22 October 2026

Google Business Profile checklist for Brighton & Hove businesses

A practical Google Business Profile checklist for Brighton & Hove firms: eligibility, address vs service area, categories, details, reviews and measurement.

A Google Business Profile (GBP) is often the first thing someone sees when they search for a local service on Google Search or Maps. For Brighton & Hove businesses that meet Google’s eligibility rules, getting the basics right matters more than chasing every optional feature.

This checklist follows Google’s published Business Profile Help. There are no special Brighton-only rules — apply Google’s guidelines carefully to how you actually trade, whether that is a shopfront in The Lanes, a home-based trade covering BN postcodes, or a hybrid of both. For how people search Brighton, Hove and nearby towns, see Brighton, Hove or Shoreham? How local search actually works here.

Eligibility

Before you create or claim anything, confirm you are eligible.

Confirm you are eligible

Google’s eligibility guidance says a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours to qualify for a Business Profile.

Examples Google lists as ineligible include:

Online-only brands, organisations and artists (with limited exceptions elsewhere in the guidelines)
Lead generation agents or companies
Rental or for-sale properties such as vacation homes (sales or leasing offices can be eligible)
Addresses that are only a P.O. box or remote mailbox
Ongoing services or classes at a venue you do not own or have authority to represent

Exceptions exist (for example some seasonal businesses with permanent signage, and delivery-only food brands under specific conditions).

One profile per eligible location

Google’s representation guidelines say there should only be one profile per business, because duplicates confuse Maps and Search. In practice that means one profile per eligible location, not one profile for an entire brand forever.

Google’s own guidelines also allow, where the rules are met:

Separately eligible departments within a business, university, hospital or similar institution
Individual practitioners (such as doctors, dentists or solicitors) who meet Google’s practitioner criteria
More than one location when each is genuinely staffed and receives customers (or has its own service area and staff) under Google’s multi-location guidance

Address, storefront or service area

Storefront businesses

If customers visit you:

Use a precise, accurate street address.
Google says P.O. boxes and remote mailboxes are not acceptable.
Virtual offices that you do not operate from are not eligible.
Co-working spaces only work if you maintain clear signage, receive customers there during hours, and staff the space during those hours.
Businesses showing an address should maintain permanent fixed signage of the business name at that address.

Service-area businesses

If you travel to customers (plumber, mobile hairdresser, mobile mechanic):

Google says you should have one profile for the central office or location with a designated service area.
Service-area businesses should hide the business address from customers when it is not a customer-facing storefront (for example a residential base).
Google states that the overall service area generally should not extend farther than about two hours’ driving time from where the business is based (larger areas may be appropriate for some businesses).
Age-restricted products or services (examples Google lists include alcohol, cannabis or weapons) are not permitted as service-area businesses without a storefront.

Hybrid businesses

If you both receive customers at an address and travel to them, Google allows showing the storefront address and designating a service area — provided the location is staffed and able to receive customers during stated hours.

Accurate business details

Work through these fields as a customer would see them:

Name — the real-world name used on signage, stationery and your site. Google prohibits marketing taglines, keyword stuffing, phone numbers, URLs and similar extras in the name field.
Phone — a number under the business’s direct control that connects to that location where possible. Avoid referral or redirect numbers that send people elsewhere.
Website — the site that represents this location.
Hours — regular customer-facing hours, plus special hours for holidays or short closures. Use Google’s industry notes where hours are unusual (appointment-only, lodging, venues, and so on).
Description — useful information about services, products, mission or history. Google disallows links in the description and content that focuses on promotions, prices or sales pitches.

Keep the same facts on your website. Inconsistent name, address/area or phone details make it harder for customers — and for any system reading both surfaces — to trust what they see. There is a fuller note in Why your business details must match everywhere, and the same point comes up in How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT.

Services and photos

Services / products / menus — list what customers can actually buy or book; keep them aligned with your website.
Attributes and photos — only mark what is true; use recent real images of premises, team and work.

Reviews

Ask honestly, never gate or incentivise. Google’s review tips are clear:

Reviews must reflect a genuine experience.
Offering incentives (free or discounted goods or services) in exchange for posting, changing or removing reviews is treated as fake and misleading content and is prohibited.
You can remind customers to leave a review using a Google review link or QR code Google documents for that purpose.
Reply to reviews professionally and specifically — conversational, not promotional.
Value a mix of feedback; balanced reviews often feel more trustworthy.

For a longer look at asking without crossing the rules, see How to get more Google reviews without breaking the rules.

Measurement

Verified owners and managers can open Performance on the Business Profile (or see Google’s performance and insights help). Depending on what applies to your business, that report can show searches associated with your profile, views on Search and Maps, and actions such as website clicks, calls and direction requests. Pair those figures with your own enquiry log — direction requests only help if you can take the work.

Also watch for unexpected edits to name, category, hours or address, and for duplicate listings that reappear. If the listing itself is missing from Maps, start with Why isn’t my business showing on Google Maps?. If the website linked from the profile never appears in Search, work through Why isn't my website showing on Google?.

Brighton & Hove notes

Apply the same guidelines carefully to local setups: use special hours for seasonal closures and events rather than stuffing seasons into the name; list only service areas you genuinely cover within a sensible drive time; follow co-location and signage rules in shared buildings; hide a residential address when you are a true service-area business. That does not invent a local ranking factor — it keeps the profile honest for the customers who use it.

Short Q&A

We’re online-only — can we still have a profile?: Google’s eligibility examples treat many online-only brands and organisations as ineligible. Read the current eligibility article for your situation before verifying.
How many categories should we add?: As few as needed to describe the core business. Specific and accurate beats a long keyword list.
Can we offer a discount for a five-star review?: No. Google prohibits incentives for posting, changing or removing reviews.

Sources

Business eligibility and ownership guidelines — who qualifies; ineligible examples; authorised representatives
Guidelines for representing your business on Google — name, address, service areas (~2 hours), categories (“IS a”), hours, description; departments, practitioners and multi-location notes
How to choose a category for your Business Profile — primary category; fewest categories
Tips to get more reviews — genuine experiences; incentives prohibited; link/QR requests; reply guidance
Incentivized or Biased Reviews (Maps UGC policy) — incentives and bias undermine integrity
Understand your Business Profile performance & insights — Performance metrics and how to view them