How to set up, verify and rank a Google Business Profile without an address
Yes, you can run a Google Business Profile without showing an address. Set the profile up as a service-area business, enter the address you work from so Google can verify you, then hide it from customers. As at 16/09/2026, Google’s help documentation says that where video verification is offered it is the recommended option, and that verification reviews take up to five business days.
Can you have a Google Business Profile without an address?
Yes, if you serve customers at their location rather than yours. Google’s guidelines say service-area businesses, “or businesses that serve customers at their locations, should have one profile for the central office or location with a designated service area”. The example Google gives is a tradie: “if you’re a plumber and run your business from your residential address, clear the address from your Business Profile.”
That covers most mobile businesses in Perth: tradies, cleaners, mobile mechanics, landscapers, consultants who visit clients, and anyone working from a home they do not want on the map.
Who does not qualify: Google’s eligibility test is that “If your business either has a physical location that customers can visit, or travels to customers where they are, you can create a Business Profile on Google.” A business that only sells online and never meets a customer in person fails both halves of that test.
Hybrid businesses, meaning a shopfront or yard plus a service area, can show the address and set service areas as long as the premises are staffed during the hours shown. Google is strict on what counts: “If your business rents a physical mailing address but doesn’t operate out of that location, also known as a virtual office, that location isn’t eligible for a Business Profile.”
How to create a Google Business Profile without an address
The setup is the standard flow with one different answer at the location step. Sign in to the Google account that will own the profile, search your business name in Google or Maps, choose to add or claim it, then work through these steps.
- Enter your business name exactly as it is registered with the ABR or ASIC. Do not add suburbs, services or keywords, because a padded name is the most common reason a new profile is suspended.
- Choose one primary category that describes your main service.
- When Google asks whether you want to add a location customers can visit, answer no. This is the step that makes the profile a service-area business.
- Add your service areas by suburb, city or postcode. Google’s guideline is that the overall service area “shouldn’t extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based”, and the dashboard limits how many areas you can add, so list the suburbs you actually work in.
- Enter the address you operate from. Google uses it for verification only and it stays hidden. It must be a real, deliverable address where you are based, not a PO box or a serviced mailbox.
- Add your phone number, website and opening hours, and use the same phone number and website everywhere else your business is listed online. Google will then ask you to verify the profile.
How to hide the address on an existing profile
If your profile already shows an address you do not want public, you can remove it without losing the listing. As at 16/09/2026 the path is: open your Business Profile (search your business name in Google while signed in, or open it in Maps), select Edit profile, then Location, follow the prompt to remove your address, check your service areas are set, then select Save.
Google renames these controls from time to time, so if the labels differ, look for the location section of the profile editor. A profile must have either an address or at least one service area: Google’s help page says “To remove all of your service areas, you must be a storefront business with your business address in your Business Profile.”
How to verify Google Business without an address
A service-area profile verifies the same way as any other profile: Google decides which methods to offer, and as at 16/09/2026 its help page lists phone or SMS, email, video recording, live video call, postcard, and instant verification through Search Console. Google’s advice on which to pick is clear: “If your business is eligible for video verification, we recommend that you use this option.”
You cannot force a particular method to appear. Google says “The verification options available to you depend on your business type, public info, region, or business hours.” If the only option you see is a postcard, that is the option. Switching category to shake loose another method is a fast route to suspension.
Whatever method you use, Google states that “verification reviews take up to 5 business days”. Do not create a second profile while you wait. The current rules are on Google’s verification help page.
Video verification: what to film when there is no shopfront
Google’s help article on verifying with a video recording tells businesses that do not serve customers at their address what to show. First, location: “To confirm your location, record street signs, nearby landmarks, or other identifiers at your business address.” Second, the business itself: “Show the professional tools, equipment, or products you use for work. This can include specialized machinery, your workspace, business cards, or branded apparel worn by employees or customers.” Third, proof that you run it: “Record things only an employee can access, like opening a cash register, kitchen, storage room, or using a point-of-sale system.” A business permit, invoice or utility bill showing the same business name as the profile also counts.
