Optimising your Google Business Profile means making it complete, accurate and up to date in the way Google itself describes. There is no shortcut to buy. Google says in its help centre that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

This guide goes through the profile field by field, in the order we usually work, with the rules that were tightened in autumn 2026. If your Google account is set to Swedish, the menus have Swedish names, so we give both, for example Edit profile (Redigera profil). Why the profile is often the first thing a new customer sees, and how it fits with the rest of your visibility, is covered in Google Business for local businesses.

As of 23 October 2026. The details were checked against Google’s Business Profile help centre, in English and Swedish, on the same day. Google changes its help pages without notice, and we update this article when the rules change.

What decides where your profile shows on Google Maps?

Three things: relevance, distance and how well known the business is. Google says local results are mainly based on these three, and calls the third one popularity or prominence.

FactorWhat Google saysWhat you can do
RelevanceHow well a profile matches what someone is searching forChoose the right category and fill in your details, services and attributes
DistanceHow far the business is from the person searchingGive the right address or service area. The distance itself is out of your hands
How well known the business isAmong other things, how many websites link to the business and how many reviews it has. More reviews and positive ratings can help your rankingAsk customers for reviews, reply to them and get mentioned on other websites

Google also says that verified profiles and complete, accurate information make a business more likely to show up, and that the details of the algorithm are kept confidential. Most of what you read about other ranking factors, including here, is interpretation rather than Google’s word. If your profile doesn’t show up at all even though everything is filled in, start with Why your business doesn’t show up on Google Maps.

Is the profile verified, and does your business own it?

Start here. According to Google, verification shows that you are authorised to represent the business, which makes the profile more likely to show up in search results. Photos and posts are not shown until the profile is verified, and performance data is only available for verified profiles.

  • Google chooses the method. It may be a phone call, text message, email, live video call, recorded video or postcard, depending on your type of business, public information, region and opening hours. If you can verify by video, Google recommends it.
  • The postcard usually arrives within 14 days, and the code is valid for 30 days. Don’t edit the name, address or category while you wait, or the code won’t work.
  • The verification review can take up to five business days, according to Google’s 2026 playbook for service businesses.

Then check who has access under More, Business Profile settings and People and access (Mer, Inställningar för företagsprofil, Personer och åtkomst). A profile has one primary owner, and the same playbook advises adding more managers so that nobody gets locked out when an employee leaves, and reviewing the list regularly. If you hire an agency, your business should be the owner and the agency a manager. Why, and what help costs in Sweden, is covered in What does Google Business Profile help cost in 2026?

Name, address and phone: as in real life

The business name should be the one you use in the real world: on your sign, your website and your invoices. Google doesn’t allow unnecessary information in the name, such as a slogan, opening hours, phone numbers, location details or what you sell, nor the same name repeated in two languages, even if your sign shows it that way. That is worth knowing if your business uses both an English and a Swedish name. Google says it may otherwise stop showing the profile. If you change the name after verification, you may need to verify again.

  • The address must be a real place where the business operates, and Google says businesses that show their address should have permanent signage there. A virtual office doesn’t qualify, and the address lines must not contain keywords or web addresses.
  • The phone number must go directly to the business, preferably a local number rather than a central helpline. Premium-rate numbers and numbers that redirect to someone else aren’t allowed. You can add up to two numbers on top of the main one.
  • The website must be your own, and Googlebot must not be blocked on it. Under Google’s guidelines you also must not give a URL that sends people on to a page other than the business’s own, including a page on a social media site.

Keep the same details on your website and in other directories. Google says a suggested edit may be published if it is supported by other public information, such as your website, and that Google can pick up category information from your website and from how your business is mentioned online. How to add your business in more places, including Hitta and Eniro, Sweden’s two big business directories, is covered in Get your business on Apple Maps, Bing, Hitta and Eniro.

Which category should you choose?

The most specific category that describes the business as a whole, and as few categories as possible. Google links it to ranking explicitly: “The categories you select affect your local ranking on Google.”

  • The primary category is the first field, Primary category (Primär kategori). For example, choose Nail salon rather than Salon, as in Google’s own example.
  • Up to nine additional categories can be added, for departments or services that are a clear part of the business. Google says not to choose a category for every product or service.
  • The test is that the category should complete the sentence “This business IS a”, not “This business HAS a”.
  • Not as keywords. Categories must not be used purely as keywords, or for other businesses on your premises. If a gym has a café that is run separately, the café should have its own profile.
  • Google fills in the rest. If you choose a specific category, Google adds more general ones itself. You can’t create your own categories, so if none fits, choose a more general one.

