Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is Google's free business listing, which shows a company in Google Search and Google Maps with address, opening hours, reviews, photos and contact details. The service was previously called Google My Business.

The profile is the backbone of local visibility. When someone searches "dentist Copenhagen" or "coffee bar near me", Google shows a map section with three local businesses above the ordinary results, the local pack. Those three slots go to businesses with a strong, complete profile.

What decides the local positions

Google sorts the local pack on three factors: relevance to the query, distance from the user, and how well known the business is, which Google itself calls prominence. Relevance is read from the profile's categories, description and core data, while prominence builds on reviews, mentions and links. The volume and freshness of reviews weigh heavily in local rankings, and since distance cannot be influenced, relevance and prominence are what separate businesses inside a local pack. Verification is the precondition, because Google does not treat unverified details as confirmed.

The profile in AI search

Business data from Google Business Profile reaches further than Google itself. When AI assistants recommend places or local suppliers, they draw on exactly this kind of structured information.

For companies with physical addresses the profile is one of the cheapest SEO levers there is. Where the profile fits alongside the rest of the local effort sits in the guide to local SEO.