How to add your business to Google Maps (2026)

Check whether your business is already on Maps

Open Google Maps and search your business name plus your area, then search your phone number, then your address. Look for listings with slightly different names (old spellings, the owner's name, a previous business at the same address). If one exists, tap it and look for "Claim this business" or "Own this business?"; claiming an existing pin is faster than creating a new one and avoids creating a duplicate. If more than one exists, note them all; step 7 handles duplicates.

Add the business as the owner, not as a map contributor

There are two "add a place" paths and only one gives you control. In the Maps app, Contribute → Add place creates a public map point that anyone can edit and that you do not own. Instead, use the owner path: in the Maps app tap your profile picture → "Add your business" (or go to business.google.com → "Manage now" on desktop). Enter the business name, choose the most specific category ("Ayurvedic clinic", not "Clinic"), and continue.

If you did already add the place as a contributor, that is fine; search for it and claim it from the owner path rather than adding it again.

Place the pin on the right door, not the right locality

When the map appears, Google drops the pin based on the typed address, which in Indian cities is often 100 to 500 metres off. Zoom in, switch to satellite view, and drag the pin to your actual entrance: the shop front, the clinic gate, the building lobby you tell customers to come to. For a shop inside a complex, place it at the complex entrance closest to your unit and put the unit number in the address line.

• Use the landmark field for "Opposite Reliance Smart" or "Above HDFC ATM"; it shows in directions.
• Check the pin from a customer's view: tap Directions from another point and see where it routes.
• A wrong pin produces wrong "near me" results and one-star "could not find it" reviews.

Choose storefront or service-area business (or both)

Google asks whether customers visit your location. If they do (shop, cafe, clinic, salon), say yes and show the address. If you go to customers (plumber, caterer, home tutor, cleaning service, home baker without walk-ins), choose the service-area option: your address is hidden from the public map and you list the areas you serve, which can be cities, localities or pincodes. Google allows a service area roughly within a two-hour drive. A business that does both, such as a bakery with a counter that also delivers, keeps the address visible and adds service areas.

Do not show a residential address for a home-based business unless customers really visit; it can get the listing suspended and it reveals your home.

Verify the listing (video is the default in India)

After submission, Google asks you to verify. For most Indian businesses the option offered is video verification: a single continuous recording in the app showing your surroundings (street and signboard), the inside of the premises, your equipment or stock, and proof you manage the business (unlocking the shutter, a licence on the wall, the GST or Udyam certificate). Phone, email and postcard verification appear only in some cases. Record in daylight, keep it under five minutes, and avoid filming customers.

Verification typically resolves in a few hours to five business days. Until then the pin may show but you cannot edit it. Our Google listing guide covers rejections and what to do about them.

Add the details that make the pin useful

Once verified, add hours (including weekly closures and special hours for festivals), the phone number, the website, and 10 to 15 photos; the first exterior photo is what shows on the map card, so make it the signboard in daylight. Write a 750-character description with the Google Business description generator. Keep the name, address and phone identical to your website, JustDial and other listings; Google's trust in your pin depends on that consistency.

Fix duplicate pins and wrong listings

Duplicates split your reviews and confuse Google about which pin is real. For a duplicate you do not own: open it in Maps, tap "Suggest an edit" → "Close or remove" → "Duplicate of another place" and point to your verified listing. For a duplicate you do own (common after a staff member created one), in Google Business Profile go to the listing and choose to remove it, or contact Business Profile support to merge so the reviews move to the surviving listing. For a listing with the wrong name or address that you cannot claim, use "Suggest an edit" and, if ignored, raise it through the Business Profile help community or support form with proof.

• Never create a fresh listing to escape a bad one; claim and fix instead, or the old one keeps ranking.
• Mark a closed previous business at your address as "Permanently closed" via Suggest an edit.

Change the address or move the pin later

If you relocate, edit the address in Google Business Profile rather than creating a new listing; your reviews and history stay. Enter the new address, drag the pin again, and expect Google to ask for re-verification, usually by video at the new premises. Update the website, Instagram and every directory the same week so the information matches. For a small correction (pin drifted, floor missing), edit the address and move the marker; minor moves usually do not trigger re-verification. Keep a note of every change in case support asks.