You change categories under Edit profile and Business category (Redigera profil, Företagskategori). Google says you may be asked to verify the business again when you add or edit a category, so expect a possible extra verification step.

How do you set a service area?

With towns, postcodes or other areas, up to 20 of them, within about two hours’ drive of where your business is based. A radius is not possible. Google says: “You can’t set your service area as a radius distance around your business.” If you set up your area as a distance in the past, it can’t be edited, and you need to enter it again by town or postcode.

  • Service-area businesses such as cleaning companies and plumbers, which don’t serve customers at their address, should remove the address from the profile and only give a service area. They may have just one profile for the whole area.
  • Hybrid businesses that both receive customers and travel to them, such as a restaurant that delivers, can show the address, give opening hours when staff are on site and add a service area.
  • Be as specific as possible, says Google. The two-hour limit is a guideline, and Google says larger areas may be appropriate for some businesses.

You change the area under Edit profile, Location and Service area (Redigera profil, Plats, Serviceområde), and changes can take up to 48 hours to show. In our assessment, the service area mainly tells customers where you work. Distance to the person searching is still one of Google’s three factors, so a large area is no promise of showing up across all of it. More on profiles without a shop is in Businesses without a physical shop: how to handle Google Business.

How do you write the description?

In no more than 750 characters about what you offer, what makes the business different and how long it has been around. The description shows in the From the business section (Från företaget), and Google also mentions “anything else that’s helpful for customers to know”.

This is what it must not contain:

  • Promotions, prices and sales. The description must not focus on special promotions, prices and sales. Google’s examples of what is not allowed are “Everything on sale, -50%” and “Best bagels in town for $5!”
  • Direct calls to action. Since an update to Google’s policy, reported by Search Engine Roundtable on 6 October 2026, the profile itself must not contain promotional content with time-bound promotions, pricing or direct calls to action.
  • Links of any kind, URLs or HTML code.

Where a direct call to action begins is not entirely clear. Google’s own example of a description ends with “Come visit us today!” In our assessment, the safest approach is to describe how to book as information rather than as an invitation.

Example with an invented fish shop Weaker: “Best fish in town! 20% off all salmon in November. Call and order today!”

Better: “Fishmonger on the square since 1998. We sell fresh fish and shellfish, smoke salmon and mackerel in our own smoker and make fish soup and ready meals every weekday. At the counter we fillet your fish for you and give advice on cooking it. Seafood platters and catering are ordered through our website or in the shop.”

Write the description in the language most of your customers search in. In Sweden that is usually Swedish, which is our assessment rather than a Google rule. In some regions and languages, Google can suggest a description with AI. If it does, check the suggestion against the same rules before you save it.

Offers and prices therefore belong in posts and in the services list, not in the name or the description.

Comparison of what is and isn't allowed in different fields of a Google Business Profile in October 2026: the name should match your sign, website and invoices, with no slogans, towns, keywords, opening hours or the same name in two languages. The description can be up to 750 characters about what you offer, what makes you different and since when, with no promotions, prices, sales, direct calls to action or links. Services are listed with a description and the price in the price field, not with prices or phone numbers in the service name. Posts can contain news, offers and events with a Call now button, but not unverified phone numbers, email addresses or social media handles. The service area is set as up to 20 towns, postcodes or areas within about two hours' drive, not as a radius around your address.
Offers and prices belong in posts and in the services list. Google allows no promotions in the name or the description, and a service area can no longer be set as a radius. As of October 2026.

Services, menu and bookings

Add every service you sell, with a short description and the price in the price field. According to Google, a service may be highlighted on your profile when local customers search for it, and in the Google Maps app customers can see the full list under Services (Tjänster).

  • Under Edit services (Redigera tjänster) you choose from suggestions for your type of business or add a custom service. Services can be grouped into categories.
  • Prices or phone numbers in a service name are rejected automatically. Put the price in the price field.
  • The list also shapes your reviews. When someone reviews a service business, they are asked to choose which service they used, partly from your list.
  • Restaurants and cafés use the menu editor. Google wants the full menu, not just popular dishes, and the menu link must not go directly to a third-party ordering service.
  • Bookings. Under Bookings (Bokningar) you can connect a booking provider that works with Google, and the provider appears on your profile within a week. The provider may charge you for bookings made through Google. You can also add your own link to your booking page.

