# Google Business Profile Accuracy, Eligibility, and Business Information > Keep an eligible profile with your real business name, an honest location or service area, specific categories, current hours, and working links. Canonical: https://vassalmarketing.com/information/google-business-profile/profile-accuracy/ **Maintained by Vassal Marketing** · Last updated on September 26, 2026 Reviewed at least quarterly and whenever a platform or rule it cites changes. General information, not legal or professional advice. Check rules that affect your business with a qualified professional. Your profile should match how the business really operates: the name on your sign, where you actually serve customers, and hours you actually keep. No added keywords, made-up locations, or old hours. ## Why this matters Customers use your profile to decide whether you do what they need, are open, and can be reached. A wrong category, address, service area, phone number, or schedule can cost you a call or a visit. Google mixes what you enter with information from the web, other data sources, and suggestions from the public. So managing a profile includes checking changes Google makes, confirming the facts, and fixing the outside source when the same wrong detail keeps coming back. ## Responsible practices ### Check eligibility first A profile generally requires in-person contact with customers during your stated hours. Online-only businesses and lead-generation services should not invent a location to qualify. ### Use your real business name Use the name on your sign, invoices, and branding. Do not add cities, services, or slogans unless they are truly part of the name. Hypothetical example: use "Smith Plumbing," not "Smith Plumbing – Emergency Plumber Denver." ### Show your location or service area honestly Use your exact address if customers come to you. Hide the address if you go to customers instead. Virtual offices are not eligible, and a coworking space must meet Google's staffing, signage, and customer-access rules. ### Pick categories for what you are Choose the fewest, most specific categories that describe the core business. Do not add a category for every product or service. ### Keep time-sensitive details current Update regular, holiday, and seasonal hours. After any change, test the phone number, website, booking link, and other buttons. ## What to do next 1. Confirm your business and each location meet Google's current eligibility rules. 2. Compare the profile's name, address or service area, phone, website, categories, and hours with what is true today. 3. If you serve customers at their location, hide your address and list up to 20 areas you really serve. 4. Set holiday hours ahead of time, then test calls, links, bookings, and directions on a phone. 5. Review changes Google made, and fix the outside source if the same wrong detail keeps returning. ## Avoid these failures - Adding keywords, cities, or slogans to the business name - Using a virtual office, mailbox, or unstaffed address to look local - Picking every loosely related category or listing services you do not offer - Assuming the profile stays correct once it is claimed Google makes the final call on verification, features, display, restrictions, and ranking, so no one can guarantee results. [What Google controls](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/google-business-profile.md). ## Questions business owners ask ### How many service areas can I add? Google currently allows up to 20 named service areas and suggests keeping the whole area within about two hours' drive. List the places you actually serve, not every market you would like to show up in. ### Can a virtual office have a Business Profile? No. A coworking space can qualify only if it meets Google's rules for permanent signage, staff on site, and customer access during your hours. ### Why did my profile change when I didn't edit it? Google can update profiles using public websites, other data sources, and suggestions from users. Check the change, confirm the right fact, and fix both the profile and the source if needed. ## Primary guidance - [Google: Guidelines for representing your business](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177) - [Google: Business eligibility and ownership](https://support.google.com/business/answer/13763036) - [Google: Updates to your Business Profile](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3480441) - [Google: Business hours and special hours](https://support.google.com/business/answer/15300403) ## Related profile management guides - [Google Business Profile Ownership, Access, and Verification](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/google-business-profile/ownership-and-access.md): Keep your business in control of its profile: individual logins, the right roles, secure verification, written consent, and a clean handoff when a provider leaves. - [Service-Area, Practitioner, and Multi-Location Google Business Profiles](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/google-business-profile/service-area-practitioner-and-multi-location-profiles.md): Set up the right kind of profile if you work from home, are an individual professional like a lawyer or agent, or run more than one location. - [Google Business Profile Photos, Posts, and Customer Actions](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/google-business-profile/photos-posts-and-customer-actions.md): Post honest, current photos and updates, know what Google controls about display, and test the call, booking, directions, and website buttons like a customer would. [Open the complete Google Business Profile checklist](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/resources/google-business-profile-checklist.md) or [explore all profile management guides](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/google-business-profile.md).