Google Business Profile in Spain: Get Found on Google Maps

To get customers in Spain to find your business on Google Maps, claim and verify a free Google Business Profile (in the Spanish interface, Perfil de Empresa en Google), fill in your name, categories, address, hours and photos by Google’s rules, and keep collecting genuine reviews. This guide follows Google’s own help center step by step: setting up, verifying, completing the profile and managing reviews, including the mistakes that get profiles suspended or reviews removed.

Key takeaway

A Google Business Profile is free, and local ranking can’t be bought. Search for your business on Maps first: claim the listing if it exists, create one if it doesn’t. Use the name on your sign with no keywords, and only one language if your sign shows two. Choose as few categories as you need. Put only your own website in the website field and use the dedicated links for delivery and bookings. Verify by video when you can: record at least 30 seconds live in your profile on your phone, showing your street, your sign and staff-only areas. Ask every customer for a review in the same way, never only the happy ones, and never in exchange for a discount.

What a Google Business Profile is and why it matters

A Google Business Profile is the official listing of your business on Google Search and Google Maps. You claim, verify and manage it yourself, and adding or claiming it costs nothing.

When people in Spain search Maps for “restaurante abierto ahora” (restaurant open now), “peluquería cerca de mí” (hairdresser near me) or “farmacia abierta hoy” (pharmacy open today), the results show the business name, rating and reviews, opening hours, phone number and a directions button, so they can decide whether and how to visit without opening a website. Searches like “near me” and “open now” rely on the address and hours in your profile.

Only after verification can you edit your information, reply to reviews, publish photos and post updates.

Find an existing listing, then claim or create

Before you create anything, search Google Maps for your business name and town. Google builds business information from public web pages, licensed third-party data and what users contribute, so many businesses already have a listing they never created. What to do depends on what you find:

A listing exists but nobody has verified it: select “Claim this business” (Reclamar esta empresa in Spanish) and follow the verification steps. Don’t create a second one: Google allows only one Business Profile per business, and profiles treated as duplicates don’t show on Search or Maps.
A listing exists and someone else has verified it (a previous owner, a former employee or an old agency): find the business at business.google.com/add and select “Request access” (Solicitar acceso). The current owner has 3 days to respond; if they don’t, you may get the option to claim the profile.
There is no listing: create one at business.google.com/add.

If you took over an existing business (a traspaso, in Spain), check the name. A minor name change can be made on the existing profile, as long as the proper nouns and services in the name and the business category stay the same. A different name counts as a new business under Google’s rules: mark the old profile as closed, then create a new one.

Use the owner’s own Google Account to create and verify the profile, so the owner is the primary owner. Add staff, your gestoría or an agency as managers, each with their own account, so nobody has to share a password. Managers can edit the profile, reply to reviews and post updates, but can’t add or remove users or delete the profile. When someone leaves, remove them from the user list.

Name, categories, address, phone and website

Fill in your name, categories, address, phone and website according to Google’s guidelines for representing your business; profiles that break them can be suspended.

Field	What to enter	What not to do
Name	Your real-world name, as on your sign, business cards and invoices	Add keywords, slogans, hours or phone numbers, such as “Casa Pepe Best Tapas Cheap Seville”; repeat the same name in two languages or scripts, even if your sign does
Categories	One primary category, the most specific one that describes your core business (“this business IS a”, not “HAS a”); add others only for a genuinely different line of business	Use categories as keywords; add categories of other businesses inside yours
Address	The same address as on your sign, website and invoices, with the street number; if Google can’t find it, place a pin on the map	Add cross streets, landmarks, URLs or keywords; use a virtual office or a mailbox
Phone	A number answered at the business, preferably a local one	A number that forwards to another business, or a premium-rate number
Website	Your own website only; leave it empty if you don’t have one	A delivery platform, booking platform or social media page

Two-language signs: if your sign shows the name in two languages, for example Spanish and Catalan, or a Latin and a non-Latin script, enter only one, usually the one local customers know.

Delivery and booking links: some categories get dedicated “Booking”, “Food ordering” and “Pickup and delivery” links in the profile (Reserva, Pedidos de comida, Recogida y entrega in Spanish). Put your delivery app and booking platform links there, not in the website field; menu links can’t point directly to third-party ordering or delivery services either. For choosing delivery apps, see our comparison of food delivery platforms in Spain.

