How to set up a Google Business Profile when you work from home

If customers do not come to you, Google’s own guidelines say you should hide your address on your Google Business Profile and show the areas you serve instead. You do it in your profile under Edit profile, then Location, where you can turn off the option to show your address and add up to 20 service areas (all checked October 2026).

Google calls this a service area business: one that goes to its customers rather than having customers come to it. Everything below comes from Google’s own help pages, and the menu names are written the way Google writes them.

Who this is for

The guidelines say a service area business should hide its address from customers. Google’s own example is a plumber who runs the business from home, and its advice is to clear the address from the profile (Google’s guidelines, checked October 2026).

If customers do come to you, to a room you see clients in for example, the guidelines treat that address differently, so read the address section of the same page before you hide anything.

Hiding your address

Once your profile exists, these are the steps Google gives (Google help, checked October 2026):

1. Go to your Business Profile.
2. Select Edit profile, then Location.
3. Next to Business location, select Edit.
4. Turn off Show business address to customers.
5. Select Save.

Google says that once the address is hidden, your profile only shows your service area, and that if you have not entered a service area, a local area is chosen for you. So set your areas straight away rather than leaving Google to choose.

Adding the areas you cover

The steps are almost the same (Google help, checked October 2026):

1. Go to your Business Profile.
2. Select Edit profile, then Location.
3. Next to Service area, select Edit.
4. Choose a suggested area or type one in.
5. Select Save.

A few rules come with it, all from the same Google page. You can add up to 20 service areas. You add them as cities, postcodes or other named areas, because Google does not let you set a radius around your base. Your overall area should not be more than about two hours’ drive from where your business is based. And Google says changes to your area can take up to 48 hours to show once they are approved.

Choose the places you actually want work from, rather than every town you could reach.

Getting verified

Google asks you to verify a new profile, and it decides which method you are offered. Its help page says the options depend on your business type, public information, region and opening hours, and lists phone or text, email, a live video call, a postcard and a recorded video (Google help, checked October 2026). It also says a postcard is not available for every business.

If you are asked for a recorded video and you work from home, Google’s own tip is that you can film landmarks and signs in your immediate neighbourhood (Google help, checked October 2026). Plan the video before you press record, because it is how Google confirms where you are.

Two rules that are easy to break by accident

Both are in the same guidelines (Google’s guidelines, checked October 2026):

• The address has to be real. PO boxes and mailboxes at remote locations are not acceptable, and an address you rent but do not work from is not eligible.
• The name has to be your real business name, the one on your van, your invoices and your website. Google does not allow service or location words to be added to it, and says unnecessary information in the name could get the profile suspended.

Make it match your website

Your profile and your website should say the same thing: the same business name, the same phone number and the same areas. If the two disagree, a customer will not know which to believe.

That is part of every site I build, and the services page sets out what is included. If you are a tradesperson listing the places you work, what a tradesperson’s website needs covers how to do that on your site.

Who should own the profile

You should. If a web designer or marketing company sets it up for you, Google’s own advice for them is to make the business owner the owner of the profile and add themselves as a manager (Google help, checked October 2026). A manager can do almost everything an owner can, except add or remove people or remove the profile (Google help, checked October 2026), so you stay in control.

Once the profile is live, the next thing to work on is reviews. How to get more Google reviews without breaking the rules covers asking for them properly.