If you run a local business and someone searches for the service you offer near them, you want to show up. Google Business Profile (GBP) is the free tool that makes this happen — and for most local businesses, it's the single most important online presence you can have after your website.
This guide explains exactly what Google Business Profile is, how it works, and why you absolutely need one in 2026.
What Is Google Business Profile?
Google Business Profile (formerly called Google My Business) is a free platform provided by Google that allows businesses to manage how they appear across Google Search and Google Maps.
When you create and verify a Google Business Profile, your business becomes eligible to appear in:
- Google Maps — when someone searches for businesses near them or gets directions
- The Local Pack — the map and list of three businesses that appears at the top of local search results
- The Knowledge Panel — the information box that appears on the right side when someone searches your business name directly
Your GBP listing displays your business name, address, phone number, website, opening hours, photos, reviews, and more — all visible before a potential customer ever clicks through to your website.
How Does Google Business Profile Work?
When someone searches for a local service — "electrician Merthyr Tydfil", "hairdresser near me", "plumber Aberdare" — Google uses its algorithm to determine which businesses are most relevant, most trustworthy, and closest to the searcher.
Google Business Profile is how Google gets the information it needs to make these decisions. Your listing tells Google:
- Where your business is located (or what service areas you cover)
- What industry and services you're in
- Whether customers trust you (based on reviews)
- Whether you're an active, legitimate business
The more complete, accurate, and regularly updated your listing is, the better Google understands your business — and the more likely it is to show you to relevant searchers.
Why Does My Business Need One?
You'll Show Up Where Customers Are Looking
The Local Pack — those three businesses at the top of a local search result — captures a huge share of clicks. If you're not in it, you're largely invisible to people who are actively searching for what you offer right now.
Without a GBP, you have almost no chance of appearing there. With a well-optimised one, you do.
It's Free
Setting up and managing a Google Business Profile costs nothing. For the visibility it provides, it offers one of the best returns of any marketing activity available to a small business.
It Drives Real Enquiries
A GBP listing gives potential customers everything they need to make a decision and get in touch: your phone number, your location, your opening hours, photos of your work, and reviews from previous customers. People can call you directly from the listing, get directions, visit your website, or send a message — all without any extra steps.
Reviews Build Instant Trust
When a customer searches for a service and sees one business with 60 reviews averaging 4.8 stars and another with none, the choice is easy. Reviews on your GBP are visible immediately in search results and they significantly influence whether someone picks up the phone to call you.
Google Business Profile vs a Website — Do I Need Both?
Yes. They serve different purposes and work best together.
Your Google Business Profile gets you in front of people who are searching locally. It gives them a snapshot of your business and makes it easy to call or get directions.
Your website gives you the space to go deeper — showcase your work properly, explain your services in full, build credibility, and capture enquiries through a contact form. It also supports your GBP ranking, because Google cross-references your website content with your listing to verify that you are what you say you are.
A business with a strong GBP but no website will get some enquiries. A business with both, properly set up and optimised, will get significantly more.
If you don't yet have a website, our Managed Starter Websites service is designed exactly for this — a professional website from £50/month, fully managed by us, that works alongside your Google Business Profile to maximise your local visibility.
Who Needs a Google Business Profile?
Any business that serves local customers should have one. This includes:
- Tradespeople — plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers, decorators
- Retail shops and restaurants — anywhere with a physical premises
- Service-area businesses — businesses that travel to customers (no fixed address required)
- Professional services — accountants, solicitors, financial advisers, consultants
- Health and beauty — salons, therapists, personal trainers, dentists
- Agencies and studios — web designers, marketers, photographers
Even if you primarily get work through word of mouth, a GBP means that when someone you've been recommended to searches your business name, they find a professional, trustworthy listing with reviews — rather than nothing at all.
How to Get Started
- Go to Google Business Profile Help and sign in with a Google account
- Search for your business name — if a listing already exists, claim it; if not, create one
- Fill in all your details accurately
- Complete the verification process (usually by postcard to your business address)
- Fully optimise your listing once verified
For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see our guide on how to get your business on Google Maps.
Once you're set up, our guide on how to optimise your Google Business Profile will help you get the most out of every section.
Need Help?
If you'd like help setting up, claiming, or optimising your Google Business Profile — or if you want to improve your overall local search visibility — get in touch with NC Digital. We offer local SEO services for small businesses across South Wales, helping them rank higher, get more enquiries, and grow through Google.