Verifying your business: the options and what to film

Google chooses your verification options automatically, based on your business type, public information, region and opening hours, and you can’t change them. When video verification is available, Google recommends it. After you submit, the review takes up to 5 business days, and on rare occasions longer.

Method	How it works	Watch out for
Phone or text	Answer the call or read the text and enter the code in your profile	Interactive voice response (IVR) systems won’t receive the code
Email	Follow the steps in the email	You must be able to use the address shown on the verification screen
Video recording	In your profile on your phone, tap “Business video” and record and upload on the spot	See the checklist below
Live video call	Show your business to a Google support representative on a video call	Not available to every business, and only during your opening hours
Postcard	Google mails a code to your business address	Not available to every business; most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30; don’t edit your name, address or category while you wait

What to film for a storefront or hybrid business, according to Google’s video verification requirements:

Where you are: street signs, the building number, neighboring businesses or familiar places, to confirm the location shown on Maps.
That the business exists: your storefront and permanent sign with your business name clearly visible; the name in the video must match your profile.
That you run it: things only staff can access, such as opening the cash register, the kitchen or the storeroom, or using your point-of-sale system.

The video itself must be:

One unedited, complete recording with no breaks, at least 30 seconds long;
Recorded live and uploaded from a phone through your Business Profile, not pre-recorded;
Free of sensitive information such as bank account, tax ID (NIF/NIE) or ID numbers, and of other people’s faces, so avoid filming customers if you record during opening hours.

If the video isn’t accepted, Google tells you why. Its examples: the business name isn’t visible on the storefront, the surrounding area isn’t shown, or there’s no proof that you run the business. Record a new video that includes what was missing.

Opening hours, holidays and temporary closures

Enter the hours when customers can visit; use special hours for holidays and short changes, and mark the business as temporarily closed if you close for 7 days or more in a row.

Regular hours: restaurants enter the hours when customers can dine in, or takeout hours if there’s no dine-in; delivery hours can be set separately under “More hours”.
Special hours (Horario especial): for temporary changes or closures of up to 6 days in a row, such as Semana Santa, Christmas or local fiestas. Google recommends confirming your hours for official holidays even when they don’t change, so customers know they’re accurate.
Temporarily closed (Cerrado temporalmente): for closures of 7 days or more, or of unknown length, such as August holidays or a refurbishment. Switch back to your regular hours when you reopen.

People in Spain search for things like “restaurante abierto ahora” and “farmacia abierta hoy”. Wrong hours send them to a closed door, and that’s an easy way to collect bad reviews.

How local ranking works: complete your profile

According to the Google Business Profile Help Center, local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence, and there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

Relevance: how well your profile matches what someone searches for, so give complete, detailed information.
Distance: how far your business is from the person searching. You can’t change it.
Prominence: how well known your business is, based on information such as how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have. More reviews and positive ratings help.

Fill in everything that applies:

Photos: Google’s photo tips recommend at least 3 photos of each type: exterior, interior, products (food and drink for restaurants) and team. Take exterior photos from each direction customers approach and at different times of day. Photos should be in focus and well lit, without heavy editing, filters or AI changes.
Menu, services and products: food and drink businesses can add menu items and prices in the menu editor; service businesses such as salons can list services with descriptions and prices; shops can upload their main products with the product editor. These features depend on your category, so if you don’t see one, it isn’t available for your business yet.
Attributes: takeout, outdoor seating, payment methods, accessibility and more. If you add certain attributes, your business may show up when people search for places with them. Which attributes you can set depends on your country and category, and subjective ones such as “popular with locals” come from customers’ opinions. Only mark accessibility features that are genuinely wheelchair-friendly.
Business description: two or three sentences in Spanish about what you offer, what makes you different and how long you’ve been open. No links, and no prices or promotions: content like “everything 50% off” isn’t allowed. For example:

Peluquería unisex en el centro de Valencia, abierta desde 2015. Cortes, color y tratamientos para el cabello, con o sin cita previa. Atendemos en español e inglés.

Updates (Novedades): post new products, seasonal menus, events or temporary notices. Customers see them on your profile, and they help them decide to visit.

Your website helps too: Google uses public web content, including your official website, to build business information, and can detect your category from your site. Keep your name, address and phone exactly the same on your website and your profile; publish your full menu or catalog, a booking form and information in your customers’ languages, so the website field has somewhere useful to point; and remember that links to your business from other websites (local media, directories, partners) count toward what Google calls prominence. For more on websites and local search, see our Google SEO guide for businesses in Spain.

