A real estate agent's Google Business Profile should have your real name, one accurate primary category, a public address only if clients visit, otherwise a service area, current hours, a plain description, services, real photos, honest reviews with replies, and regular posts. This checklist walks through each field in order, using Google's own guidelines.
Last reviewed: November 2026
Before you start: is a profile right for you?
Yes, if you're a public-facing agent who can be contacted directly during your listed hours. Google's guidelines for representing your business list real estate agents among "individual practitioners," defined as public-facing professionals "typically with their own customer base."
A few ground rules from those guidelines:
- One profile per practitioner, not one per specialty.
- Support staff shouldn't create their own profiles.
- If several practitioners work from one office, the office can have its own profile, and each practitioner's profile uses only that practitioner's name.
Check your brokerage's policy too. Many brokerages have rules about how agents present the brand and required disclosures.
Step-by-step setup
1. Search for an existing profile first
Search Google Maps for your name and your office. Duplicates are common, especially if you've moved brokerages. Claim an existing profile rather than creating a second one. If there are duplicates, deal with them before you optimize anything.
2. Verify
Verification tells Google you're authorized to represent the business (source). Google picks the verification method; follow its prompts. Don't make big edits while verification is pending.
3. Business name: your real name only
Use your name exactly as it appears on your signage, cards and website. Google says "including unnecessary information in your business name isn't permitted," which rules out:
- Cities or neighborhoods
- Keywords like "homes for sale"
- Taglines, phone numbers or URLs
If you're a solo practitioner at a branded organization sharing one profile, Google's guidelines show a format like "[brand]: [practitioner name]."
4. Primary and secondary categories
Google says to "use as few categories as possible" and pick ones that complete the statement "This business IS a…". Choose the category closest to what you are, usually the real estate agent category. Add a secondary category only if it's genuinely true of your business.
5. Address or service area
This is the field agents get wrong most often.
| Your situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Clients visit you at a staffed office during your listed hours | Show the office address |
| You meet clients at properties or their homes, not your office | Remove the address from public view and set a service area |
| Both | Show the address and set a service area |
Google's service area page allows up to 20 service areas, set by city, postal code or similar area, not a radius. It says the overall area shouldn't extend beyond about two hours of driving from your base.
Never use a P.O. box, remote mailbox or virtual office. Google says virtual offices aren't eligible, and co-working spaces qualify only with clear signage, staff and customers received during business hours.
6. Phone number
Google wants a number that connects to your business directly and is "under the direct control of the business." A local number is preferred over a call center line. Use the same number everywhere you're listed.
7. Website link
Link to a page that represents you, ideally your own site or your own agent page. Google says not to use URLs that redirect elsewhere, including to social media pages.
8. Hours
Set regular hours and update special hours for holidays. Google's local ranking page recommends keeping hours current. If you work by appointment, set hours you're actually reachable.
9. Description
Write a plain paragraph: what you do, where you work, which property types you know, and how you help buyers and sellers. No links (Google doesn't allow them in the description), no claims you can't back up, and no descriptions of the kinds of people in an area. Describe places and properties only.
10. Services
List each service separately: buyer representation, seller representation, relocation help, new construction, condos, and so on, whatever's true. Give each a short description in plain language.
11. Photos
Add a real, unaltered headshot, a cover image, and photos of your office if you have one. Use only photos you own or have the rights to use. For property photos, follow your MLS and brokerage rules, and never imply a home is your listing if it isn't. Google's local ranking page recommends adding photos and videos.
12. Reviews
Get your review link from the profile and share it with every client after closing. Google suggests asking customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code, and replying to all reviews, including negative ones (source).
Rules that matter:
- No incentives of any kind for reviews.
- Ask every client, not only the happy ones. Google's prohibited content policy bars selectively soliciting positive reviews.
- No reviews written by you, your team or anyone without a real experience with you. Google bars reviews not based on a real experience, and the FTC's 2024 rule bans fake reviews and undisclosed insider reviews.
- Keep replies personal, timely and free of private client information.
13. Posts
Posts keep your profile current. Write about the places and property types you work with, market updates you can source, or open houses. Pair every post with a relevant, branded image. Leave phone numbers out of the text: Google's posts policy says posts with unverified contact info may be removed, and points you to the Call button instead.
14. Q&A and attributes
Fill attributes that apply to you. Watch the questions section and answer accurately.
15. Access and ownership
If someone helps you manage the profile, keep yourself as the owner and give them Manager access. That's what Google's third-party policies recommend. Never share your Google password.
The printable checklist
- [ ] Searched Maps for duplicates; one profile only
- [ ] Profile verified
- [ ] Name matches your real-world name, nothing added
- [ ] Accurate primary category; true secondary categories only
- [ ] Address shown only if clients visit; otherwise service area (up to 20 areas)
- [ ] No P.O. box, mailbox or virtual office
- [ ] Phone under your direct control, same everywhere
- [ ] Website link to a page that represents you
- [ ] Regular and special hours current
- [ ] Plain description, no links, places and properties only
- [ ] Services listed with short descriptions
- [ ] Real, unaltered headshot and photos you have rights to
- [ ] Review link shared with every client; every review answered
- [ ] Regular posts with images and no phone numbers in the text
- [ ] Attributes and Q&A filled
- [ ] You're the owner; helpers have Manager access
What should I do after setup?
Keep it current. Check monthly for edits you didn't make, add new photos, keep posting and reply to every review. Then make sure your name, address and phone match on other directories. Our post on showing up in the map pack covers the next steps.
Want us to check yours?
Our free audit compares your profile against Google's guidelines field by field and shows who's appearing in the map for the searches you want. In writing, within two business days, with no call required.
