Categories to consider
- General contractor (primary)
- Construction company
- Remodeler
- Kitchen remodeler
- Bathroom remodeler
- Deck builder
- Home builder
- Concrete contractor
Attributes
- Small business
- Veteran-owned
- Women-owned
- Wheelchair-accessible entrance (only if clients visit an office)
Typical services
- Home additions
- Kitchen remodeling
- Bathroom remodeling
- Basement finishing
- Deck and patio construction
- Structural repairs
- New home construction
- Permit and project management
The category decides who finds you
Contractors tend to want every trade on the profile. Google pushes the other way. Its guidelines ask for as few categories as possible to describe the core business, and it frames the choice as “this business IS a”, not “this business HAS a”. Categories also affect local ranking, so the primary one matters most. If most of your revenue is kitchens and baths, Remodeler may describe you better than General contractor. If you mostly build new houses, Home builder is the honest pick.
A firm that frames, pours footings and finishes interiors with its own staff can carry Construction company and Concrete contractor as secondaries. A firm that hires out the concrete should leave that category off, even though it manages the work.
Service area or storefront
Most contractors meet clients at the job site. Google calls this a service-area business. You get one profile for the business, a list of up to 20 cities, postal codes or other areas, and no visible street address. Google wants that area kept to around two hours of driving from your base, though it says larger areas can suit some businesses.
If you run a design showroom with permanent signage that is staffed during posted hours, you are a hybrid. You can show the showroom address and also set a service area. A yard where trucks park and nobody receives visitors does not count.
Name and office rules that trip up builders
Use the name on your trucks, signs and invoices. Google bans taglines, phone numbers, city names and all-caps words in the name field. A mailbox at a remote location or a virtual office cannot be your address. If you share a co-working space, it only qualifies when your team staffs it with signage up during business hours.
Services and photos
Google may suggest services based on your category. Keep the ones you perform and add your own with Add custom service. Each service can carry a description and a price, and Google may highlight a matching service when a local searcher looks for it. Photos must be JPG or PNG between 10 KB and 5 MB; finished kitchens, decks and additions show your work better than stock images.
The same discretion applies when a client reviews a project. Name the type of job if they did, but never post their street address or what the job cost. If a review complains about delays, say what you changed instead of arguing the timeline in public; replies post under the business name and the reviewer is notified.
If it doesn't work
- Google asks you to verify again after a category change: that can happen. Finish the new verification before making more edits.
- Your yard or home address still shows: you are still set up as a storefront. Remove the address under Location so only the service area remains.
- An old radius service area can't be edited: Google no longer supports radius areas. Delete it and re-enter cities or postal codes.
- Services you typed were rejected: custom names can't contain prices, phone numbers or personal information. Rename them plainly.
Questions owners ask
Can I create a profile for each city I build in?
No. Google allows a business without a staffed storefront one service-area profile, and the whole area should stay within roughly two hours of driving from your base. Separate profiles are only for separate locations with their own staff and service areas.
Should I add Plumber or Electrician if I sub out that work?
No. Google's test is that a category completes the sentence 'this business is a', and it says not to use categories as keywords or for related businesses. List the trades your own crews handle and mention the rest in services.
Can I use 'Smith Construction LLC' as my name?
Only if that is how the business presents itself. Google allows legal terms like LLC in the name when you can show proof, such as signage or invoices. Taglines like 'Best Remodels in Town' are not allowed.
My office is in a co-working space. Can I show it?
Only if the office keeps clear signage, receives clients during business hours and is staffed by your team in those hours. A virtual office is not eligible.
Sources
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google (support.google.com)
- Manage your service areas for your Business Profile (support.google.com)
- Manage your services on your Business Profile (support.google.com)
- Choose a business category (support.google.com)
Checked 13 Nov 2026. When the platform changes its process we update this page and log it in What changed.