The services list is available for some categories, such as service businesses, so not everyone sees the same options.

Opening hours and attributes

Fill in regular hours, special hours for holidays and the attributes that apply. Google lists all three among the details that make a profile complete.

  • Opening hours. If your hours change around Christmas and New Year, add them as special hours. Swedish public holidays, which may differ from what you are used to, are covered day by day in Opening hours, holidays and exceptions in your Google profile. Google also says that businesses with varying hours, such as showtimes or classes, and those that operate only by appointment shouldn’t provide hours.
  • Attributes are under Edit profile and More (Redigera profil, Mer), for example Wi-Fi, payment methods and accessibility. According to Google, your business may appear in search results when people search for places with a particular attribute. Only add what is true. Google defines a wheelchair-accessible entrance as one metre wide with no steps, or with a ramp if there are steps.
  • Some attributes are filled in from what customers have said, and subjective ones, such as whether a place is popular with locals, are based on customers’ opinions. Reviewing a change usually takes about ten minutes, but sometimes up to 30 days.
  • The opening date only needs a month and year. Google may use it to show how long the business has been around.

Photos and video

Show the business as it is: the shopfront, the premises, the work, the products and the people, and add a logo and a cover photo. Google says an exterior photo helps customers recognise your business when they visit.

  • Photo requirements: JPG or PNG, 10 KB–5 MB, ideally 720 × 720 pixels and at least 250 × 250. Photos should be in focus, well lit and without heavy filters. In Google’s words, the image should represent reality.
  • Video requirements: up to 30 seconds, no more than 75 MB and 720p or higher.
  • Timing: it can take 24–48 hours for a photo to show, and the newest media appears first.

In its 2026 playbook for service businesses, Google states, citing its own internal data, that businesses that add photos receive 42 per cent more requests for directions on Google Maps and 35 per cent more clicks to their website. The figures are Google’s own and give neither a country nor a period. In our assessment, a few new photos a month do more good than many at once, because the profile then looks current.

Posts: how often, and what can they say?

Google’s playbook for service businesses advises posting at least once a week and using all three types: Update, Offer and Event (Uppdatering, Erbjudande, Event). You create them under Posts and Add post (Inlägg, Lägg till inlägg), and you can schedule them or have them repeat weekly or monthly.

  • Offers need a title, dates and times. Posts older than six months are archived unless a date range is set.
  • No unverified contact details. Since Google changed its policy, reported by Search Engine Roundtable on 25 September 2026, posts with phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles that aren’t verified may be removed. Add a Call now button (Ring nu) instead, which uses the verified number on your profile.
  • No links to others. Posts must not link to websites that aren’t related to your business. Offers and news are still allowed in posts.

You can test a post in Inläggskollen, our free post checker (in Swedish), before you publish. It looks for what Google’s rules don’t allow.

Reviews: ask everyone in the same way

Ask every customer for a review, with no rewards and without picking out the happy ones. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, but the rules on how you ask are strict.

This is what Google’s policy doesn’t allow:

  • Rewards, such as payment, discounts or free goods and services, in exchange for a review, an edit or the removal of a negative review.
  • Selection, that is, discouraging negative reviews or only asking satisfied customers.
  • Pressure and quotas, such as requiring or pressuring customers to write reviews on site, asking for specific content or giving staff a number of reviews to collect.
  • Conflicts of interest, for example reviews from current or former employees, family and competitors.

The pace matters too. Google removes content showing “unusual volumes or patterns of review contributions” that indicate efforts to manipulate a rating. At the same time, Google itself suggests asking for reviews with a link or a QR code, and its playbook for service businesses suggests placing the QR code on receipts, menus or the shop window. The agency Sterling Sky wrote on 28 September 2026 about blocks on new reviews, commonly lasting 30 days, and about a pattern that kept recurring in the cases it had followed: reviews left inside the business, QR codes at the counter, tables or checkout, and bursts of ten or more a day. Individually these need not be a problem, the agency writes, but repeated and in combination they seem to increase the risk. The agency says its analysis is based on five businesses, and it is not Google’s word.

