Short answer: Pick one primary category, the most specific one on Google’s list that describes your business as a whole. Add more when another category also describes the business, or for special departments or services, never one per product or service. Google lets you add up to 9 categories besides the primary one, and it asks you to use as few as possible.
To change them, select Edit profile and, next to “Business category”, select Edit. Google reviews each change and may ask you to verify the business again: see the steps.
What the categories do
Your categories tell customers what your business does, and they help Google connect you with people who search for your products or services. Google says the categories you select affect your local ranking.
With “Pizza restaurant” as its primary category, for example, a business might show in local results for searches such as Restaurants, Italian Restaurants or Pizza.
A profile has two kinds of category:
- The primary category. The one that best describes your business. It goes in the first box of the editor, and all the locations of a business must share it.
- Additional categories. Optional, up to 9 more: other categories that also describe the business, or special departments and services.
You don’t need to add the broader categories. When you select a specific one like “Golf Resort”, Google implicitly includes more general ones like “Resort Hotel”, “Hotel” and “Golf Course”. You can skip any category that only repeats a more specific one you already chose.
Categories are one piece of local ranking. Our Google Maps checklist covers the other pieces.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on business categories, editing a profile and bulk upload spreadsheets, and Google’s guidelines for representing your business. Read October 23, 2026.
How to choose your categories
Google’s guidelines give a simple test: a category should complete the statement “This business IS a”, not “this business HAS a”. The goal is to describe the business as a whole, not to list every service it offers, product it sells or amenity it has.
- Be specific. Choose the most specific category on the list that still represents your main business.
- Use Google’s list. Type in the box and select one of the categories that show up. You can’t create your own. If the exact one isn’t there, choose a more general category that describes the business.
- Stay with the core business. Use as few categories as you can to describe it.
- Leave keywords out. Don’t use categories only as keywords, or to describe attributes of the business, like a pool or Wi-Fi.
Our guide on a suspended Google Business Profile lists categories used as keywords among the causes of a suspension and explains the appeal.
Google’s examples show the difference:
- A pizza place that only does takeout and delivery: “Pizza Delivery” and “Pizza Takeout”, not “Delivery Restaurant” or “Takeout Restaurant”.
- A motel with a pool on site: “Motel”, not “Hotel” or “Swimming Pool”.
- A fast food burger restaurant with some desserts on the menu: “Fast Food Restaurant” and “Hamburger Restaurant”, not “Dessert Restaurant”.
- A federal credit union: “Federal Credit Union”, not “Bank”.
- A hotel with an ATM: no “ATM” category.
Sources: Google’s guidelines for representing your business, with its table of correct and incorrect categories, and Google Business Profile Help on business categories, editing a profile and bulk upload spreadsheets. Read October 23, 2026.
When to add more categories
Additional categories tell customers about special departments or services, and you can also add one when more than one category describes your business. In Google’s example, a grocery store with a bakery and a deli chooses “Grocery store” as its primary category and adds “Bakery” and “Deli”.
Don’t add a category for every product or service. Use a few from the list that describe the business and, if your profile has the services editor, list what you offer there. Google suggests services for your type of business, such as “Install faucet” or “Repair toilet” for a plumber.
Leave out the categories of other businesses, even when they share your space:
- A business inside yours that you don’t own and run. A health club with an independently run cafe doesn’t add “Cafe”. The cafe gets its own Business Profile, with “Cafe” as its primary category.
- A business that yours is inside, or one that is nearby or related.
- Businesses that need two profiles. A restaurant, cafe or bar inside a hotel or motel. A pharmacy inside a supermarket or grocery store, or a gas station next to one. A car rental at an airport, when pick-up and drop-off happen at separate locations.
If you need both categories at one location, create two profiles and give the second business a different name.
Before you save, check your list:
- The primary category completes “This business IS a”.
- It’s the most specific category that fits the whole business.
- Each additional category also describes the business, or a real department or special service.
- No category stands in for a keyword or for something the business has.
- No category belongs to another business inside yours or around it.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on business categories, the services editor and editing a profile, and Google’s guidelines on businesses inside other businesses. Read October 23, 2026.
How to change your categories
You need the Google Account that’s linked to the profile, as an owner or a manager: both can edit the category. If you don’t have access, the owner can invite you: our guide on adding a manager shows how.
On a computer
- Find your profile. Search Google for my business, or your business name and city, and select Edit profile.
- Open the categories. Next to “Business category”, select Edit.
- Set the primary category. Enter a category in the “Primary category” box and select it from the list that shows up.
- Add or remove the others. Select Add another category for each one you add, or Remove next to one you drop. Then select Save.
On a phone
- Go to Business. In the Google Maps app, open the Business tab at the bottom right.
- Open the editor. Tap Edit profile.
- Change the categories and tap Save.
Google reviews each edit before it shows on your profile. That usually takes up to 10 minutes, and sometimes up to 30 days.
