Google My Business for Real Estate Agents (Now Google Business Profile)

Google My Business for real estate agents is now called Google Business Profile: the free listing that shows your name, reviews, phone number and service area when someone searches for you or for “realtor near me” on Google Search and Maps. An agent claims it, verifies it, follows Google’s naming rules for individual practitioners, and keeps it complete and reviewed.

What happened to Google My Business?

Google My Business became Google Business Profile in November 2021. 9to5Google reported on November 4, 2021 that “‘Google My Business’ is now ‘Google Business Profile,’” that small businesses would “manage their profiles directly on Search or Maps,” and that the separate My Business app “will be replaced in 2022.”

Nothing important changed for agents. The profile still powers your listing in the local pack and on Google Maps. People still call it GMB, and both names lead to the same product. This guide uses the current name, Google Business Profile.

Can real estate agents have a Google Business Profile?

Real estate agents can have a Google Business Profile, and Google names them specifically. Google’s guidelines for representing your business say “doctors, dentists, lawyers, financial planners, and insurance or real estate agents are all individual practitioners.” An individual practitioner is “a public-facing professional, typically with their own customer base.”

How that plays out depends on your setup:

Your situation	What Google’s guidelines say
You work from a brokerage office with other agents	The office gets its own profile. Your profile title “should include only the name of the practitioner,” not the brokerage name
You’re the only public-facing agent at a branded office	One shared profile, named “[brand/company]: [practitioner name]”
You have no office and meet clients at their homes or at listings	Set up as a service-area business and “hide your business address from customers”
You use a virtual office or remote mailbox	Not eligible, unless the office is staffed during business hours
You’re an assistant or other support staff	“Support staff should not create their own Business Profiles”

Two more rules matter. Google allows one profile per practitioner: “A practitioner shouldn’t have multiple Business Profiles to cover all of their specializations.” And Google says sales associates or lead generation agents for corporations “aren’t individual practitioners.” If your role is closer to that, talk to your broker before creating a profile.

How do you set up and verify a Google Business Profile as an agent?

You set up a Google Business Profile as an agent by checking for an existing profile, claiming or creating one, entering accurate details and completing Google’s verification. Plan for it to take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of weeks.

1. Search for yourself first. Look up your name and “[your name] realtor” on Google and Maps. If a profile exists, claim it instead of creating a duplicate. Google says “there should only be one profile per business.”
2. Use a business Google account that you control long term. Don’t create it under an assistant’s or a former brokerage’s account.
3. Enter your real-world name. Use the name on your license and business cards, formatted as Google’s practitioner rules require for your setup.
4. Choose your primary category. Google says to pick categories that complete the sentence “This business IS a” and to “use as few categories as possible.” For most agents that’s “Real estate agent.”
5. Add your address or service area. Hide the address if clients don’t come to you.
6. Verify. According to Google’s verification help page, methods can include phone or text, email, live video call, video recording and mail. “Verification methods are automatically determined by Google and can’t be changed.” Google says verification reviews take up to 5 business days, and most postcard codes arrive within 14 days.

How does a Google Business Profile help an agent rank in local search?

A Google Business Profile helps an agent rank because it’s the listing Google uses for local results. Google’s local ranking page says those results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and “there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google.”

• Relevance is “how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for.” Accurate categories, services and a clear description of where you work and what you sell help here.
• Distance is “how far each business is from the customer who’s searching.” You can’t change where searchers are.
• Prominence is “how well-known a business is,” and Google says it’s based on info like “how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have.”

Google also says “businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results.” That’s the simplest win available to most agents: fill in every field that applies.

How should real estate agents optimize their profile?

Real estate agents should optimize their profile by completing every relevant field, earning reviews, keeping it current and building local prominence off Google. Work through this list once, then review it monthly.

• Services: add the services you actually provide, such as buyer representation, listing services, home valuation and relocation help.
• Description: a plain paragraph on the areas, property types and clients you serve. Use the local terms people search, as covered in our real estate keywords guide, but write for people.
• Photos: a current headshot, your team, your office (if clients visit) and homes you’ve listed or sold, with your seller’s permission.
• Hours and contact: a phone number you answer and a website link to a relevant page, such as your home page or main area page.
• Consistency: your name, phone and address should match your website, brokerage roster and major real estate portals.
• Updates: add a post when you have something real, such as a new listing, an open house or a market update.
• Map presence: check how you appear on Google Maps from a phone. Our guide to using Google Maps in your real estate business covers Maps ranking and buyer tools in more depth.

How do you get more Google reviews as a real estate agent?

You get more Google reviews by asking every client at the right moment, making it easy, and replying to every review. Google’s tips to get more reviews suggest asking customers to “visit a Google link or scan a QR code,” and say reviews “must reflect a genuine experience.”

Google is blunt about incentives. “Offering incentives, like free or discounted goods or services, in exchange for customers to post reviews” is “strictly prohibited.” That rules out gift cards, closing-gift upgrades or discounts tied to a review.

When you reply, Google’s tips are to be professional and polite, keep it short, be “conversational, not promotional,” personalize the reply and respond in a timely manner. For templates and handling negative reviews, see our guide to Google reviews for real estate agents.

How can agents build prominence beyond the profile?

Agents build prominence beyond the profile by getting mentioned and linked by other local websites, since Google says prominence includes “how many websites link to your business.” You can’t edit your way to prominence inside the dashboard; it comes from your reputation around town.

Good sources of local mentions for agents:

• Local news quotes on the housing market
• Chamber of commerce member pages and events
• Sponsorships of local teams, schools or charities that list sponsors
• Community and business podcasts in your area

Podcasts work well because episode pages usually name you, your brokerage and your city, often with a link. Our guide to podcast guesting for local SEO explains how to find local shows and what to say on air so the episode ties back to your market. Once an episode is live, add it to your website too, so the mention and your profile reinforce each other.