Blog / Google Business Profile
How to Set Up a Service-Area Business on Google
Short answer. If you go to the customer, use one profile for the real base and set a service area. Hide the address when you have no storefront. Google’s example is a plumber who works from home. Do not list a virtual office unless your own staff are there during the stated hours.
Who should use a service area?
If customers can visit you and you have clear signage, you can show the address. If you go to their home or building, you are a service-area business. Google says you should have one profile for the central office or location, with a designated service area.
That fits many plumbing, heating and cooling, and roofing companies. It does not fit a dental office where patients come to a marked suite. That office shows its address. A dentist who only visited homes would be the rare service-area case.
You still have to be eligible. A profile requires in-person contact with customers during the stated hours. Lead-generation companies and online-only businesses are examples Google lists as not eligible. A desk that only hands calls to other companies is not a shop with a service area.
Where does the profile’s base have to be?
Create the profile for the actual location. Google does not accept a P.O. box or a remote mailbox. A virtual office is not eligible unless that office is staffed during business hours. A co-working space counts only with clear signage, customers received during business hours, and your own staff on site during those hours.
If you show the address, keep permanent signage of the business name there. Do not put keywords or a URL in the address lines. The profile name is the real-world name, not “emergency plumber” plus a list of towns. Extra words in the name are covered in what to write in the description.
There should be one profile per business, not a second page for the same location. If you have different locations, each with its own service area and its own staff, you may have one profile for each. Two trucks at one house are not two locations.
Should you hide the address?
If you are a service-area business, Google says you should hide the address. The example is a plumber who runs the company from home. Clear the address so the house is not shown as a storefront. Hiding it does not remove the need for a real base. Customers see the area you serve, not a pin on the kitchen.
A shop with a counter is different. Hybrid businesses can show the storefront and also set a service area. Google’s example is an auto repair shop with a garage that also offers roadside help. A heating company with a staffed office, a sign, and crews that visit homes can follow that pattern. If people can visit the address, your team must be there and able to receive them during the stated hours.
How far can the service area reach?
Google does not tell you to draw a radius. Do not treat a circle on a map as a required step.
The limit is driving time. The boundaries should not extend farther than about two hours of driving from where the business is based. For some businesses, a larger area may be appropriate. That is Google’s exception, not permission to claim every city in the state. Name the towns you actually serve.
A roofing company should not paint an area that is a day’s drive away and expect distance in local ranking to ignore the base. On the ranking page, distance is how far the business is from the person searching. Setting towns does not replace that. See how local ranking works on Maps.
Google’s service-area page is the setup guide. The rules in this article are the ones on the representation guidelines, which link to that guide.
What about hours and the phone at a hidden base?
Publish the hours customers can reach you. Special hours cover a holiday or another short change, including a closure of up to six days in a row, so the regular hours stay intact. If you are closed for seven or more days in a row, or for an unknown period, Google’s special-hours page says to mark the business temporarily closed instead.
Use a phone that connects to that location and that you control. Prefer a local number over a central call-center line whenever possible. Do not forward people to a different business. Premium numbers are not acceptable. The same number should be on the website and on the truck. See why the name, address, and phone must match.
The description can say that you travel to the customer. It cannot hold a link, a discount, or the phone number as a substitute for the phone field.
What should a multi-crew company avoid?
Do not open a profile for a town where you have no staffed base. Do not drop a pin at a customer’s house after a job. Do not use a virtual office as a second shop so a far suburb looks local. Do not stretch one profile across every county because the trucks can arrive after a long day. A larger area has to be appropriate for that business.
If the profile is removed, common causes are prohibited content, a listing that does not match the real business, or a name that breaks the name rules. A lead-gen operation cannot be fixed by hiding an address. The appeal, if Google suspends you, is the one shown inside the profile. See what to fix if the profile is suspended and the profile checklist.
FAQ
Can a plumber show a home address?
Google says a service-area business should hide the address, and the example is a plumber working from home. Hide it, and keep the real base on the profile.
Can I show my shop and a service area?
Yes, if you have a real storefront. Google calls that a hybrid. Staff must be there and able to receive customers during the hours you publish.
Do I have to draw a radius?
No. Google does not say to draw a radius. Keep the area within about two hours of driving from the base, unless a larger area is appropriate.
Can I add a profile for each city I want to show up in?
No. Use one profile for the real base. Add another only if that place has its own staff and its own service area. A virtual office does not qualify unless your staff work there during the stated hours.
