the honest route.
How we do it
- A direct link that goes straight to the review form.
- A ready-written, human message you simply send.
- Ask the satisfied ones — right after the job, while the impression is fresh.
- Advice on replying to reviews, good and bad.
What we never do
- We don’t buy reviews.
- We don’t write fake ratings.
- We don’t promise a position in search.
- We don’t take ownership of your profile.
Before customers find you.
Is a Google Business Profile free?+
The profile itself is free from Google and you can create it yourself. What we charge for is the work — setting it up properly, choosing the right categories, sorting out the description, the photos and the details, and connecting it to the website, so that it is useful rather than merely present.
Do I need a website as well as a Google profile?+
Not straight away. A profile can put you on the map without one. But a website gives you somewhere to explain the service in more detail, show your work and be more convincing. The profile and the website work best together.
Who manages the profile afterwards — you or us?+
You remain the owner of the profile, always. We set it up and sort it out, and the access sits on your account. If you like, we make small changes later at your request — but we don’t take control away from you.
Can I cover several towns?+
You can, if you genuinely work there. The service area is set by towns or postcodes, up to 20 areas, and should be no wider than about two hours’ drive from where you work. Listing towns you don’t actually travel to isn’t a trick that works — it is a detail Google checks.
The explanation, the proof and the price — in that order.
Shall we sort out what customers see first?
We’ll check the details, the categories, the photographs and everything that shapes the first impression in search and on the map.