The recording rules are strict and most rejections come from breaking one of them. Google requires “An unedited, unique, and complete recording with no breaks”, “At least 30 seconds long”, and “Recorded and uploaded from a mobile device through your Business Profile.” Keep other people’s faces and number plates out of frame. After upload, the review “can take up to 5 business days”.
A 60-second shot list for a tradie working from home in Perth, filmed in one continuous take in daylight:
- 0 to 10 seconds: the street sign at the nearest corner, then pan towards your house.
- 10 to 20 seconds: your house number on the letterbox or wall.
- 20 to 30 seconds: your signwritten ute or van in the driveway, business name readable.
- 30 to 40 seconds: your tools and equipment, especially the specialised gear.
- 40 to 50 seconds: business cards, a branded shirt or an invoice with the business name.
- 50 to 60 seconds: open the locked van, workshop or storeroom and show inside. This is the “only an employee can access” evidence.
Working from a home office instead of a van, swap the vehicle for your desk and equipment plus a utility bill with the business name, and still open something locked.
Phone, SMS, email and live video call
Phone or SMS verification sends a code to the number on the profile, and you must be able to answer that number in person. Google’s page says “Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems won’t get the code”, so a phone menu or answering service will fail.
Email verification sends a code or link to the email address Google shows during setup, usually one on your website’s domain, so you need access to that inbox.
Live video call puts you on a call with a Google representative who watches you show the same evidence as the recording. Google says “Live video calls are only available within the business hours of your location”, so set your hours before you request one and be at the operating address during them.
Instant verification through Search Console can apply if your website is already verified there under the same Google account. It is not offered to every category.
Postcard verification for a hidden address
Postcard is the fallback, and Google says “Verification through postcard isn’t available for all businesses.” The postcard goes to the hidden operating address you entered, so it must be somewhere Australia Post can deliver to and where you actually work. A virtual office is not eligible for a profile under Google’s guidelines, and a PO box is not a place you operate from, so neither will get you through.
Google’s timing rules: “Most codes arrive within 14 days” and “Verification codes expire after 30 days.” Between requesting the card and entering the code, “Do not edit your business name, address, or category on your Business Profile”, because those edits can cancel the request. If nothing arrives after 14 days, request a new card, not a new profile.
What to do when verification fails or the profile is suspended
Do not start again. Google’s page on suspended profiles says “Do not create a new Business Profile for the same business while your appeal is under review.” A duplicate profile is a fresh violation and can take the original down with it.
The common causes on Perth service-area profiles are a business name padded with keywords or suburbs, an operating address that conflicts with public records such as the ABR, a virtual office used as the address, a duplicate profile, and a primary category that does not match what the business is registered to do.
The appeal steps on Google’s page are:
- Open the Business Profile appeals tool, signed in to the account that manages the profile.
- Select the suspended profile and continue.
- Review the violation reason and the policy Google links to, and fix the profile if you can.
- Submit the appeal.
- Add supporting evidence. Google warns that “Once you open the evidence form, you must submit it within 60 minutes or it won’t be attached to your appeal”, so have the documents ready first.
The evidence Google lists is official business registration, a business licence, tax certificates and utility bills, with the instruction to “Check that the business name and address match the profile you want to make an appeal for.” The Australian equivalents are an ABN Lookup record or ASIC company extract, your trade licence where the industry has one, and a recent utility bill at the operating address, all showing the business name and address exactly as they appear on the profile. If the appeal is denied, Google allows an additional review with new evidence.
Why video verification gets rejected and how to re-record
Google’s examples of unsuccessful videos are ones where the business name is not visible, the nearby area is not shown, or there is no proof the person is authorised to run the business. In practice that means no street sign or house number, cuts or pauses, a video under 30 seconds, nothing showing management access, filming somewhere other than the profile address, or other people’s faces in frame.
To re-record, follow the shot list above in a single take at the address on the profile, upload it from the phone through the Business Profile, and wait the full five business days before assuming it has failed.
