Your Google listing, done right: a checklist for local businesses

Google's help pages explain that local results are mainly based on three factors: relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well a profile matches the search; distance is how far the business is from the person searching; prominence is how well known the business is, which Google ties to things like links from other websites and the number of reviews.

Two practical consequences. First, you mostly control relevance, through a complete and accurate profile. Second, distance cannot be worked on, so avoid promising anyone you will rank first across the whole island. Google also states there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

Google's guidelines ask you to represent the business as it appears in the real world: on signage, stationery and other branding. The most common mistakes sit in three fields.

• Name: the real name, with no taglines, hours, phone numbers or web addresses, no description of services or location, and no legal terms such as Ltd or S.L. unless real-world proof shows they are used. Adding keywords to the name is among the first things Google flags as a violation.
• Categories: as few as possible to describe the core business, completing the sentence "this business IS a", not "HAS a". They are not for keywords or attributes.
• Address: precise and real. P.O. boxes and virtual offices are not accepted; co-working spaces only with clear signage, customer reception during opening hours and business staff present. One listing per location.

If you travel to customers (plumbing, cleaning, renovations, transport), Google asks for a service-area listing and recommends hiding the address when you work from a home. Its guidance says the service area should not extend beyond about two hours of driving time from the base, although larger areas may suit some businesses.

The phone number should be a local number under the business's own control, not a distant call centre or a premium-rate line. Opening hours must be the real customer-facing hours: Google allows seasonal hours, asks you to mark the business as temporarily closed in the off season, and offers special hours for holidays and events. In the Balearics, where many businesses close in winter, this matters.

The description cannot include links, promotions, prices or offers. Any contest or promotion must link to its terms.

Reviews help, and Google says so explicitly in its local ranking guidance. But its policies are strict about how you collect them.

• Allowed: asking for or encouraging reviews that reflect a genuine experience, with no incentives and no attempt to influence the rating or content.
• Not allowed: offering payment, discounts or free goods in exchange for a review or for removing a negative one; discouraging negative reviews or soliciting only positive ones; requiring staff to collect a set number of reviews or specific content; posting from multiple accounts.
• Consequence: Google removes paid, incentivised or conflict-of-interest reviews, as well as unusual volume patterns.

Google chooses the verification method (phone or text, email, video call or postcard) based on the type of business, and you cannot change it. For postcards, its help page says most codes arrive within about 14 days and expire after 30, and that while you wait you should not edit the name, address or category or request another code, as the first would stop working. Google will never ask for your verification code, and you should not share it.

What it means for a business in Spain: your listing is a core piece of local visibility and, increasingly, a source AI assistants consult. Our recommendation is a quarterly review with this checklist: identical details on your website and listing (your NAP), minimal categories, up-to-date hours and an honest, steady review process.

In local SEO we handle the listing and its consistency with your website, and with online reputation the system for requesting and answering reviews. To see how it connects with AI answers, read what is GEO. Tell us about your case on the contact page.