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Google Business Profile (GBP) is the listing that shows up in Google Search and Google Maps when someone looks for your business name or searches things like “plumber near me”. It’s free, and for most local businesses, it’s the highest-ROI marketing asset you’ll ever set up.

This guide covers:

Setting up a GBP from scratch (the right way)
Choosing the correct “type” (shopfront vs service-area vs hybrid)
Verification (and what to do when it’s a pain)
Fixing a suspended/disabled profile
Avoiding duplicates and messy ownership
A real-world “debacle-to-cleanup” case study playbook (wpfix.au → kellycreative.com.au)

Before you start: make sure your business is eligible

Google’s core rule is simple: to qualify for a Business Profile, your business must make in-person contact with customers during stated hours (with a few specific exceptions). ^{[Google Help]}

Examples that aren’t eligible include:

Online-only brands
Lead generation agents/companies
Businesses use a PO Box / remote mailbox as the address. ^{[Google Help]}

If you are eligible, move on.

Step 1: Use the right Google account (and don’t share passwords)

Set your profile up using a Google account you control long-term (ideally, a dedicated business account). If you’re working with a web developer/agency, don’t hand over your login — add them as a manager instead.

Google supports different access levels:

Owner: full control, can add/remove users, can remove the profile
Manager: can do almost everything day-to-day, but can’t add/remove users or remove the profile ^{[Google Help]}

This one step prevents a heap of “hostage listing” disasters later.

Step 2: Check if a profile already exists (don’t create duplicates)

Search your business name in Google and Google Maps first.

If there’s no profile, you’ll create one.
If there’s an unverified profile, you can usually claim it.
If it’s verified by someone else, you may need to request ownership instead of creating a new one. ^{[Google Help]}

Duplicates are one of the fastest ways to trigger confusion, ranking issues, and sometimes verification drama.

Step 3: Create (or claim) your Business Profile

To create a new one, Google’s official flow starts at business.google.com/add. ^{[Google Help]}

You’ll go through:

Business name
Primary category
Location/service area setup
Contact details
Verification

Step 4: Choose the correct business “type” (this matters a lot)

Think of this as how you operate in the real world.

1) Shopfront/bricks-and-mortar

Customers visit you at your address during opening hours.

You’ll display your address publicly.

2) Service-area business (SAB) — you travel to customers

Examples: mobile tradies, cleaners, many consultants.

If you don’t serve customers at your business address, Google says you should remove/hide the address and list service areas instead. ^{[Google Help]}

Key SAB rules:

Service areas must be entered as cities/postcodes/areas (not a radius)
You can add up to 20 service areas
Your overall boundary shouldn’t be more than ~2 hours driving time from your base ^{[Google Help]}

3) Hybrid

You serve customers at your address and travel/deliver.

Hybrid businesses can show their address, set hours, and also set a service area. ^{[Google Help]}

Step 5: Enter your address (only if appropriate) and set your service area

Address basics

If you’re listing an address, use a complete street address (not landmarks like “corner of…”), and include unit/suite details if relevant. ^{[Google Help]}

Hiding your address (service-area businesses)

Google’s guidance is explicit: only hide the address if you’re a service-area business, and when you do, your profile will show service area only. ^{[Google Help]}

Step 6: Add contact details that match reality

Use your real business phone number and website.

If you’re transitioning domains (like wpfix.au → kellycreative.com.au), your website URL can be updated — but make sure your branding and business name align across:

Website header/footer
Contact page
Social profiles
Invoices/quotes
Any directories you control

Consistency reduces edits being flagged or delayed.

