If you travel to customers and don't have a shopfront they visit, Google wants you set up as a service-area business. You hide your address and list the areas you serve instead.
Who should be a service-area business
- Tradies working from home or a yard customers don't visit.
- Mobile services, such as mobile mechanics, cleaners and dog groomers.
- Businesses with an office that customers don't come to.
If customers do visit you, such as a clinic or a showroom, keep the address visible.
How to set it up
- In your profile, open the business information and edit the location.
- Clear the business address so it isn't shown to customers. Google may still ask for it privately for verification.
- Add your service areas by suburb, town or region.
- Save, and expect the change to be reviewed.
Do service areas help you rank?
Not on their own. Listing a suburb doesn't make you rank there. Google still ranks you mostly on distance from your business location, plus relevance and prominence. Suburb pages on your website and reviews from customers in those areas help more. See how to rank higher on Google Maps.
Common mistakes
- Showing a home address as if it's a shopfront. This can lead to a suspension.
- Listing areas you don't actually travel to.
- Using a virtual office address to appear in another suburb.
See also fixing a suspended profile, or let us set it up for you.