How to rank a Google Business Profile without a business address
Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence, and a hidden address still anchors the distance calculation, so a service-area business ranks most strongly around its base and weakest at the far edge of its service area. Google also states that “There’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google.”
Hiding the address does not cost you ranking. A thin profile does, and service-area businesses leave more fields empty than shopfronts. The levers, in the order we work through them:
- One precise primary category. “Plumber” beats “Contractor”.
- A full services list with a short description of each, using the words customers search, such as “hot water system replacement”.
- Honest service areas: the suburbs you will actually drive to, not the whole of WA.
- Reviews that mention the suburb and the job, because “fixed our hot water in Joondalup” tells Google more than “great service”.
- Photos of real jobs, your vehicle and your team, added regularly.
- A post each week: a completed job, a seasonal reminder, an offer.
- A page on your website for each service, with the profile linking to the site and the site linking back.
- Citations on directories and industry sites that use the same phone number and website as the profile, without inventing an address.
The full Google Business Profile optimisation guide covers each of these in detail.
How to rank a service-area business without an address in more than one suburb
One profile per base. Google’s guideline is one profile for the central office with a designated service area, so a mobile business working across Perth gets one profile, not one per suburb. To rank in the other suburbs you serve, build a location page for each on your website that describes the work you do there, and include those suburbs in the profile’s service areas.
Never add a second profile with a borrowed, rented or virtual address to cover another area: it is the fastest route to suspension of both profiles. Two genuinely staffed bases can each have a profile. Our local SEO for service-area businesses work is mostly building those location pages and the citations that support them.
Can you get Google reviews without an address?
Yes, reviews work identically on a service-area profile once it is verified. Google’s help page on reviews for service businesses states “All businesses can be reviewed”, and a customer needs only a Google account and the link, not your address.
To find the link, open your Business Profile, select Read Reviews, then Get more reviews, then Copy. The same screen offers a QR code, generated only in a computer browser. Text the link the same day the job is finished, ask the customer to mention the suburb and the job, and never offer a discount or gift for a review, because Google removes incentivised reviews.
Reply to every review, including the bad ones. Our guide to responding to Google reviews has templates for both.
How to add your business to Google Maps without an address
Once verified, a service-area profile appears in Google Maps and in the local pack showing its service area rather than a pinned address. There is no separate Maps listing to create: Search and Maps read from the same profile, and Google’s help page says the service area “shows customers where you can provide your products and services”.
If you have been searching for how to create a “Google business page” or a “Google My Business” listing, it is the same product: Google renamed it Google Business Profile in 2021, and profiles are created and managed directly from Google Search or Maps.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need an address for a Google Business Profile?
You need an address to verify the profile, but not to display one. Google requires a real operating address so it can confirm the business exists, whether by postcard, video or another method. If you serve customers at their location, you then hide that address and show service areas instead, and it is never shown to customers.
Can I register my business on Google without an address?
Yes, as a service-area business. During setup, answer no when Google asks whether customers can visit your location, add the suburbs or postcodes you serve, and enter your operating address for verification only. The profile then appears in Search and Maps with a service area instead of a pin. Online-only businesses with no in-person service are not eligible.
Do you have to have an address for Google Business Profile if you work from home?
Enter it, then hide it. Google’s own example is the plumber working from a residential address, who is told to clear the address from the profile. Your home address is used to verify the profile and to anchor the distance calculation in local ranking, but it is not shown publicly. A PO box or virtual office is not an acceptable substitute.
Can you have a Google My Business without a physical address?
Yes. Google My Business is the old name for Google Business Profile, renamed in 2021, and the rules are the same: set the profile up as a service-area business, verify it with the operating address, and hide that address from customers. The profile then shows your service areas, collects reviews and appears in Maps like any other listing.
Get your service-area profile verified and ranking
PWD sets up, verifies and manages service-area profiles for Perth businesses from our West Leederville office, in-house, and we do not lock you into 12 or 24 month contracts. If your profile is stuck in verification, suspended, or verified but invisible, we start with a review of what is actually wrong rather than a rebuild.
Book a Google Business Profile review through our Google Business Profile optimisation service or call PWD on 08 6146 0195.
