Google Business Profile for Service-Area Businesses: Hide Your Address, Show Your Suburbs
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If you travel to your customers rather than serving them at your premises, Google treats you as a service-area business. You should hide your address from your Google Business Profile and list the areas you serve instead. Google allows up to 20 service areas, defined by suburb, postcode or region rather than a radius, and says the overall area should generally stay within about two hours' drive of your base.
This guide covers who counts as a service-area business, how to set it up, and the mistakes that cause problems.
Are you a service-area business?
Google describes three set-ups (Google Business Profile Help):
Type | Who it fits | Address shown? |
Storefront | Customers come to you, for example a shop or clinic | Yes |
Service-area business | You visit or deliver to customers and don't serve them at your address | No: hide it and set service areas |
Hybrid | You serve customers at your address and also travel to them | Yes, plus service areas |
Most plumbers, electricians, cleaners, mobile mechanics and landscapers are service-area businesses. Google also says a business without permanent signage at its location isn't eligible as a storefront and should be listed as a service-area business.
Why hiding your address matters
Google's guidelines say service-area businesses should hide their address from customers (guidelines). Showing a home address when customers can't visit it breaks the guidelines, invites people to turn up at your house, and can put the profile at risk.
You still need a real address for verification. It just isn't shown publicly.
How to set your service areas
Open your Business Profile and select Edit profile, then Location.
Next to "Service area", select edit.
Add the suburbs, postcodes or regions you serve.
Remove your address from the profile if customers don't come to you.
Select Save.
Google says approved edits can take up to 48 hours to appear (Google Business Profile Help).
The rules to know
Up to 20 service areas. Choose the areas you actually want work in.
No radius. You can't set "30 km around my base"; you list areas instead.
About two hours' drive. Google says the overall boundary shouldn't generally extend further, although larger areas may suit some businesses.
One profile for the whole area. Service-area businesses can have only one profile covering everywhere they serve, not one per suburb.
No virtual offices or PO boxes as a way to get extra listings.
Does listing more suburbs help you rank there?
Not on its own. Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence (Google Business Profile Help). Adding a suburb to your service area tells customers you go there, but your map visibility is still usually strongest near your base.
To reach further, add genuinely local pages to your website for the suburbs you want more work in, and collect reviews from customers there.
Common mistakes
Showing a home address when customers never visit
Listing every suburb in Melbourne instead of the areas you really cover
Creating extra profiles with different addresses to appear in more places
Setting up as a storefront without permanent signage
Forgetting to update the service area when you stop working in a region
Next step
If you want your profile set up correctly and kept active, see Morphic's Google Business Profile set-up and management, or get a free quote.
Related services: Google Business Profile optimisation in Kings Park and local SEO for Melbourne businesses.
Related reading: How to Set Up a Google Business Profile and Get on Google Maps (Australia) and Suburb Pages Done Right: How to Target Nearby Suburbs Without Thin Copy.
Key Takeaways
If you travel to customers and don't serve them at your address, Google treats you as a service-area business.
Service-area businesses should hide their address and list the areas they serve instead.
Google allows up to 20 service areas, set by suburb, postcode or region rather than a radius.
Google says the overall service area should generally stay within about two hours' drive of your base.
Use one profile for your whole area; extra profiles or virtual offices break Google's guidelines.
Emon Datta
Founder, Morphic Agency
Morphic Agency is a Melbourne-based UX design agency. We've shipped 50+ products across 15+ countries.
