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Google Business Profile checklist for contractors

Plumbers, roofers, HVAC techs, electricians and landscapers have one thing in common: the work happens at the customer's place, not yours. Google has specific rules for that, and most contractor profiles break at least one.

By the Digital Space Farmers team. Published October 8, 2026. Sources checked October 8, 2026, and listed at the bottom.

The short answer

  • If customers do not come to your address, remove the address from the profile and set service areas instead. Google calls this a service-area business.
  • List up to 20 service areas by city or ZIP code, and keep the whole area within about 2 hours of driving from where you are based.
  • Use your real business name with nothing added, and as few categories as honestly describe what you are.
  • Verify, fill in everything, add photos of your own jobs and answer reviews. Google says complete, accurate profiles are more likely to show in local results, and that you cannot pay for a better ranking.

This is the contractor version. If you are starting from zero, read Google Business Profile basics first, and keep the full printable checklist open while you work.

1. Decide what kind of business you are in Google's eyes

Google's guidelines say a business is eligible for a profile if it has a location customers can visit, or if it travels to customers. Contractors are almost always the second kind.

  • You work only at customers' homes or job sites (your "office" is your house or a yard with no counter): you are a service-area business. Google's instruction is plain: "If you don't serve customers at your business address, remove your address from your Business Profile."
  • You also have a shop or showroom with staff during posted hours where customers walk in: you can show the address and set service areas too.

Showing a home address you do not serve customers from is the most common contractor mistake. It breaks the guidelines, and it puts your house on the map.

2. Set your service areas the way Google asks

  • Areas are set by city, ZIP code or other named area, not by a radius.
  • You can list up to 20.
  • The whole area should not reach farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where you are based.
  • One profile for your base. Google says a service-area business "should have one profile for the central office or location". A second profile is only for a truly separate location with its own staff and its own area.

DEMO: a made-up example. A two-truck HVAC company based in a suburb lists the eight towns it actually drives to every week, not all 20 slots and not the big city an hour and a half away where it takes one job a year. Listing places you do not really serve does not move you up there. Google ranks local results mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and distance is measured from the searcher.

3. Name and categories: less is more

  • Name: exactly what is on your truck, invoices and website. Google says the name "should reflect your business's real-world name" and should not carry taglines, phone numbers or service descriptions. "Rivera Plumbing" is right. "Rivera Plumbing 24/7 Emergency Drain Cleaning Best Price" is against the rules.
  • Primary category: the most specific one that fits what you are: Plumber, HVAC contractor, Roofing contractor, Electrician.
  • Extra categories: Google says to "use as few categories as possible to describe your overall core business". Add a second one only if it is a real line of work for you. Put individual jobs (water heater install, drain cleaning) in the Services list, not in categories.

4. Fill in everything a customer checks before calling

  • Phone number that a person answers, and that matches your website.
  • Hours you will really pick up. If you take emergency calls at night, say so in the hours, not in the name.
  • Website link to a page that works on a phone. Our guide on tap-to-call buttons covers the one thing that page must do.
  • Services list in the customer's words.
  • Description in plain language: what you do, where, and who answers.

Google's own advice for local ranking is short: verify the business, keep the information complete and current, respond to reviews, and add photos.

5. Photos: your own work, not stock

  • Your truck with the name on it, your crew, your license number if your trade has one.
  • Before and after of real jobs, with the customer's permission and nothing that shows their address or face without it.
  • A new photo every week or two. A profile with recent photos looks like a business that is open.

6. Reviews, the honest way

Reviews are part of what Google calls prominence. Ask every happy customer, the same day, with a direct link. Do not offer anything in return and do not ask only the customers you think will be kind; both break Google's rules. Our guide on how to ask for reviews has the wording, and how to respond to a bad review covers the other kind. Reply to every review, good or bad.

7. A ten-minute monthly check

  1. Search your own business name on your phone. Is everything still right?
  2. Are the hours right for this month's holidays?
  3. Any review without a reply?
  4. Any edit suggested by Google or by a stranger that you did not make? Reject the wrong ones.
  5. Add one new photo.

Want a second pair of eyes? The free Growth Audit scores your website in about 30 seconds, and in the full audit a person looks at your profile too.

Questions people ask

Should a contractor show an address on Google?

Only if customers are served at that address during posted hours. If you work at customers' homes and your base is a house or a yard, Google says to remove the address and set service areas instead.

How many service areas can a contractor list on Google?

Up to 20, set by city, ZIP code or other named area. Google says the whole service area should not extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where the business is based.

Can I add keywords like "24/7 emergency plumber" to my business name?

No. Google's guidelines say the name must be your real-world business name, without taglines, phone numbers or service descriptions. Put emergency hours in your hours and your services in the Services list.

Does listing more towns make me show up in more places?

Not by itself. Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. Listing towns you do not truly serve does not change how far you are from the person searching.

Can I pay Google to rank higher in the map results?

No. Google states there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Ads are a separate, labeled product. Complete information, verification, reviews and photos are what Google itself recommends.

Sources

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