Google Business Profile expert for local businesses
I set up, fix and look after Google Business Profiles, the listings people used to call Google My Business or GMB, for businesses in Kashmir and around the world. For a local business, the map listing is often the first thing a customer sees.
Why the listing matters so much
When someone searches for a hotel, a school or a clinic near them, Google usually shows a map with a few businesses before any website. Your profile decides whether you are one of them, and whether the person taps call, directions or your website.
The same profile appears when people search your name, with your reviews, photos and opening hours beside it. Its Performance report shows how many calls, direction requests and website visits it brought you, so you can see what it is worth. The profile is the centre of local SEO, which also covers your website and the details that have to match across the web.
What I do on your profile
Claim it or create it
Find every listing Google already has for you, including duplicates someone else made, and bring them under one profile you control.
Get it verified
Prepare what Google asks for, whether that is a short video of your premises, signage and equipment, or another method Google offers you.
Fix the details
The right primary category, such as hotel, primary school or travel agency, plus secondary categories, hours, services and a correct map pin.
Address or service area
A storefront, a service-area business or both, set up the way Google's rules require for how you actually meet customers.
Photos and posts
Real photos of your place, your team and your work, and posts timed to your busy months, so the profile looks alive when people compare you.
Reviews and replies
An easy way to ask every customer for a review, and replies that show future customers how you treat people.
Problems I fix most often
Guides on each: verification, suspensions, categories and reviews.
Seasonal and holiday hours
A resort that closes for part of the year, or a school that shuts for the holidays, still needs a correct listing while it is closed. Special hours and a short post tell people when you open again, instead of a profile that looks abandoned.
Names that look alike
Many towns have several businesses with nearly the same name. Google wants your profile name to match the name on your signboard, with no extra keywords, so your category, photos, reviews and website have to tell you apart from the others.
Pins in the wrong place
Addresses like Main Market, a mall or an industrial area cover a lot of ground, so a pin can easily land on the wrong building. A wrong pin sends customers to someone else's door, and they rarely try twice.
Service areas that make sense
A taxi operator, a plumber or a tour company that collects guests from the airport serves an area, not a shop counter. Your service areas should match where you really go, within Google's limit of about two hours' drive from your base.
Google listings for your kind of business
Categories, attributes and photos differ a lot between a hotel and a school. These pages cover the details.
Is your listing working for you?
Send me your Google Maps link. I'll check the category, pin, hours, photos and reviews and tell you what I'd change first.
Google Business Profile questions
Is Google My Business the same as Google Business Profile?
Yes. Google renamed Google My Business, often called GMB, to Google Business Profile in 2021. It is the same listing that shows on Google Maps and in search when someone looks for your business or for businesses like yours nearby.
My pin shows the wrong place on the map. Can you fix it?
Usually, yes. The owner of the profile can move the pin to the right spot, and if the address itself is wrong it can be corrected too. It happens most where many places share one market name, a mall or a large block address.
Can I hide my address?
Only if customers never come to you. Google's rules say a business that serves people at its own address should show it. A business that only travels to customers should remove the address and set service areas instead: up to 20, roughly within two hours' drive of its base.
How do I get more reviews without breaking the rules?
Ask every customer, not only the happy ones, and never offer a discount, gift or free service in return. A short review link or a QR or NFC review card makes it easy. Reply to every review, good or bad, calmly and specifically.
My profile was suspended. Can you help?
A suspension usually follows a guideline problem: extra keywords in the business name, an address customers can't visit, or a duplicate listing. I check the profile against Google's guidelines, fix what is wrong and help you put together the reinstatement request with evidence.
Is your business showing up on Google Maps?
Send me your business name and town. I'll look at your listing and tell you what I would fix first.