Google Business Profile in Switzerland

A Google Business Profile shows your business in Google Search and on Google Maps. This guide explains who can create one, how verification works in Switzerland and what Google prohibits, based on Google’s own rules.

Goodbye Internet, creative agencyUpdated 25 October 20268 min read15 sources

At a glance

A Business Profile is free on Google¹. It suits businesses that receive customers or travel to them, and it only appears on Maps and Search once verified².

Cost on Google: Free
Verification review⁹: up to 5 business days
Description: 750 characters at most
Service areas: 20 at most

There is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking³.

Who can create a Business Profile

Google Business Profile was formerly known as Google My Business⁴. Google accepts a profile for a business with a physical location that customers can visit, or one that travels to customers where they are⁵. An online-only business, such as an online shop without in-person services, is not eligible and cannot be verified⁶.

Some addresses are ruled out: P.O. boxes, a rented mailing address the business does not operate from (a virtual office), and an office in a co-working space unless it has clear signage, receives customers and is staffed by your team during business hours. Each location has only one profile⁵.

Google distinguishes three types of business⁷:

Storefront: you receive customers at your address, which has permanent signage with your name⁵.
Service-area business: you visit or deliver to customers but do not receive them. The address is removed from the profile, and you list up to 20 service areas (cities, postcodes or regions) that together stay within about two hours’ drive of where you are based⁷.
Hybrid business: you receive customers and also travel to them. The profile shows both the address and the service area; without permanent signage, the business counts as a service-area business⁷.

The information to prepare

Google reviews edits before they go live, and changing the name or address after verification can mean verifying again⁸. Prepare this information before you start:

Your real-world business name, as it appears on your signage, website and stationery, without taglines, keywords, locations or hours. A legal form such as GmbH, AG or Sàrl belongs in it only if your signs, business cards and invoices consistently show it⁵.
One primary category, the most specific one for your business as a whole, then up to nine more if needed; Google advises using as few as possible^8,5.
Your precise address or your service areas. If the address has no street number, you can place a pin on the map⁵.
Your customer-facing hours, with special hours for public holidays. A business that works by appointment only does not list hours⁵.
Your contact details: a phone number the business controls directly, or a website that represents this location⁵.
A description of up to 750 characters, without links, prices or promotions, saying what you offer and what sets you apart^8,5.
A Google Account, set up with a Gmail address or with your business email address⁹.

Creating the profile, step by step

Adding a profile is free. If an unverified profile already exists for your business, claim it from Google Maps instead of creating a second one¹.

Sign in to the business’s Google Account and open business.google.com/add¹.
Choose to add your business, then enter the name, category, address or service areas and contact details¹.
Pick one of the verification methods Google offers you and follow the on-screen steps¹.
Wait for Google’s review, which takes up to 5 business days and rarely longer. Once the profile is verified, you receive a confirmation email⁹.
Then complete the profile with photos, videos and special hours⁸.

Verifying the profile

Google decides which verification methods you see, based on your business type, public information, region and hours; you cannot change them. They can include a phone call or text, an email, a live video call, a video recording or a postcard, and sometimes more than one method in turn⁹.

By postcard, the code usually arrives within 14 days and expires after 30 days. Until then, do not edit the name, address or category, or the code will stop working. Google will never ask for your verification code: do not share it with anyone, not even the managers of your profile⁹.

Google recommends the video recording when it is offered to you⁹. You film live on a phone, from within your profile, in a single unedited take of at least 30 seconds, with no bank, ID or tax numbers and no other people’s faces. The video shows three things⁶:

Where you work: street signs, building numbers, nearby businesses or landmarks. If you work from home, you can film landmarks in your immediate neighbourhood⁶.
That the business exists: for a storefront, the permanent signage with the profile’s name; for a service-area business, your tools, workspace or business cards⁶.
That you run it: an employee-only area, the till, a vehicle with your branding, or a business document in the profile’s name, such as an invoice or a business permit⁶.

Customer reviews

Reviews appear next to your profile on Maps and Search. You can invite customers to leave one with a link or QR code from Google, and reply publicly; customers must be signed in to a Google Account to post a review¹⁰.

