Google Business Profile & Google Maps for Sussex Tradespeople

Google Business Profile is the business listing that can appear in Google Search and Google Maps.

For many local trades, it is one of the most useful free business tools available — but only when the profile represents a genuine eligible business and follows Google's rules.

Last reviewed: September 2026 using current Google Business Profile Help guidance.

Important: Google changes products and interfaces. Where a button name differs from this guide, follow the current instructions shown in your Business Profile and Google Help.

Set up or claim the right profile

Google says a business generally needs to make in-person contact with customers to be eligible for a Business Profile. That fits many genuine trades that travel to customers.

A service-area business travels to customers but does not serve them at its business address. Google gives plumbers and cleaning services as examples.

A hybrid business both receives customers at a staffed location and travels to them.

If the business is online-only or a lead-generation company rather than the actual service business, it may not be eligible.

Read Google's current Business Profile eligibility rules before creating a profile.

Use your real business name

Use the name the business uses in the real world.

Do not add “BEST ROOFER BRIGHTON CHEAP EMERGENCY” to a business name if that is not the actual business name.

Google's representation guidelines say the business should be represented consistently with real-world branding such as signage and stationery.

Common mistake: Treating the business-name field like a keyword box. It is an identity field.

Storefront, home address and service-area businesses

If customers do not visit your business address, Google says a service-area business should remove that address from what customers see.

That is particularly important for a sole trader working from home.

Do not create a fake shopfront. Do not use an unstaffed virtual office to create a location. Google says a storefront needs to be a genuine location and its virtual-office rules are strict.

Use Google's guidelines for representing your business as the source of truth.

Set service areas and address privacy correctly

Google currently lets service-area businesses specify service areas using named places/postcodes rather than drawing a radius, and its Help guidance sets a limit of 20 service areas.

That does not mean you should select 20. Add only places you genuinely serve.

A plumber based in Bognor Regis who normally works around Chichester, Littlehampton and nearby areas should represent that real coverage. Adding Hastings simply because it is still in Sussex can create misleading expectations.

Google also gives practical guidance on keeping the overall service area within a sensible travelling distance from the base.

See Google's current service-area guidance.

Choose accurate categories

Your primary category should describe the main business as accurately as possible. Add additional categories only when they reflect genuine extra work.

Google's editing guidance says not to use categories solely as keywords.

A painter and decorator should not select unrelated categories just because those searches look attractive.

Services and business description

Use the services area to explain work you actually provide.

The business description should help a customer understand the business. Keep it natural and factual.

Avoid:

• town-name stuffing;
• unverifiable “best in Sussex” claims;
• fake accreditations;
• services you cannot genuinely represent;
• sales copy that hides what the business actually does.

Phone, website and opening hours

Keep customer-facing contact information accurate.

If you have a proper business website, that will generally be the most useful website destination because it is the business's own site.

If you do not have a website, your TradeKind profile remains useful to share elsewhere. Do not assume a third-party profile should automatically replace an owned website or that every Google interface offers the same link fields. Use only current, legitimate fields that genuinely represent the business.

Keep hours realistic. If you do not offer a 24-hour emergency service, do not imply that you do.

Add recent photographs

Add genuine photographs that help customers understand the business:

• finished work;
• work in progress;
• the team where relevant;
• branded vehicle or equipment where useful;
• genuine premises if customers actually visit.

Avoid stock images presented as your own jobs.

Update photographs over time rather than uploading 50 once and never returning.

Verification

Google may require verification before a business can fully manage a profile. Follow the method Google offers to that profile.

Business Profile itself is free. Be cautious of somebody claiming Google charges a mandatory fee to keep the listing live.

Keep the business owner as an owner where appropriate even if another person helps manage it.

Duplicate profiles

Do not create a new profile because an old one is inconvenient.

Search first. If a genuine profile already exists, use Google's ownership, access or duplicate-resolution process.

A service-area business should not create one profile per town simply to try to rank in each town.

Reviews and responses

Google reviews should come from genuine experiences.

Make it easy for real customers to leave feedback and reply professionally. Do not buy reviews or offer prohibited incentives.

Continue with Reviews for Tradespeople.

How Google describes local ranking

Google's current guidance says local results are mainly based on:

• relevance — how well a Business Profile matches the search;
• distance — how far the business is from the customer or location understood for the search;
• prominence — how well-known the business is.

Google explains that links and reviews can contribute to prominence and that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

Read Google's local ranking guidance.

Suspensions and restrictions

Policy breaches can lead to profile restrictions or suspension.

Fake review activity can also lead to review restrictions.

If a profile is suspended, do not immediately build a duplicate to work around it. Review the current policy, correct genuine problems and use Google's appeal process.

Common mistakes to avoid

• fake town locations;
• PO boxes or remote mailboxes presented as business premises;
• unstaffed virtual offices;
• duplicate profiles for the same service-area business;
• keyword-stuffed business names;
• inaccurate service areas;
• categories chosen only for keywords;
• fake or incentivised reviews;
• constantly changing core details to chase rankings.

Do this now: Open the Business Profile as a customer would see it. Check the name, category, service area, phone, website, hours and newest photographs. Fix factual problems before worrying about “optimisation”.