Google Business Profile for a Quebec small business: the complete guide

What the profile is, and how Google ranks it

Your Google Business Profile is the panel that shows up in Google Maps and beside the search results: name, hours, phone, photos, reviews. In Quebec most owners call it their "fiche Google"; Google's Canadian French help centre calls it the "Profil d'entreprise Google". Same thing.

Google says local results are "mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity" and adds that "there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google" (Google: local ranking). Distance you can't change. Relevance and prominence come from how completely and honestly you fill in the profile, and from reviews.

Are you eligible?

Most guides skip this. Google's rule: "To qualify for a Business Profile, a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours" (eligibility guidelines).

Among the businesses Google lists as ineligible:

• "Lead generation agents or companies."
• "Brands, organizations, artists, and other online-only businesses."
• "Any business whose address is listed as a P.O. box or mailbox in a remote location."

A plumber, a dental clinic, a barbershop or a landscaper clears this easily. An online-only store does not.

Storefront, service area or hybrid

This choice drives everything else. The table below is built from Google's representation guidelines and its service area help page.

Google's own example fits most trades in Laval and the North Shore: "if you're a plumber and run your business from your residential address, clear the address from your Business Profile" (representation guidelines).

One honest caveat. Sterling Sky "saw a massive decline in rankings" when a home-services client's address was hidden, and the rankings came back when the address returned (Sterling Sky). Whitespark's 2026 expert survey ranks "Address Is Showing on GBP" 7th among local pack factors, yet the survey's own author, Darren Shaw, says he remains "unconvinced" it's a real factor (Whitespark 2026). Showing a home address without signage still breaks the rules and can get the profile suspended, so the compliant setup wins.

Name, categories and address: three traps

Name. Use your real business name and nothing else. "Including unnecessary information in your business name isn't permitted." Google's banned additions include service descriptions, locations and "Repeated Bilingual Names", so "Plomberie Tremblay / Tremblay Plumbing" on one profile is a problem even if your truck says it.

Categories. "Use as few categories as possible" and choose ones that "complete the statement: 'This business IS a' rather than 'this business HAS a.'" Whitespark's survey puts the primary category first among all local pack factors. Pick the most specific one that is true, then a few secondary ones.

Address. "P.O. boxes or mailboxes located at remote locations aren't acceptable." A rented address you don't operate from (a virtual office) "isn't eligible for a Business Profile", and a co-working desk only qualifies with signage, staff and customers on site during business hours.

Verification, often by video

You don't pick the method: "Verification methods are automatically determined by Google and can't be changed" (verification help). If video is offered, Google recommends it, and reviews take up to 5 business days.

Google wants "an unedited, unique, and complete recording with no breaks", at least 30 seconds long (video verification). Plan it like a shot list:

1. Start outside with a street sign or landmark near your address. Google says a home-based service business can record "landmarks and signs in your immediate neighborhood".
2. Show the tools of the trade: lettered truck, equipment, products, branded shirts.
3. Show proof of management, such as an invoice, permit or utility bill in the same name as the profile.
4. Record in one continuous take inside the Google app.

What to fill in, in order

Ranks in brackets come from Whitespark's 2026 survey of 187 local pack factors.

1. Primary and secondary categories (1st and 8th).
2. Real hours (21st). Being open at the time of the search ranks 5th.
3. Phone: "The phone number must be under the direct control of the business."
4. Website: the page that represents this business. Keywords in that page's title tag rank 17th.
5. Services: use Google's predefined services (22nd), then add your own.
6. Description: write it for customers. Keywords in the description sit near the bottom of the survey.
7. Photos: "JPG or PNG", "between 10 KB and 5 MB", ideally "720 px tall, 720 px wide", "in focus and well lit" with no heavy filters (photo help). Real job photos beat stock images.
8. Posts: useful for a promo or a holiday closure, but the experts rank post volume among the weakest factors.

Your review link and QR code

Reviews are the second most important signal group in the survey (20%, after the profile itself at 32%). To get your link, go to your profile, select "Read Reviews", then "Get more reviews", then "Copy". The QR code "can only be generated on a computer browser, not on mobile devices" (review link help). Offering a discount or a gift for a review is forbidden; ask every customer, not only the happy ones.

How Always Booked handles your profile

Always Booked's Google Business Profile setup starts from $350, one time. It covers creating or cleaning up the profile, categories, services, a description in French and English, photos, your review link with a QR code card, and matching Bing Places and Apple Business listings with the same name, phone and website. Google requires the owner to complete verification, often with a short video, and Fahad walks you through what to film so nothing is missing from the recording. If you also need a site for the profile to point to, see what a website costs in Quebec or my pricing.

Questions