A review must reflect a genuine experience. For fake or incentivised reviews, Google removes the reviews concerned and can block new reviews for a set period, unpublish existing ones or show a warning on the profile¹¹. Google Maps policies prohibit, among other things¹²:

Offering an incentive, such as payment, a discount or a gift, in exchange for a review, a change to it or the removal of a negative review.
Discouraging negative reviews or asking only satisfied customers for reviews.
Requiring or pressuring customers to leave a rating on the premises, or asking for specific content.
Reviews based on a conflict of interest: current or former employees, contractual relationships, family members or competitors.

Swiss directories and local ranking

Google decides how to display your address from your own information and other sources, and can pick up your categories from your website and from mentions of your business across the web⁵. So keep the same name, address and phone number everywhere. In Switzerland, localsearch offers a free basic business entry on local.ch, search.ch and localGUIDE, with the company name, address and telephone number¹³.

Google bases local results mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. There is no way to request or pay for a better ranking. A verified, complete and accurate profile counts, as do reviews and links from other websites to your business³.

1 monthHow long rankings for a new business can take to appear in search results, according to Google².

The studio’s Launch package

Our offer

An agency can help, but the profile remains your business’s profile. Google recommends that each person who manages it has their own Google Account, added as an owner or manager, rather than sharing a password¹⁴.

Goodbye Internet is a creative agency in Frinvillier, near Biel/Bienne. The Launch package brings together the Entreprise website, a custom logo and Google Business setup, designed from a single brief. After payment, the private brief brings together your business, brand, website content and the information needed for your Google profile; we prepare that information with your feedback. Verification and ranking are decided by Google alone. Delivery in 2–4 weeks depending on scope.

You pay upfront or in 36 monthly installments; the installments are a binding purchase obligation, not a rental. Management covers the domain, Vercel hosting, Sanity and one small information change per month. It is billed separately, starting when the website is created, and is required unless you manage and pay for the necessary subscriptions yourself. The amounts are on the Launch package page.

The package contents, as listed in the offer:

5 unique pages, excluding articles and translations
Blog and up to 3 languages
Content editor (Sanity) to edit your information
One custom feature (plugin), defined together
Basic SEO
Custom logo
Google Business setup

Questions

How much does a Google Business Profile cost?

Nothing on Google’s side: adding or claiming a profile is free¹, and no payment improves your local ranking³. An agency charges for its own work; in the Launch package, Google Business setup is part of the package.

Can I create a profile without an address?

Yes, if you visit customers without receiving them: the address is hidden and the profile lists up to 20 service areas⁷. For video verification, you still film landmarks around your address, even if it is your home⁶. P.O. boxes and virtual offices are not accepted⁵.

Why doesn’t my profile show on Google Maps?

Only verified profiles appear on Maps and Search. Rankings for a new business can take up to a month to appear. A profile that breaks the guidelines is disabled or suspended until the issue is fixed, and Google notifies you in the account that manages the profile².

What should I do if my profile is suspended?

First fix whatever breaks the guidelines, then appeal through Google’s appeals tool without creating a new profile. You can attach evidence in the profile’s name and address, such as an official business registration or an electricity, phone or internet bill. An appeal can only be submitted once¹⁵.

Can an agency set up my profile?

Yes. Once the profile is verified, add the agency as a manager with its own Google Account^9,14. A manager can edit the profile and reply to reviews, but cannot add or remove users or remove the profile¹⁴. Share neither your password nor the verification code⁹.

Do I need one profile per language?

No. Each location has only one profile, and Google does not allow the same name repeated in several languages, even if your sign does⁵. Our Biel/Bienne guide covers bilingual customers.

Launch package

Entreprise: 5 unique pages, blog, up to 3 languages, Sanity and one plugin, with a custom logo and Google Business setup

2’990CHF

upfront

or 36 monthly installments of CHF 89

Management billed separately: CHF 44/month

Service details Write to the studio

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Sources

This guide is written by Goodbye Internet, which also sells logos and websites. The facts and figures it cites come from the sources below; sections about our own offer are marked with a coloured dot.