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Google Business Profile in Singapore: The 2026 Guide

By Gordon Hwa, Founder, Khepri Digital
Updated · First published 19 June 2023 · 12 min read

What is a Google Business Profile, and is it free?

It's the panel that appears on Google Search and Maps when someone looks for your business or for what you sell nearby: your business name, address, hours, phone number, website, photos, customer reviews and booking links. It was called Google My Business until Google renamed it. For most local businesses, your Google Business Profile is what people see before they ever reach your website.

It costs nothing. Google says you "can manage how your business shows up on Maps and Search at no charge", and that you "can add or claim your business at no charge". Some extras can carry fees from third parties: if customers book through a reservation partner connected to your profile, that provider may charge you.

Who can have a profile?

Only businesses that meet customers in person. In Google's words: "Only businesses that make face-to-face contact with customers are eligible for a Business Profile." An online-only business with no premises customers visit, and no visits to customers, isn't eligible.

That leaves two kinds of profile:

Type Who it's for The rules that catch people out
Storefront A clinic, shop, restaurant or office that customers visit The address must be where you actually receive customers
Service-area business Someone who goes to the customer: an aircon servicer, a mobile physio, a cleaning company One profile for your base, with a service area no larger than about 2 hours' drive, and your home address hidden

What Google doesn't allow:

  • Virtual offices. A rented mailing address you don't operate from "isn't eligible for a Business Profile".
  • Co-working desks, unless the office has clear signage, receives customers during business hours and is staffed by your team.
  • P.O. boxes. Google suspends profiles that use one.
  • More than one profile per location, in one account or several.

How do you create and verify a profile in 2026?

  1. Go to business.google.com/add and choose Add your business to Google. If your business already appears on Maps, search for it on desktop Google Maps and choose Claim this business instead.
  2. Enter your real business name, primary category, address or service area, phone and website.
  3. Verify that you're the business owner, or authorised to manage the business. Google decides which methods you're offered, based on your business type, public information, region and hours, and sometimes asks for more than one.
Verification method What to expect
Video recording Google's recommended option when you're eligible. Show the signage, the premises and proof you manage the business
Phone or text A code by call or SMS. Automated phone menus can't receive it
Email A code to an address Google already associates with the business
Live video call Only during your business hours, and not offered to everyone
Postcard A 5-digit code by mail. Most arrive within 14 days
Instant Sometimes, if you've already verified your website in Google Search Console

Two things to avoid while you wait: don't edit your business name, address or category, or the postcard code stops working. And expect the review itself to take up to five business days.

How does Google decide which businesses rank in the map pack?

Google names three factors on its own help page, and says plainly that "there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google".

Where your profile appears in local results Relevance How well you match the search You control: • Primary category • Services and description • Hours and attributes • Matching pages on your site Distance How close you are to the searcher You control: • An accurate address • A realistic service area • One profile per location Not: where people search from Prominence How well-known you are You control: • Genuine reviews, with replies • Links to your website • Mentions and listings • The same details everywhere
The three factors as Google describes them in "Tips to improve your local ranking on Google". The page's introduction now calls the third one "popularity".
  • Relevance is "how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for". Complete, detailed information is how you earn it.
  • Distance is "how far each business is from the customer who's searching". You can't change where people search from, only make sure your location is right.
  • Prominence "means how well-known a business is", and is "based on info like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. More reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking."

Experts broadly agree. In Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors survey of 47 local search specialists, the top Maps factors were the primary category, proximity to the searcher and keywords in the business name, followed by having a physical address in the city searched and being open at the time of search. Read the third one carefully: it describes what correlates with ranking, not what Google allows. Google's guidelines say "including unnecessary information in your business name isn't permitted, and could result in the suspension of your Business Profile". Use your real-world name, exactly as it appears on your signage.

What should you fill in?

Everything that's true and relevant, because complete business information is what relevance is built on. A practical order:

  1. Primary category, then any secondary categories that genuinely apply. Don't use categories as keywords.
  2. Services (or a menu) in plain words customers use.
  3. Contact information: one phone number and your website, the same as everywhere else online.
  4. Hours, including public holidays.
  5. Photos of the premises, signage, team and work, taken by you and kept current.
  6. Attributes you can confirm, such as wheelchair access or payment options.
  7. Booking or order links: up to 10 per type, to your own booking page or a booking partner.
  8. Messaging. Google's built-in Business Profile chat ended on 31 July 2024. Where it's available, you can now add WhatsApp or text messaging to your contact options; Google says it's offered in "select regions".
  9. Posts for updates, offers and events. Posts older than six months are archived unless you set a date range, so a dated offer page is better than a stale post.