Our assessment is therefore to ask every customer after their visit, by text message or email, at a steady pace. Recensionstakten, our review pace planner (in Swedish), suggests a pace based on how many customers you have, and ready-made texts are in Review request templates for business owners, SMS and email.

You reply under Read reviews and Reply (Läs recensioner, Svara). Google reviews each reply, usually within ten minutes but sometimes for up to 30 days, and it appears as the business’s reply. Google’s advice is to keep replies short and polite, be conversational rather than promotional, never share a reviewer’s private information and sign with your name or initials. Google also advises against sending the same “thank you” to everyone and suggests focusing on reviews where you can share a helpful update or answer a question. In our assessment, a short reply to most reviews is worthwhile for a business that gets a few a week, and critical reviews should be answered first. How to write the replies is covered in How to respond to Google reviews without sounding like a chatbot and How to respond to negative reviews.

Questions and answers are gone from Maps

The feature where customers asked questions in Google Maps and others could answer has been removed. A Google product specialist confirmed it in Google’s help forum, according to Search Engine Roundtable on 15 December 2025. Instead, customers are meant to ask an AI feature in Maps and get an answer based on the business’s answers and its reviews. We have not been able to confirm that the AI feature is available in Sweden or in Swedish.

Google’s help page still mentions a Questions and answers section in the profile, for some categories and regions, where you can answer questions about the business. If you see it, answer there. Also put the answers to customers’ common questions on your website, where you control the text. How to write them is covered in How to write website FAQs that customers and AI understand.

How to keep the profile up to date

A profile that was right in spring can be wrong today, because others can suggest edits and Google itself updates details.

  • Suggested edits. Once you have been notified of a suggestion, you have four days to accept or reject it. If you don’t respond, Google may publish the change if it is supported by other public information. Details Google has changed are shown in blue when you edit the profile.
  • Collected info. In some regions Google may call, text or message your verified number on WhatsApp to confirm details. Your answers can be used on the profile, and you review them under Edit profile and Collected info (Insamlad information).
  • Performance. The profile’s performance view shows which searches led to the profile and how many people called, asked for directions, clicked through to the website or booked. The figures include both organic results and Google Ads. Compare month by month.

Want to see where your own profile falls short? Profilkollen, our free profile check (in Swedish), asks 18 questions in five areas and gives you a prioritised action list. Your answers are calculated in your browser.

How we do it: Profilvården

We also sell ongoing care of the Google profile, so read this with that in mind. Profilvården includes 4 posts, 4–8 new photos and replies to all new reviews within two working days every month, once you have approved it in writing. Twice a week we check opening hours, categories and suggested edits, and we check with you before anything is accepted or rejected. The profile stays in your business’s name and we get the Manager role, which you can remove whenever you like. We promise no ranking, only the work. More about the service is on the Profilvården page (in Swedish), and our plans are on the pricing page. How other options compare on price and content is covered in What does Google Business Profile help cost in 2026?

Frequently asked questions

How do I optimise my Google Business Profile?

Verify the profile, use your business’s real name, choose the most specific primary category and fill in your address or service area, description, services, opening hours, attributes and photos. Then post every week and ask every customer for a review in the same way. According to Google, local ranking is mainly based on relevance, distance and how well known the business is.

Can you pay to rank higher on Google Maps?

No. Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. What you can pay for is advertising in Google Ads, which is shown as ads, or someone to manage the profile for you.

How many categories can a Google Business Profile have?

One primary category and up to nine additional ones. Google says to use as few categories as possible and to choose the most specific ones that describe your business. When you add or change a category, you may be asked to verify the business again.

How long can the Google Business Profile description be?

No more than 750 characters. It should cover what you offer, what makes you different and how long you have been in business. It must not contain links or focus on promotions, prices or sales. Since a policy update in October 2026, the profile itself must not contain time-bound promotions, pricing or direct calls to action either.

Can I set my service area as a radius on Google?

No. Google says you can’t set your service area as a radius distance around your business. Instead you add up to 20 towns, postcodes or other areas, and the whole area shouldn’t extend more than about two hours’ drive from where your business is based.

Can I put a phone number in a Google post?

It is risky. Since September 2026, Google says it may remove posts with unverified contact information, such as phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles. Add a Call now button instead, which uses the verified number on your profile.

Sources

All web pages read on 23 October 2026 unless stated otherwise. Google’s help pages change without notice. Several of the Swedish versions state that they may have been translated with AI, so we compared them with the English versions.