Adding or editing a category may also bring a request to verify the business again, so Google can confirm your information is accurate. If that happens, our guide to verifying your Google Business Profile walks you through each method.
If a verification code is on its way by postcard, don’t touch the categories until you’ve entered it: editing the category makes the code in the mail stop working.
Google may also turn down big changes: to keep the information on Search and Maps accurate, it can reject edits that significantly change a business’s name or category. A category edit that isn’t approved is appealed the same way as a rejected name: see how to appeal.
If you’re renaming the business too, a minor name change only counts as a rebrand when the category stays the same. Multi-location businesses that change their name may qualify too. Our guide on changing your business name covers the rebrand rule.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on business categories, editing a profile, verification, owner and manager permissions, the review of edits, policies and appeals, and Google’s rebranding rule. Read October 23, 2026.
What changes with the category
Some features of a profile depend on its category. Google gives these examples:
- Restaurants can add links for online orders, reservations and menus, and add menu items directly. The menu editor is for food and drink businesses, and waitlists work only for restaurants.
- Hotels can show class ratings, from 1 to 5 stars, and list the amenities they offer.
- Health and beauty businesses can add a booking button and update their list of services.
- Service businesses, among other categories, might be able to show their services on the profile.
Smaller details depend on it too:
- Links. Some categories might be able to add more links to their website, like online orders, reservations or appointments.
- Attributes. Some can only be changed in certain countries or categories.
- Questions and answers. They’re available only for some categories and regions.
- The map icon. The icon Google Maps shows for your business depends on the category you set.
If a feature you expect isn’t on your profile, check first that the primary category describes what the business is.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on business categories, hotel class ratings, the menu editor, bookings and waitlists, services, editing a profile, attributes and bulk upload spreadsheets. Read October 23, 2026.
If Google changes your category
Google doesn’t rely only on what you enter. It can detect category information from your website and from mentions of your business across the web. Other sources feed your profile too: Google gathers information from user reports and licensed content, and it may update the profile when they say something is wrong or outdated.
Google also tells you about some user suggestions before publishing them: you get an email or a notification, and you have 4 days to accept or reject the edit. If you don’t answer within those 4 days, Google may publish it if other public information, like your website, backs it up.
To check your categories:
- Open the editor. Select Edit profile. If Google updated your profile, a notice at the top of the page tells you.
- Look for blue text. It marks information that Google changed.
- Keep it or put yours back. Keep a change that describes the business better. If it’s wrong, edit the category and select Save.
You can’t manage every Google update from the profile, but you can always edit the profile yourself.
RememberDescribe the same business on your website as in your categories. Google can detect categories from your website, and a user’s edit you leave unanswered can go live when your website supports it.
Sources: Google’s guidelines for representing your business, and Google Business Profile Help on Google updates and the review of edits. Read October 23, 2026.
Quick answers about categories
How many categories can my Business Profile have?
One primary category and up to 9 more. Google asks you to choose the fewest categories it takes to describe your core business, each as specific as possible. Add another only when it also describes the business, or a special department or service, never to cover each product you sell.
Where can I see the full list of categories?
In the profile editor, as you type: Google suggests the categories that match what you enter in the “Primary category” box, and you can’t create your own. If you work with developers, Google’s Business Profile API also returns the list, for a given country and language.
What if my type of business isn’t on the list?
Choose a more general category that still describes the business, the next best one on the list. You can’t add a category of your own. In its help for bulk uploads, Google also explains how to ask for a new one: select More, then Support, then Send feedback.
Do all the locations of my business need the same category?
They must share the one category that best represents the business. If you run different types of locations, like stores, offices or a distribution center, the rule applies within each group. Locations can add other categories of their own: in Google’s example, every store of a pet supply chain shares one category, and some also list dog day care.
Can I edit the category before my profile is verified?
Usually, yes. Google’s help says you can edit some information before verifying, like the business category, name, address, hours, phone number and website. Some businesses may need to verify first, and Google may reject content added to an unverified profile. If you asked for a postcard, wait until you’ve entered the code: an edited category makes it stop working.
Want us to set up your categories?
Our local SEO service sets your categories and services and keeps your name, address and phone the same on your profile and every directory listing. It also fixes up to 4 pages of your website a month. If your business is in Miami, see local SEO in Miami.
Sources
- “Manage your business category”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Guidelines for representing your business on Google”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Edit your Business Profile”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Create a bulk upload spreadsheet for Business Profiles”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Manage your services on your Business Profile”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Manage your Business Profile owners & managers”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Understand what happens to your Business Profile edits”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Verify your business on Google”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Overview of Google Business Profile policies”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Appeal Business Profile content & profile restrictions”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Hotel class ratings”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “About the menu editor”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Set up bookings through a provider”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Manage your business attributes”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Understand Google updates on your Business Profile”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 23, 2026.
- “Method: categories.list”, Google for Developers, Business Profile APIs, read October 23, 2026.