How to Choose Google Business Profile Categories

Choose one primary category that finishes the sentence "This business is a...", as specific as Google's list allows. Then add other categories only for parts of the business that are a real line of work on their own, not for every service you offer. Google's guidelines for representing your business put it in one line: use as few categories as possible to describe your overall core business.

The usual mistake is adding every category that sounds close, hoping each one brings in more searches. Google's rules point the other way, and your services have their own place on the profile.

What categories do

Google's help page on managing your business category says categories tell customers what your business does, and that the categories you select affect your local ranking on Google. They also decide some of the features your profile gets. Google's examples: restaurants can add links for menus, online orders and reservations, and health and beauty businesses can add a booking button and a list of services.

Google fills in the broader categories for you. Its example on the same page: if your primary category is "Pizza restaurant", Google might show you to someone who searches for restaurants, Italian restaurants or pizza. You don't need to add "Restaurant" on top of "Pizza restaurant". The guidelines give another case: pick "Golf resort" and Google already counts you as a resort hotel, a hotel and a golf course.

The primary category

The primary category is the first one on your profile. Google's page on editing your profile says that if you select several categories, the one in the first field is your primary category. Pick it first and give it the most thought.

Use the "is a" test

Google's guidelines say to choose categories that complete the statement "This business IS a" rather than "this business HAS a." The point is to describe the business as a whole, not to list everything it offers.

A plumber is a plumber. It has water heater installs, drain cleaning and sewer line work.
A hardware store is a hardware store. It has key cutting and paint mixing.
A roofer is a roofing contractor. It has gutter work, skylights and storm repairs.
A pizzeria is a pizza restaurant. It has a patio and a lunch special.

Pick the most specific one that fits

Google's own example: instead of "Salon," choose "Nail salon." The same logic works for a trade. If most of your work is roofs, "Roofing contractor" says more than a general contractor category. If you mostly remodel kitchens and baths, look for the remodeling category that fits before you settle for a broad one.

Type your trade into the category box and read what comes up. The names in Google's list change from time to time, so pick from what the box offers you today. If nothing specific matches, Google says to choose a more general category. You can't create your own.

Look at businesses like yours

Search your trade and your town on Google Maps and look at the category shown under a few businesses like yours. That isn't a rule to copy, and a competitor may have it wrong. It's a quick way to see which names in Google's list exist for your kind of work.

Additional categories: fewer than you think

The same editing page says you can select up to 9 more categories after the primary one. That's a limit, not a target. Google's category page says not to select a category for every product or service, and to use a few categories to describe the business instead.

Google's example is a grocery store with a bakery and a deli: primary category "Grocery store", with "Bakery" and "Deli" added. Those are departments a customer would walk in for on their own. Here's the same idea by trade:

Plumber. "Plumber" is usually enough. Water heaters, drains and sump pumps go in the services list, not in categories.
Contractor. A remodeler who also runs a separate roofing crew, with its own jobs and its own customers, can add a roofing category. A remodeler who replaced one roof last year shouldn't.
Shop. A garden center with a real florist counter inside can add a florist category. A hardware store that sells a few grills is still a hardware store.
Restaurant. Google's guidelines use Wendy's as the example: "Fast food restaurant" and "Hamburger restaurant" are right, and "Dessert restaurant" is wrong, even though the menu has desserts.

When it should be a separate profile

If a business inside yours is owned and run by someone else, its category doesn't go on your profile. Google's example is a health club with an independently operated cafe: the cafe gets its own profile with "Cafe" as the primary category, and the health club doesn't add "Cafe". The guidelines also name a few co-located businesses that should each have their own profile, like a restaurant inside a hotel.

What not to do

Don't use categories as keywords. Google's guidelines say not to use categories solely as keywords or to describe attributes of your business. "Open 24 hours" belongs in your hours, and Wi-Fi is an attribute.
Don't borrow a neighbor's category. The guidelines say not to use categories that belong to a business inside yours or one your business sits inside. Google's example: a bookstore with a Starbucks inside shouldn't add "Coffee shop".
Don't keep changing them. Google's category page warns that if you add or edit a category, you might be asked to verify your business again. Decide once, then leave it alone unless the business itself changes.
Don't open a second profile for a second service. Google's guidelines say there should only be one profile per business. A plumber who also does drain cleaning gets one profile, not two.

Where everything else goes

A category is a short label. The detail lives elsewhere on the profile and on your site:

Services. List each one in the words customers use: "water heater replacement", "roof leak repair", "office catering".
Attributes. Things like Wi-Fi or outdoor seating, where Google offers them for your category.
Description. A plain summary of what you do. Google's guidelines allow no links in it and say not to focus on promotions, prices or sales.
Your website. The guidelines say Google can also detect category information from your website and from mentions of your business across the web. So the title of your home page and its first line should say the same thing your primary category says. If the profile says "Roofing contractor" and the home page leads with gutters, the two disagree.

How to change your categories

On your Business Profile, select Edit profile, then Edit next to "Business category". Type in your primary category and pick it from the list. Add others with Add another category, remove the ones that don't belong, and save. Google reviews edits before they go live, and we cover how long that and the rest of local SEO take in how long local SEO takes.

Categories are one part of getting found nearby. The rest, from distance to reviews, is in how to show up in "near me" searches. If you work at customers' homes, the next thing to get right is your service area on Google Maps.

Make your website say the same thing

Our free website checker looks at the parts of your site that tell Google what you do: the page title, the search description, the main heading and the local business data. It takes under a minute and tells you in plain English what to fix.