3.1. Google Business Profile

One minute on why the map matters more than the website. Details begin below.

No app to download

Google rebranded the product (formerly Google My Business) on November 4, 2021, and in July 2022 shut down its mobile app: what appears under that name in the Play Store are third-party apps. The English help center calls it "Google Business Profile," and that's how we refer to it throughout this guide.

It can be edited for free in three places: by searching Google for your pizzeria's name and city—or "my business"—from the account that created it; in the Google Maps app under Business → Edit profile; or at business.google.com if you manage multiple locations. If nothing shows up, you're logged into the wrong account.

Verification is the lock

Without a verified profile, neither photos nor menus can be published. Google chooses the method, and for restaurants, it's usually a video: a single, uncut recording of at least 30 seconds, taken directly from the phone within the profile. The same shot must include the street or a landmark that locates the premises, the storefront with the signage showing the business name, and proof that you manage it: opening the cash register or walking into the kitchen. The review takes up to 5 business days.

The name you register is the one on your storefront: no slogan, no neighborhood, no phone number, no “open 24 hours.” Doing that suspends the entire profile and spreads the fabricated variation to the directories and local citations where you repeat your business details.

The primary category enables features

With “Pizzeria” as the primary category, menu, reservation, and online ordering links appear, along with the option to upload dishes; with just “Restaurant,” that editor does not exist. Choose the most specific one available, without inventing categories or using them as keywords. Secondary categories are added for what you truly offer: bar, takeout. Editing them may force you to re-verify.

Attributes and special hours

Attributes: Edit profile → More → Edit next to the category → Yes or No → Save. Objective attributes are set by you: outdoor seating, Wi-Fi, cash only, wheelchair accessible. Subjective ones are completed by visitors: no one can promise a "great vibe." Review takes anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 days.

Special hours: Edit profile → Hours → Special hours. You can schedule up to 6 consecutive days at a time, so Christmas and New Year's must be set in separate blocks, and they will only display if your primary hours are set to "Open with main hours."

The menu and the order button

The Menu Editor doesn't force you to enter eighty dishes by hand: you upload your menu's PDF, and Google converts it with artificial intelligence into sections and items with descriptions and prices. It's experimental, requires accepting the Generative AI Terms, and takes 24 to 48 hours to appear.

“Order with Google” ended on July 1, 2024: Google no longer processes the order, it only directs the diner to choose between your system and the aggregators. If you don't upload your link, that click goes to a commission-charging app instead of your order page.

The website field has the exact same trap: Google shut down its business.site pages in March 2024, and since June they return a 404 error. Here goes a custom website, not your Instagram profile.

Photos and posts, with exact dimensions

Photos: JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, minimum 250 x 250 pixels with 720 x 720 recommended, sharp and unfiltered. Video: up to 30 seconds, 75 MB, 720p or higher. The ones your cook sends over WhatsApp get recompressed below the minimum and will be rejected: ask for them via Google Drive.

Google recommends 3 or more of the exterior at different times of day, 3 of the interior, 3 of food and drinks starting with the most ordered items, and 3 of the team: 12 photos. The "42% more directions requests from having photos" stat floating around isn't on any Google page; don't repeat it.

Posts: Updates; Offers, which require a title and dates, and include a View offer button; and Events, with start and end dates. They are archived after 6 months if you don't set a timeframe: this is cadence, not a one-time upload. Do not include phone numbers in the description: Google rejects those posts.

What remains afterward

None of this costs money: Google charges for ads, not for the profile. What costs is keeping it up, and that is the job of a local SEO service. Google explicitly acknowledges that more positive reviews improve your rank on the map: it's the lesson 3.2. The impact shows up in the Performance report, covered in 6.1.