Google Business Profile setup for cleaning businesses

Why this is the highest-leverage free thing you can do

When someone searches "house cleaning near me," the map results show up before everything else. Those are Google Business Profiles. Getting yours right is the single biggest free move in local search, and it takes an afternoon. Most of your competitors filled in half of it and stopped.

Claim and verify it

• Search your business name on Google. If a listing already exists, claim it. If not, create one at google.com/business
• Verify with the method Google offers: a postcard code, phone, or video
• Use your real business name, not "Best Cheap Cleaning [City]." Keyword-stuffed names get suspended.

Pick the right categories

Your primary category is the strongest signal Google uses to decide which searches you show for. Pick the most specific one that fits, then add secondaries for your other services.

• Primary: "House cleaning service" or "Commercial cleaning service"
• Secondaries: maid service, janitorial service, window cleaning, carpet cleaning, whatever you actually do
• Do not add categories for services you do not offer

Fill in services, areas, and hours

• Add each service as a service item in plain words: move-out cleaning, recurring cleaning, deep clean
• Set service areas to the towns you actually cover, not a 100-mile radius
• Keep hours accurate and update them for holidays
• Add your website and a tap-to-call phone number

Photos do more than you think

Listings with real photos get more calls. Google shows them and customers trust them. Stock photos of a kitchen that is not yours do nothing.

• Add your logo and a cover photo
• Real before and after shots of your work
• Photos of your team and vehicles for trust
• Add a few new photos every month. Google favors active profiles.

Reviews are part of the profile

Reviews live on your profile and feed your ranking. Ask every happy customer, and respond to every review. The full review playbook is in our reviews guide.

• Get your review short-link from the profile dashboard
• Ask the day the job is done
• Respond to all of them, in your own voice

Use the posts and Q&A features

Google lets you post updates and answer questions right on the listing. Few cleaning companies bother, which is exactly why it is worth doing. A weekly post and a few seeded questions make your listing look active and answer buyers before they call.

Common mistakes that cost you calls

• Keyword-stuffing the business name, which risks suspension
• A wrong or too-broad service area
• No photos, or only stock photos
• Categories that do not match what you do
• Letting reviews sit without a response

The AI prompt pack

Run these in your Project, set up from the Starter Pack, so the answers use your real services and towns.

Based on my services, recommend my primary and secondary Google Business Profile categories. Explain each choice in one sentence.

Write my Google Business Profile description: 750 characters, names my main service and the towns I serve naturally, no keyword stuffing, ends with what to do next.

List the services I should add to my profile, each with a one to two sentence description in the words customers actually search.

Give me 5 short Google Business posts for the next 5 weeks: a seasonal offer, a tip, a service spotlight, a review highlight, and a before and after. Keep each under 1500 characters.

Write 5 questions and answers to seed in my profile Q&A section, based on what cleaning customers actually ask.