Short answer: Yes. If you travel to customers, like a plumber, cleaner or mobile mechanic, and don't serve anyone at your address, Google calls you a service-area business. Hide your address and list up to 20 cities or ZIP codes you serve instead. Your whole area should stay within about 2 hours' drive of your base.
Storefront, service-area or hybrid?
- Storefront: customers come to you, at an address with permanent signage.
- Service-area business: you go to customers and don't serve them at your address. Google's examples are cleaning services and plumbers. You get one profile for the whole area you serve.
- Hybrid: both. Google's examples include a dine-in restaurant that also delivers and an auto repair shop with a garage that also offers roadside service. Show the address and add a service area.
Working from home? Google's own example is a plumber who runs the business from a home address: clear the address from the profile.
How to set your service area
- 1. Go to your Business Profile and select Edit profile, then Location.
- 2. Next to "Service area," select Edit.
- 3. Pick a suggested area or type one in, then select Save.
Google says approved changes may take up to 48 hours to show.
Rules worth knowing
- No radius. You can't set a distance around your base anymore. Use cities, ZIP codes or other areas.
- Up to 20 areas, and the overall area shouldn't be more than about 2 hours of driving from where you're based.
- A rented mailbox or virtual office isn't eligible for a profile.
- Businesses that sell age-restricted products, like alcohol, cannabis or weapons, need a storefront.
On your website
Name the towns you really serve in plain sentences, and don't build a near-copy page for every town. The contractor website checklist covers how to do that.
Also asked
Can I show my home address on Google?
Only if you serve customers there during your stated hours. Google says businesses that show an address should have permanent signage there. Otherwise, hide the address and use a service area.
How many service areas can I list on Google?
Up to 20, by city, ZIP code or other area. Google says the overall area shouldn't extend more than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based.
More answers: My business shows up twice on Google Maps. How do I fix it? · How long does Google Business Profile verification take? · Do I need to be on Apple Maps and Bing too, or just Google? · All answers →
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help, "Manage your service areas for service-area & hybrid businesses": https://support.google.com/business/answer/9157481
- Google Business Profile Help, "Guidelines for representing your business on Google": https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177