How to Get Your Business on Google Search and Maps in Kenya

The short version: a Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business on Google Maps and in search results when someone searches your name or "chemist near me". Setup takes about 20 minutes and verification up to five business days. What brings in customers comes after: photos, hours, reviews and a website that backs it all up.

1. Check whether your business is already on Google Maps.
2. Create or claim the profile at business.google.com.
3. Pick your name, category, and either an address or a service area.
4. Verify the profile using the method Google offers you.
5. Complete the profile, collect reviews, and link it to your website.

What you need before you start

• A Google account the business controls, not a staff member's personal Gmail, so the listing does not leave with them.
• Your real business name, exactly as it appears on your signage and business permit.
• A phone number that receives calls and SMS, and a smartphone in case Google asks for a video.
• Permanent signage if customers visit you. It matters for verification.

Step 1: Check if your business is already on Google Maps

Search Google Maps for your business name and area. Customers and Google itself sometimes add businesses without the owner knowing. If you find yours, open it and tap Claim this business or Own this business?. If someone else manages it, such as a former employee or web designer, Google lets you request access. Do not create a second listing for the same location: duplicates split your reviews.

Step 2: Create your profile and choose the right category

Go to business.google.com, sign in, and choose to add your business. You can also do this from the Google Maps app. Google will ask for three things first.

Business name

Enter the name you use in the real world and nothing more. "Mama Njeri Salon" is correct. "Mama Njeri Salon Best Braids Kasarani Cheap" breaks Google's guidelines and risks suspension.

Primary category

The primary category strongly shapes which searches you appear in, so pick the most specific one that fits: a chemist should choose "Pharmacy", not something broad like "Health". Start typing and Google suggests options. You can add secondary categories later.

Step 3: Address or service area?

Google treats businesses in three ways:

• Storefront: customers come to you, such as a shop, clinic or garage. Show your address.
• Service area business: you go to customers, such as a plumber or tutor. Hide your address and list the areas you serve, for example Kilimani and Westlands. If you work from home, this is you.
• Hybrid: premises plus delivery or visits, like a pharmacy that delivers. Show the address and add service areas.

Google does not accept P.O. Box numbers as a business location.

When your address is informal

Many Kenyan businesses have no street number a stranger could find. That is fine. Write the address the way you would explain it on the phone:

• Road name, as Google Maps shows it, even if locals call it something else.
• Building name, floor and shop number, for example "Shop B14, 1st Floor, Kahawa Mall".
• A landmark people already know: "opposite the Total petrol station", "next to the stage".

Then drop the pin accurately. Switch to satellite view, zoom in fully and drag the marker onto your actual entrance, not the middle of the road or the estate as a whole. A pin 200 metres off sends boda riders to the wrong gate, and can make video verification fail because what you film does not match the map.

Step 4: Verify your business (how it works in 2026)

Until you verify, your profile will not appear properly on Maps. You do not choose the method: Google decides which options to offer based on your business type and location. The current methods are:

Getting video verification right

Video is the method many Kenyan businesses end up with, and it is where most failures happen. Google's instructions ask a storefront business to show three things in one unbroken clip:

1. Where you are: street signs, nearby businesses or landmarks that match your pin on the map. Start outside, on the road.
2. That the business exists: your storefront or signage, with the business name on a permanent fixture. A printed paper stuck on the door is weak evidence. Put your signboard up before you record.
3. That you manage it: something only staff can access, such as opening the till, the stock room or using your point of sale system.

Service area businesses show their tools, equipment or branded vehicle, plus a document such as a business permit, invoice or utility bill matching the profile name. Your county business permit works if it carries the same name.

Do not show other people's faces, ID numbers, bank details or tax numbers. Review takes up to five business days. While it is pending, do not change your name, address or category. If a video is rejected, Google lists the issues and lets you resubmit.

Step 5: Complete every part of the profile

Complete, accurate profiles are easier for Google to match to searches. Go through each section:

• Hours: set normal opening hours, plus special hours for public holidays such as Madaraka Day and Jamhuri Day.
• Phone: use a number someone actually answers, in +254 format.
• WhatsApp: under Edit profile, Contact, add a chat link in the format https://wa.me/254712345678 (country code, no leading zero).
• Website: link your own website, not only your Instagram page (more on why below).
• Photos: your logo, the outside taken from the road so people recognise it on arrival, the inside, your team and your products. Real photos, not stock images.
• Products and services: list what you offer, with KES prices where you can.
• Description: up to 750 characters on what you do, who you serve and where. No links or keyword lists.
• Attributes: wheelchair access, parking or payment options, where offered for your category.

Step 6: Get reviews, and reply to all of them

Reviews affect both where you appear and whether people choose you. In your profile, use Ask for reviews to copy your review link, then:

• Send it on WhatsApp after a sale or completed job.
• Print it as a QR code at the counter or on your receipts.
• Ask every customer the same way, not only the ones you think are happy.

Reply to every review. A short thank-you is enough for a good one. For a bad one, stay calm, acknowledge the problem and offer to sort it out by phone. Future customers read your replies too.

Why you should never buy reviews

Keep your name, address and phone number the same everywhere

This is called NAP consistency: Name, Address, Phone. Google compares your profile with your website, Facebook page, Instagram bio and directory listings, and matching details make it more confident the information is correct. "Juma Plumbing Services" with the same number everywhere is consistent. "Juma Plumbers" on Facebook, "JP Services" on the website and an old line on Instagram is not. When you move or change numbers, update everything on the same day.

Use Google posts to show you are open and active

Your profile lets you publish short posts with a photo: an update, an offer or an event. Use them for new stock, holiday hours or a new service. Google does not promise posts improve ranking, but they show searchers that the business is active. Every week or two is plenty.

How a website helps you rank on Google Maps

Google says local results depend on relevance (how well you match the search), distance (from the searcher) and prominence (how well known you are, including reviews and links from other websites). There is no way to pay for a better local ranking. A website helps with relevance and prominence:

• Relevance: a page for each main service, in the words customers use ("home tuition in Runda"), tells Google far more than a profile can.
• Prominence: suppliers, directories and news sites link to websites, rarely to Instagram pages.
• Trust: people often tap through to your website before they call. A slow site loses them.

Put your name, address and phone in the footer exactly as on Google, embed a map on the contact page, and keep pages fast on mobile data. Check your current site with our free website audit, which grades speed, mobile, SEO and security in about 15 seconds.

How to get your website into Google Search

Your website appears in normal Google results separately from Maps, and you can speed that up.

1. Add the site to Google Search Console

Search Console (search.google.com/search-console) is Google's free tool for site owners. Add your site as a property; the domain option asks for a TXT record at your registrar or DNS host. Use the same Google account as your Business Profile.

2. Submit your sitemap

A sitemap lists every page on your site, usually at yourdomain.co.ke/sitemap.xml, and WordPress and most builders create one automatically. In Search Console, open Sitemaps, enter the address and submit.

3. Request indexing for your key pages

Paste your homepage address into the URL Inspection bar and choose Request indexing, then repeat for your main pages. Google does not guarantee timing, so check the Pages report over the following weeks to see what is indexed.

4. Write clear page titles

The page title is the headline Google shows in results. Give every page its own title saying what it is and where you are, for example "Plumber in Ruaka | Juma Plumbing Services", never just "Home". Add a one or two sentence meta description that gives people a reason to click.

Checklist: Google Maps and Search for your business

You can do all of this yourself for free. If you do not have a website yet, our Starter website is KES 15,000 and includes Google Maps, a WhatsApp button and basic SEO setup. See our website design service in Nairobi, the full pricing, or read how much a website costs in Kenya.