Google Business Profile
Also known as: GBP, Google My Business, GMB
Google Business Profile is the free listing that controls how your business appears in Google Search and Maps — hours, photos, reviews, and posts.
What it actually means
Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is the panel that appears when someone searches your business name and the listing that represents you in Maps and the local pack. It holds your hours, address, phone, photos, services, reviews, and Q&A — and for many local businesses it receives more views than the website itself. An optimized profile, complete in every field, stocked with real photos, and actively collecting and answering reviews, is among the highest-ROI marketing work a local business can do, because it costs nothing and intercepts customers at the exact moment of local intent. An unclaimed or stale profile silently hands those customers to competitors.
Before spending a dollar on ads, claim and fully complete your Google Business Profile — it's free, it shows up when people search you by name, and it's often the deciding factor between you and the shop down the street.
Related terms
The local pack is the block of three map-pinned business listings Google shows for searches with local intent, above the regular organic results.
NAP consistency means your business name, address, and phone number appear identically everywhere they're listed online.
Review velocity is the rate at which a business earns new customer reviews — a freshness signal for local rankings and buyer trust.
Local Services Ads are Google's pay-per-lead ads for local service providers, shown at the very top of search with a Google Guaranteed badge.
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