Blog / Google Business Profile
What Photos to Add to Your Google Business Profile
Short answer. Photos and videos show on Google only after the profile is verified. Add a logo, a cover, and real photos of the storefront or the work. Use JPG or PNG files from 10 KB to 5 MB, at least 250 by 250 pixels, with 720 by 720 recommended. Skip heavy filters.
Which photos does Google ask for?
Google’s photo help lists a logo, a cover, and other business photos of the storefront, products, or services. The logo helps people recognize you. The cover should represent the business. An exterior photo helps people recognize the place when they visit, which matters for a dental office, a roofing yard, or a heating shop with a sign.
If you hide a home address, do not treat the house as a public storefront. As a practice, photograph the truck, the crew, and the finished job instead of a frame that shows the house number. Google’s rule is that the image should represent reality: in focus, well lit, with no significant alterations and no excessive filters.
A wide shot of a replaced roof, a water heater you installed, a condenser on a pad, or a dental front desk is the right kind of proof. A stock skyline is not your job.
What file rules does Google publish?
Photos must be JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB. The minimum is 250 pixels tall and 250 pixels wide. Google recommends 720 by 720. A sharp phone photo inside that range is enough. Do not upscale a tiny image.
Video can run up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB, at 720p or higher.
If you have 10 or more locations, Google says you can bulk upload. This article does not walk through a spreadsheet. One shop adds media from the profile.
When do the logo and the cover actually show?
The logo may not appear until the name, a valid location with a street address, categories, the phone number, and opening hours are filled in. A hidden home address can still be stored on the profile. Do not leave those fields empty and then blame the file.
The cover is not guaranteed to stay the first image. If the cover is low quality, or other sources suggest it is not the best photo, a user-submitted photo may be shown instead. Pick a clear photo of the real place or a real job, not a dark logo stretched into a banner.
New media is reviewed. Pending means it is uploading or processing, or the profile is not verified. Pending media is not public. Not approved means it was flagged and does not show. Live means customers can see it. Google says it can take 24 to 48 hours before photos and videos show.
What should each trade photograph?
These subjects are a practice, not an extra quota. They match the types Google names.
- HVAC: the outdoor unit after a change-out, the truck, and the shop front if customers can visit. Skip family members and paperwork.
- Plumbing: the finished fixture, the water heater, and the crew with the truck.
- Roofing: the roof before and after, if you have both, and the crew on site. Keep a house number out of the frame when that home is not your public location.
- Dental: the exterior with the sign, reception, and the operatories in a calm, accurate way. Do not upload a patient’s face or a chart.
You are responsible for imagery that follows the law. Photos and videos also have to follow Google’s photo content policy, which points at the prohibited-content rules.
How do you remove a bad photo?
Your own upload can be removed from Photos. Google separates that from customer photos. You can ask to remove a customer photo. Do not assume the same delete control applies to every image a customer added. Start from Photos, and use the content policy if the image breaks it.
If a customer photo replaced a weak cover, upload a clearer one of your own. Google already says a low-quality cover can lose the first slot.
Add photos after verification. Until then, pending media stays off Search and Maps. The ranking page also says to add photos and videos so customers can see what you offer. It does not say a photo count produces a rank, and there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. See what Google uses for Maps ranking.
What should you skip?
Skip heavy filters, slogan collages, and pictures of a discount. The description already bans a focus on prices, and listing content is not supposed to carry a time-bound offer. A photo of a real repair does more than a graphic that says “sale.”
Skip a competitor’s van, a stock clinician, or a roof you did not install. The guidelines require the profile to reflect the business accurately. A fake storefront on a home-based plumbing profile fights the setup in service-area businesses on Google. Explain the work in the description, and keep links and prices out of that text: what to write in the description. The other checks are in the profile checklist.
FAQ
Can I add photos before I verify?
You can upload, but Google says photos and videos show publicly only after verification. While the profile is unverified, media stays pending and is not public.
Will my cover always be the first photo?
No. Setting a cover does not guarantee it will show as the first image. A low-quality cover can be replaced by a user photo.
What size should I export?
JPG or PNG, 10 KB to 5 MB, at least 250 by 250 pixels. Google recommends 720 by 720. Video can run up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB, at 720p or higher.
Can I delete a customer photo myself?
Remove media you added from Photos. For a customer photo, Google says you can request removal. Follow the photo content policy, and do not publish a patient’s face or a house number you meant to hide.
