If you go to your customers instead of welcoming them at a shopfront, Google treats you as a service-area business. The key rules: hide your address if customers don’t visit you there, list the areas you serve by name, and keep to one profile for your whole service area. Get these wrong and you risk suspension or a weak profile.
Are you a service-area business?
According to Google’s guidance, service-area businesses visit or deliver to customers but don’t serve them at the business address. Plumbers, electricians, pest control, mobile mechanics and home tutors are typical examples. Hybrid businesses serve customers at their address and also travel, such as a salon that offers home visits. Hybrid businesses can show the address and set service areas too.
What should you do with your address?
If you don’t serve customers at your address, remove it from your Business Profile and enter only your service area. A home address is the common case: don’t publish it. If you do see customers at your address and have permanent signage, you can show it and add service areas as well.
What are the limits on service areas?
- You can set up to 20 service areas.
- Areas can’t be a radius around your business. Specify them by city, postal code or other area type.
- The overall area shouldn’t extend more than about two hours of driving time from your business.
- Be specific and accurate. Listing places you don’t actually serve doesn’t help and can cause trouble.
- Service-area businesses can have only one profile for the whole area they serve.
Changes to approved service areas can take up to 48 hours to appear.
How should a Tricity business choose its areas?
List the cities and sectors you really cover, for example Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, and add nearby towns only if you genuinely go there on a normal schedule. Don’t create extra profiles for each town. Instead, make your website do the work with a clear page on each main area you serve.
Why does the profile still need work?
Hiding the address doesn’t remove distance as a ranking factor. Google bases local results on relevance, distance and prominence, and for service-area businesses the distance is measured to wherever Google associates you. A strong category, complete services list, photos of real jobs and steady reviews make up for the missing storefront.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Using a virtual office or P.O. box as your address. Google’s guidelines don’t allow them.
- Adding keywords to your business name.
- Opening multiple profiles for different towns without real locations.
- Ignoring reviews because you don’t have a shopfront. Reviews matter even more for businesses people can’t walk past.
Need help with a service-area profile? See our local SEO services, or contact us with your trade and the areas you cover.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I show my home address on Google?
If customers don’t come to your home, no. Google tells businesses that don’t serve customers at their address to remove it and use a service area instead.
How many areas can I add?
Up to 20 service areas, defined by city, postal code or similar, not by radius. The total area shouldn’t stretch beyond roughly two hours of driving.
Can I have a profile for every city I serve?
No. Google says service-area businesses can have only one profile for the whole area they serve. Use your website for location-specific pages.
Will hiding my address hurt my ranking?
Not by itself. Ranking depends on relevance, distance and prominence. Strong reviews, an accurate category and a good website help compensate for not having a public storefront.
How long do service area changes take?
Google says approved edits can take up to 48 hours to appear on the profile.