Step 7: Verification (and how not to sabotage it)

Verification options vary, but Google commonly offers:

Phone/SMS
Email
Postcard/mail (when available)
Live video call
Video recording ^{[Google Help]}

Two critical “don’ts” during postcard verification:

Don’t edit your business name, address, or category after requesting a postcard (it can invalidate the code)
Don’t keep requesting new codes (also slows things down) ^{[Google Help]}

Also: Google will never ask for your verification code — don’t share it. ^{[Google Help]}

Step 8: Fill out your profile properly (so it actually performs)

Google’s own guidelines exist to prevent problems (including removals). Read them at least once, even if you skim. ^{[Google Help]}

At minimum, complete:

Primary category + a few relevant secondary categories (don’t keyword-stuff)
Hours (including public holidays if relevant)
Services (especially for SABs)
Business description (clear, factual, not hypey)
Photos: logo, cover image, real work photos, team/vehicle signage if relevant
Reviews: ask happy customers (and respond to all reviews)

Fixing a suspended or disabled GBP (the calm, methodical way)

Suspensions are common. Panic makes it worse.

Google suspends or disables profiles that don’t follow guidelines and provides an appeal process. ^{[Google Help]}

Step 1: Work out what kind of problem you have

Common scenarios:

Profile suspension (one listing is down)
Account restriction (your Google account is restricted; all profiles you manage can be affected, and you may be blocked from creating/claiming new profiles) ^{[Google Help]}

Account restriction needs to be appealed at the account level first, then the profile. ^{[Google Help]}

Step 2: Fix the underlying issues before you appeal

Typical causes (in plain English):

Using an address you shouldn’t show (SAB showing a home address incorrectly, or address issues)
Ineligible business model (online-only / lead gen)
Duplicate listings for the same business
Business name not matching “real-world” branding
Category mismatches
Too many edits too quickly, especially right after verification

Also, if you relocated, don’t create a new profile — update the existing one. ^{[Google Help]}

Step 3: Submit the appeal properly (and attach evidence fast)

Google’s appeal flow allows you to add evidence — but if you choose to, you need to submit it within 60 minutes after you open the evidence form. ^{[Google Help]}

Evidence that usually helps:

Photos of signage / branded vehicle
Business registration/ABN details (where appropriate)
Utility bills/lease docs (for address verification scenarios)
Screenshots showing consistent NAP across your website/contact page

Duplicates, rebrands, and “messy history” clean-up

Duplicates happen when:

Someone creates a second listing accidentally
Google auto-generates one from other data sources
A business rebrands, and someone makes a “new” profile instead of updating the old one.

Google’s advice:

If you created a duplicate by mistake, you can remove it (but content/managers on that duplicate will be removed, so be careful). ^{[Google Help]}
Merging can combine reviews, but replies may be lost, and the listings need to represent the same business with the same info. ^{[Google Help]}

Case Study

I’m going to keep this “case study” focused on the move you’re making (wpfix.au → kellycreative.com.au) and the common GBP traps that show up during that sort of transition.

The core problem pattern

A rebrand/domain shift often creates a mismatch between:

The GBP business name
The website domain and branding
Existing citations/directories
How Google understands the entity (especially if edits happen rapidly)

That mismatch can lead to:

Verification loops
Edits stuck “pending”
Duplicate profiles are popping up
In worst cases: suspension + reinstatement paperwork

The fix plan (clean and defensible)

Decide the real-world brand name first
Make sure the business name you want on GBP matches what customers see on the website and branding.
Update the website to match the brand
kellycreative.com.au needs a clear footer/header, NAP, contact page, and service areas if you’re SAB.
Update the GBP website URL
Swap wpfix.au → kellycreative.com.au once the new site is ready and consistent.
Choose the correct business type
- If you don’t serve customers at your address, list it as a service area and hide the address ^{[Google Help]}
- If you do: keep the address public and ensure the signage is legit.
Avoid duplicates
Don’t create a “fresh” profile unless it’s genuinely a new business entity. For moves/changes, update the existing profile. ^{[Google Help]}
If suspended: appeal once you’re compliant
Google explicitly supports appeals for suspended/disabled profiles. ^{[Google Help]}
Submit clear evidence quickly if prompted.
Lock in ownership properly
Keep primary ownership with you, and add helpers as managers. ^{[Google Help]}

That’s the same rescue playbook you’d use for any “we changed domains/branding, and now GBP is weird” scenario — and it’s exactly the sort of thing that’s fixable with calm sequencing.

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If you’d like help setting your Google Business Profile up properly (and making sure it matches what Google thinks you do), I can help via Local SEO.