My business does not show on Google Maps: why
It is almost always one of five: the profile is not verified, the primary category is wrong, the address does not match letter for letter across your site and directories, the service area is set up wrong, or the business is too new to have signals yet. Check them in that order: the first two explain most cases.
1. The profile is not verified
Without verification the profile exists but barely competes. Verification comes by postcard, phone or video depending on the trade and country, and can take weeks.
If someone verified it years ago and no longer works with you, recovering access is a separate process worth starting today, because it is the slowest part of all.
2. The primary category is wrong
It is the heaviest factor and the most neglected. Google shows you mostly for the primary category, not the secondary ones and not the words in your description.
A general contractor filed as "construction company" does not appear for "kitchen remodeling" searches. Pick the category by what people type when they search for what you do, not by what your invoice says.
3. The details do not match
Your name, address and phone must be identical on the profile, on your site, and in the directories you appear in. Genuinely identical: "Suite 4" and "Ste. 4" are different to an automated system.
It is tedious, and it is one of the things that moves the needle fastest.
4. The service area is set up wrong
If you work at customers’ locations and have no storefront, the profile should be a service-area business with the address hidden. If you set it as a storefront, Google expects a place customers walk into.
And do not inflate the area. Declaring half the county does not make you appear across half the county: it dilutes your relevance in the centre, which is where you can actually win.
5. It is too new
A new profile competes against others with years of history, reviews and clicks. That cannot be accelerated with tricks, but it can be shortened with real activity: new photos every week, posts, answered questions, and reviews arriving steadily.
How to check without fooling yourself
Do not search for your business from your phone while standing in your shop: Google knows where you are and who you are, and will show you. Use an incognito window and, better still, Google’s ad preview tool, which lets you simulate the search from another location.
Frequent questions
How long before a new profile appears?
Two weeks to three months to start appearing for brand searches, and considerably longer for generic searches in your trade. If after three months you do not appear even searching your own name, it is a verification or data problem, not a time problem.
Do keywords in the business name help?
Google explicitly forbids it and it is grounds for suspension. It works until someone reports it, and in this field someone always reports it. Not worth risking the whole profile.
Do I need a website to show on the map?
Not required, but it counts. A profile with its own site carries more real-business signals, and the site is where you can explain what does not fit in the profile. It is also yours: the profile belongs to Google.