How to set up a Google Business Profile as a service-area business
A service-area business is one that goes to the customer, or works online, instead of serving people at a shop they can walk into. Contractors, mobile cleaners, and many consultants fit this model. LocalHank does too: we serve Washington cities remotely and do not have a storefront.
Google has a specific way to represent that. If customers do not visit your address, you should not show that address on the profile. You list the cities or areas you actually serve instead, up to 20. The official explanation is in Manage your service areas for service-area and hybrid businesses.
What to show, and what to hide
- Hide the street address if people cannot visit you there. A home address on the map can send customers to the wrong place and can create privacy problems.
- Do not use a P.O. box, mailbox store, or virtual office to look as if you are in a city you are not. Google does not allow that as a storefront address.
- List real service areas. A Seattle painter who also works in Renton and Kirkland should say so. A Kennewick contractor who serves the Tri-Cities should include Pasco and Richland. Do not add Spokane if you never go there.
- Hybrid businesses are different. If customers can visit you and you also travel to them, you may show the address and add service areas.
Verification still needs a real operating address
Even when the address is hidden from the public, Google may still ask you to verify with a postcard, a phone check, a video, or more than one method. The methods you see are chosen by Google and can change. For video verification, Google asks service-area businesses to show where they operate, proof the business exists, and proof you manage it. See Verify your business on Google and Verify your business with a video recording.
You may need a private mailing address for that step even if it never appears on the profile. That is normal for this kind of listing.
Write the profile like a human
Use the real business name, honest categories, and a description that names the areas you serve. "Serving Vancouver, WA, Camas, and Battle Ground" is useful. "Best #1 Vancouver plumber serving all of Washington" is not. Always add the state when the city name is easy to confuse, especially Vancouver.
LocalHank can clean up an existing listing with a Google Business Profile makeover from $295, or maintain it with monthly management from $395 a month. We will not hide a storefront you actually have, and we will not invent service areas.
If your website still lists only one city, pair the profile work with on-page and local SEO setup from $495. Contact Hank if you are unsure which setup you have.