Then check how customers find your business: search your business name, and your main service plus "near me", on a phone.

How do you get more customer reviews on Google without breaking the rules?

Ask every customer, the same way, and make it easy: a short link or QR code after the appointment or delivery. What Google prohibits:

  • Paying for reviews, "directly or in kind", or offering discounts or freebies in exchange.
  • Asking only happy customers, or discouraging negative reviews ("review gating").
  • Pressuring customers to review on the premises, or telling them what to write.
  • Setting staff quotas for reviews.

Google enforces this at scale: in 2025 it "blocked or removed over 292 million policy-violating reviews" and "removed over 13 million fake Business Profiles", according to its own April 2026 update.

What customers look for, from BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (1,002 US adults; Singapore will differ, but the direction is useful):

Finding Share of consumers
Want reviews written in the last three months 74%
Likely to use a business that replies to all its reviews 80%
Only use a business with a star rating of four or more 68% (55% in 2025)
Won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews 47%
Use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations 45% (6% in 2025)

Reply to every review, promptly and personally. Google's own advice is to be "conversational, not promotional", address the reviewer by name and respond to what they actually said.

Does your profile affect AI answers?

Indirectly, yes. Google says there are no special requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and its short list of what helps includes keeping your Business Profile information up to date. The bigger effect is consistency. AI answers, like search engines, compare your Google Business Profile with your website, directories and review sites; when those disagree, the answer hedges or picks the wrong version.

We see this in audits. When we checked hotels for AI search visibility in 2026, 6 of the 7 we tested had a name, address or key fact that differed between their website, Google Business Profile and booking listings (the full audit). Fixing that is usually the first job in our AI search visibility work, before any new content.

Google is also building conversational search into Maps. Ask Maps, launched in March 2026 in the US and India, answers questions using information from "over 300 million places" and reviews from "more than 500 million contributors". It isn't available in Singapore yet, but it shows where local search is heading: your profile, reviews and website read as one record.

Why do profiles get suspended, and how do you appeal?

The common causes, from Google's policy pages:

  • A business that doesn't exist at the claimed location, or a virtual office or P.O. box address.
  • Unnecessary words in the business name.
  • Duplicate profiles for one location.
  • Edits that try to change what the business is.
  • A pattern of violations, which can restrict the whole account and suspend every profile it manages.

To appeal, use Google's reinstatement form with evidence such as your business registration, licence or a utility bill at the address. Reviews can take up to five business days. Don't submit several appeals for the same issue, and don't create a new profile for the same business while you wait.

Where does a Business Profile fit in your marketing?

For a business that serves a local area, your Google Business Profile is often the highest-return hour you'll spend on local search visibility: it's free, it appears above the ordinary results for "near me" searches, and it feeds AI answers. It works best alongside a website with a page for each service and location, so the two tell the same story. That combination is the core of our SEO work for clinics, hotels and local service businesses. If you're weighing the cost of outside help, here's what SEO costs in Singapore.

Frequently asked questions

Is Google Business Profile free in Singapore?

Yes. Creating, claiming and managing a profile costs nothing. Google says there's no way to pay for a better local ranking.

How long does verification take?

It depends on the method Google offers you. Video, phone, text and email can be quick; Google says verification reviews take up to five business days, and postcards usually arrive within 14 days.

Can I list a home-based business?

Yes, if you serve customers in person. Set it up as a service-area business, define your service area and hide your home address. A business that never meets customers face to face isn't eligible.

Can I put keywords in my business name?

No. Google's guidelines don't allow unnecessary information in the name, and it can lead to suspension. Use your real-world name and choose the right primary category instead.

How do I get more Google reviews?

Ask every customer, consistently, with a short link after the visit. Don't offer anything in return, don't ask only happy customers, and reply to every review.

Does a Google Business Profile help with ChatGPT and AI answers?

It helps when it matches everything else about you online. AI answers compare your profile with your website and listings, and hedge when the details disagree.

Sources

Rewritten in October 2026. The first version of this article was published in June 2023.

This guide supports our SEO service.

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