Reviews: how to ask, reply and report

Ask every customer for a review in the same way: Google lets businesses invite genuine feedback, but forbids rewarding reviews and asking only satisfied customers.

How to ask for reviews

Create a review link or QR code in your profile (QR codes can only be generated in a computer browser) and put it on receipts, at the till or on tables, or send it by WhatsApp or email.
Use the same unconditional words with everyone, such as “We’d love to hear about your experience on Google” (in Spanish, “Si quiere, puede dejarnos su opinión en Google”). Don’t say “if you were happy”, don’t push customers to write it on the spot, and don’t tell them what to write.

Google Maps’ user-generated content policy does not allow businesses to:

Offer money, discounts, free products or services in exchange for a review, or for changing or removing a negative one;
Discourage negative reviews or selectively ask satisfied customers for positive ones;
Ask staff to collect a set number of reviews;
Have reviews written by people with a conflict of interest, such as current or former employees or family;
Post content on a competitor’s listing to damage its reputation.

Violating reviews are removed. Google may also block new reviews on the profile for a set period, unpublish its existing reviews for a set period, and show a warning that fake reviews were removed. In Spain, fake reviews are also illegal: Article 27 (in Spanish), point 8, of the Unfair Competition Act (Ley 3/1991 de Competencia Desleal) lists adding fake consumer reviews, or commissioning someone else to add them, as a misleading commercial practice.

How to reply to reviews

Reply to as many as you can, but don’t paste the same “thank you” everywhere; when a review mentions a dish, a service or a problem, respond to that.
Reply in the reviewer’s language: Spanish for Spanish reviews, English for English ones, and so on.
Negative reviews: acknowledge the problem, apologize when appropriate and say what you’ve changed. Don’t argue, don’t share the customer’s personal details, and suggest a phone call or email for complex cases. Don’t use replies to advertise or offer deals.

Example reply to a negative review:

Sentimos mucho que la espera fuera tan larga el sábado. Ese día tuvimos un problema en cocina y ya hemos reforzado el equipo los fines de semana. Nos encantaría que nos diera otra oportunidad. Un saludo, Laura, del equipo de [business name]

What to do about fake or abusive reviews

In your profile, select “Report” next to the review and choose a reason, such as spam or profanity. Evaluation typically takes several days; you can check the status in the Reviews Management Tool, and if you disagree with the decision you can submit a one-time appeal.
Don’t report a review just because you disagree with it: Google doesn’t get involved in conflicts between businesses and customers.
If you get a sudden wave of 1-star and 2-star reviews followed by a demand for money or goods to remove them, that’s extortion. Don’t engage or pay, gather evidence immediately and use Google’s merchant extortion report form.

FAQ

Is a Google Business Profile free?

Yes. Adding, claiming and verifying a Google Business Profile costs nothing, and you can’t pay for a better local ranking. Agencies can charge for managing your profile, but Google says third parties can’t promise rankings; if someone claims to work for Google, ask them to email you from an @google.com address.

Can I add my business to Google Maps without a storefront?

Yes, as a service-area business: hide your address and set your service area by cities or postcodes, generally no more than about 2 hours’ drive from where you’re based. Plumbers, cleaners, removal companies and renovation businesses fit this model. Online-only businesses that offer no in-person service aren’t eligible for a Business Profile.

Do I need a new profile if my business moves?

No. Google asks you to update your existing profile with the new address instead of creating a new one; a second profile would be treated as a duplicate and wouldn’t show on Search or Maps. After changing the address you’ll need to verify again, and your existing reviews stay on the same profile.

How long does it take to see results?

Google doesn’t promise when your ranking will change, but the steps have known timings: verification review takes up to 5 business days (rarely longer), most postcards arrive within 14 days, and edits are reviewed usually within 10 minutes, sometimes up to 30 days. Once your profile is verified and complete, check its performance data each month: views, the searches people used to find you, direction requests and calls.

UsualMatrix helps businesses in Spain prepare and complete Google Business Profile verification, organize their photos and listing content, write their Spanish business description and build a matching multilingual website. We work in Chinese, Spanish and English. See our SEO and GEO service or contact us.

This article is general information based on Google’s help center and Spanish law as of 7 October 2026, not legal advice. Google’s interface and policies change, so check the official help center for the current rules.