How to set up your B&B's Google Business Profile

Who can have a profile

Google gives a Business Profile to a business that makes in-person contact with customers during its stated hours. A B&B or guesthouse where you welcome guests qualifies, as does an activity business with a base customers visit, such as a surf school.

Holiday homes are different. Google’s eligibility rules list “rental or for-sale properties such as vacation homes” as not eligible. A letting business with a staffed office can have a profile for the office, but a single self-catering house usually cannot. Google shows holiday rentals through a separate programme, and its Hotel Center says “individually owned rentals are not eligible to participate in Vacation Rentals at this time”.

Seasonal businesses are eligible, but Google says they “must display permanent signage at their location year-round”.

Create or claim your profile

Adding or claiming a profile is free. First, search for your business on Google Maps: a profile may already exist.

• No profile exists: go to business.google.com/add, choose “Add your business to Google” and enter your details.
• An unverified profile exists: open it in Google Maps and choose “Claim this business”, then “Manage now”. Don’t create a duplicate: Google wants one profile per business.
• Someone else has verified it (a former owner, or a web designer): request ownership from them.

If an agency sets it up for you, make sure you are an owner, not only a manager.

Verification

Google chooses which verification methods you can use, based on your business type, public information, region and opening hours. You cannot change its choice. The possible methods are:

• a code by phone or text (an automated phone menu can’t receive it);
• a code by email;
• a live video call with Google support, during your business hours, showing your premises and proof you run them (keys, private areas);
• a video recording, which Google recommends where it is offered;
• a postcard with a 5-digit code. Most arrive within 14 days and codes expire after 30 days.

Google may ask for more than one method, and its review can take up to 5 business days. If you wait for a postcard, do not change your name, address or category in the meantime, and do not request a second code: either will hold things up.

Choose the right category

Your first category is your primary category, and Google says categories affect your local ranking. You can add up to nine more. Choose the most specific option, and only categories that complete the sentence “This business is a…”, not “has a…”. A B&B with a garden is not a “Garden”.

Google’s lodging classification lists “bed and breakfast” (which it says is sometimes known as a guest house or pension) within its hotel group, and treats a working farm with rooms as “Farm stay”. Type “bed and breakfast” or “guest house” in the category box and pick the closest match offered. You can’t create your own category, and changing it later may mean verifying again.

A café or restaurant on site that non-residents use needs its own profile, not an extra category.

Your business name

Use the name on your sign, website and stationery, and nothing more. Google’s guidelines forbid adding marketing taglines, service descriptions, location details, phone numbers or website addresses, and names in capital letters. “Seaview House” is fine; “Seaview House B&B Dingle Best Breakfast in Kerry” is not, and unnecessary information in the name can lead to suspension.

Address and signage

Enter your precise address, and check that the pin sits on your house, not the townland centre. PO boxes are not allowed. Google expects a business that shows its address to have permanent signage with its name.

Website and booking links

Add your own website, with the full address including https://. Google’s rules say the link must:

• lead to a page for your business, not a social media page;
• work, with no error such as “page not found”;
• not block Google’s crawler, or ask for a login or a CAPTCHA.

Many guests will tap through from a phone, so check that the site works well there: our free website check does exactly that.

Prices and booking links on lodging profiles are not a field you fill in. Google’s hotel guide says they come from Google Hotel Ads and free booking links. To show your direct rate for free, your property must send its rates and availability to Google, usually through a connectivity partner such as a channel manager or booking engine. Google charges nothing for the links, though a partner may charge for its service. To see whether you are connected, search for your property, choose dates you have free and look for your own site among the prices. See our guide to booking engines for small B&Bs.

Photos

Google’s photo tips suggest at least three photos of your most popular rooms, showing the range of room types, one of each common area such as the breakfast room, and at least three each of the exterior and interior. Use JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, ideally 720 by 720 pixels or more, in focus, well lit and without heavy filters or AI editing.

Hours and check-in times

Google’s guidelines say hotels should not list opening hours, since guests come and go at any time. Hotel profiles instead have a Hotel details section (Edit profile, then Hotel details) for check-in and check-out times. If your B&B profile shows it, use it. An activity business sets normal hours and uses special hours for bank holidays. If you close for the winter, mark the business temporarily closed.

Attributes and description

Hotel details also lets you fill in amenities such as Wi-Fi, parking or pets. Google may show some as icons, but does not guarantee which.

Your description can be up to 750 characters: what you offer and what makes you different, without links, prices or promotions.

Posts

Posts are short updates with a photo. Google’s policy says hotels cannot create “Offer” posts, or any post mentioning deals or discounts, so keep posts to news: a new room, a local festival. Posts older than six months are archived unless you set a date range.

Reviews: asking and replying

Google says businesses may ask for genuine reviews, as long as they offer no incentive and don’t try to influence the rating. Your profile can give you a review link and a QR code to share. A short email after check-out, or a card handed over as guests leave, works well.

The exception is Airbnb guests. Airbnb’s Off-Platform policy says you may not ask guests to review an Airbnb stay on a non-Airbnb website, so ask them for an Airbnb review instead.

Reply to reviews, good and bad, briefly and politely, without pasting the same thank-you everywhere. For a bad review, acknowledge what went wrong, apologise where it is due, never share the guest’s private details, and offer to continue by phone or email. Don’t use replies to advertise offers.

What Google forbids

Under Google’s fake engagement policy, you must not:

• pay for reviews, or give a discount, free breakfast or any other reward for one, or for changing or removing one;
• ask only happy guests for reviews, or discourage negative ones (sometimes called “review gating”);
• pressure guests to leave a review while they are still with you;
• review your own business, or have staff or family do it.

Such reviews are removed, and repeated violations can get your account restricted, which suspends every profile linked to it.

Keeping it up to date

Google reviews every edit before it goes live. Check your profile each season: photos, check-in times, amenities, and whether your website link still works. A new name may mean verifying again, and if you move, Google says you must verify again.

Common mistakes

1. Adding “B&B” (unless it is on your sign), the town or “near the beach” to the name.
2. Linking a Facebook page instead of your website.
3. Creating a second profile instead of claiming the first.
4. Letting a designer own the profile, then losing access.
5. Leaving summer hours or old photos up all winter.
6. Offering a discount for a five-star review.