Google Business Profile Attributes: Which to Set and Why

What attributes are and where they show

Google's help page on managing your business attributes gives outdoor seats and Wi-Fi as examples. Attributes show up on your profile in Search, Maps and other Google platforms. Some you can edit directly. Others may be filled in from input by customers who visit your business, so it is worth looking at what is already there before you assume your profile is blank.

To change them, open your profile, choose Edit profile and then More, and pick an attribute group such as Amenities or Payments. Select Yes or No next to each attribute and save. Google reviews the edit, which usually takes about 10 minutes and can take up to 30 days.

What attributes do for a search

Google's page on improving your local ranking says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local search results. Parking and Wi-Fi are on its list of details to provide. The attributes page makes the narrower claim: add certain attributes and you might appear when someone searches for places that have them.

That is a more modest promise than "rank for dog friendly". Google does not say how much weight an attribute carries against distance, reviews or category. What an attribute does give you is eligibility. If the attribute is missing, you give Google one less reason to show you for that kind of search, and you give the customer one less fact when they compare you with the café down the road.

Which attributes you can set depends on your category

Google's developer documentation on managing attributes says the attributes available to a listing differ by category and country, and that they are dynamic and can change at any time. So a restaurant may see attributes a clinic never will, and a list you read in a blog post last year may be out of date. Go through every group in your own dashboard and answer each one.

Two groups that Google documents in detail are worth getting exactly right:

• Accessibility. Google's definition of a wheelchair-accessible entrance is one that is at least one meter (three feet) wide with no steps or stairs. If there are steps, there should be a permanent or movable ramp. A wheelchair-accessible restroom needs an entrance at least one meter wide with no steps, and Google's definition of accessible parking is a spot reserved for people with accessibility needs. Mark Yes only if your premises meet the definition.
• Business identity. Attributes such as women-owned or small business tell customers who owns the business. You can opt in or out at any time, and Google says franchises cannot be considered small businesses.

Accuracy matters more than coverage. A customer who arrives with a wheelchair or a dog because your profile said yes will write a review if the answer was no.

When the attribute you want does not exist

Many searches people care about, such as "live music tonight" or "laptop friendly café", describe a feature that may have no attribute for your category. In that case, put the fact in the places Google does let you use:

• Posts. A live music night fits an Event post, which takes a title, start and end dates and times, and an optional photo and button. Our guide to how often to post covers the rules.
• Business description. Google asks for useful information about the services and products you offer and the history of the business. It does not allow links, and it does not allow content that focuses on promotions or prices.
• Photos. Google asks for interior photos that truthfully show what it is like to stand inside the business. A photo of the working corner with power points says "remote work friendly" better than the phrase does.
• Your website. Write it in plain text on the page for that location, and keep it consistent with the profile. The glossary entry on LocalBusiness schema explains how to state the same facts in a form machines read directly.
• Reviews. You cannot write them or pay for them. Google prohibits offering incentives for reviews (see its review tips). You can reply to a review that mentions the feature and confirm it.

Tie the profile to the place

Google defines relevance as how well a profile matches what someone is searching for, and tells owners to provide complete and detailed business information. For a café in Poblacion or Bonifacio Global City, that includes the landmarks and streets people really use when they describe where you are, on the location page of your website. Our pages on local SEO in Manila and local SEO in the Philippines show how that works in practice. For restaurants, the invisible menu problem covers the dish side of the same job.

A checklist for one sitting

1. Open Edit profile, then More, and go through every attribute group.
2. Answer Yes only for what is true today. Leave out what you plan to add next year.
3. Write down the attributes your category does not offer but your customers ask about.
4. Put those facts into a post, a description line, a photo and a sentence on your website.
5. Recheck every three months. Google says attributes change, and customers can add their own.

Attributes sit alongside category, reviews and distance in the wider ranking picture. How Google Maps ranking works lays that out, and the glossary has a short entry on attributes. To have someone check your profile for gaps, contact LocalEnhance.