Keep your Google Business Profile current

You make every change in this lesson in your profile, signed in to the Google account that manages your business.

1. Go to business.google.com on a computer and sign in with the Google account that manages your business.
2. Click Edit profile.
3. Keep this tab open for the rest of the lesson.

You can also edit it in the Google Maps app on your phone. Tap Business at the bottom right, then Edit profile.

account A sign-in with a company, like a domain, email or hosting. Whoever owns the account controls what's in it. All words×

Hours and services change over the years, and the listing often doesn't. This prompt lines up what your profile says with what's true today, so you know what to fix.

AI drafts and sorts; a person approves anything with a price, a date or your name on it. Your profile has all three. Claude spots the gaps, and you make every change yourself.

1. Open the Claude app or claude.ai and start a new chat.
2. Copy what your profile says about your hours, services, phone, website and area.
3. Copy the prompt below.

Here's what my Google Business Profile says, and what's true about my business today. List every place they don't match, one per line, with what the profile says and what it should say. Then list anything a customer would want to know that's missing from the profile. Don't guess any hours, prices or services: if you're not sure, ask me. What my profile says: [paste it]. What's true today: [your hours, services, phone, website and area, in your own words]

4. Paste it into the chat. Replace the first part in square brackets with what you copied, and the second with what's true today.
5. Send it.

prompt What you type to Claude. A good one says what you want, how to work and what never to do. All words×AI Short for artificial intelligence. Here it means a program like Claude that reads what you write and writes back in plain words. All words×Claude app Claude on your phone or computer, where you chat with it by typing. claude.ai is the same thing in a web browser. All words×

Claude stays out of this step, because only you know when you're open.

1. In Edit profile, click Hours, and correct any hours that are wrong.
2. Next to Special hours, click the pencil icon. Click Review to confirm a holiday Google suggests, or Add a date for your own, and set the hours or leave Closed checked.
3. Click Save.

Special hours cover up to six days in a row. If you'll be closed a week or more, Google asks you to mark the business Temporarily closed instead.

Google reviews changes before they show, so a change may take a little while to appear.

special hours Hours that change for a day or a few days, like a holiday, without changing your usual hours. All words×

The description is the short paragraph about your business on your profile. Google's help page asks you to keep it under 750 characters, with no web addresses, and to describe the business rather than promotions or prices. This prompt drafts one inside those limits.

1. Copy the prompt below.

Write a description of my business for my Google Business Profile. Say what I do, who for, and where, in plain words. Keep it under 750 characters, and count them. Leave out web addresses, prices, discounts and offers, because Google asks for none of those in the description. Use only what I've told you in this chat.

2. Paste it into the same chat and send it.
3. Read it, change anything that isn't right, and paste it into the description box in Edit profile.
4. Click Save.

If Google says it's too long, ask Claude to cut it by a sentence.

A list of services helps Google show you when someone searches for one of them. A plumber might list drain cleaning and water heater repair. A bakery might list custom cakes and wholesale bread. This prompt turns your own list into short, clear entries.

1. Copy the prompt below.

Turn this into a list of services for my Google Business Profile. For each service, give a short name a customer would search for, and one plain sentence on what it includes. Don't add prices. If I gave you a price, put it in a separate line marked "Check before adding". Don't add any service I didn't list. My services: [what you offer, in your own words]

2. Paste it into the same chat. Replace the part in square brackets with what you offer.
3. Send it.
4. On your profile, click Edit services. Check the services you offer, or click Add more services, then Add custom service for one that isn't listed. Put the price in the service's details only if you've checked it, never in its name.
5. Click Save.

Recent photos show you're open and working. Google's help page suggests photos of your storefront, your products and your services. A photo of the outside helps people recognize you when they arrive.

Ask before you post a photo of a customer, their home or their car.

1. Pick three to five recent photos: the outside of your business or your van, your work, and you or your team at work if you're happy to be seen.
2. On your profile, click Photos, then Add photos, and pick them. They show on Google once your profile is verified.

An update post is a short note with a photo that shows on your profile. If you made a week of posts in "One finished job into a week of posts", use one of those instead of this prompt.

1. Copy the prompt below.

Write a short update post for my Google Business Profile about [one recent job, a tip or a seasonal reminder]. Keep it under 80 words. Leave out phone numbers, email addresses and web links in the text. End with one line telling people what to do next, like call or book. Don't add prices, dates or offers I didn't give you. If the post needs a fact I didn't give you, write FILL IN.

2. Paste it into the same chat. Replace the part in square brackets with what the post is about.
3. Send it, and read the draft.
4. In your profile, click Posts, then Add post, and pick Update.
5. Paste the post, add a photo, and click Post.

Leave your number out of the text. Google's own help page says a phone number there may get the post rejected. Customers can already call you from your profile, and when you add a post you can pick a Call now button if Google offers it.

Ten minutes on the first Monday of the month keeps your profile current.

1. Open the calendar app on your phone or computer.
2. Add a 10-minute reminder that repeats on the first Monday of every month.
3. Call it Check Google profile: hours, photos, one post.

Google has taken the questions section away from most profiles, and now answers people's questions itself from your website, reviews and profile. So the answers on your own site matter more. The lesson "Write the answers AI wants to quote" shows how.