Ready to grow?Short answer: Open your Business Profile, select "Edit services," tick every real thing you do from Google's suggested list (say "Install faucet" or "Repair toilet" for a plumber), then use "Add custom service" for anything missing. Write plain names with no prices or phone numbers in them, add a description, and save.
The Services section is one of the highest-impact boxes on your whole Google profile, and one of the most-often-skipped. It is the list of specific jobs you do, and Google reads it to decide which searches you show up for. When someone half a mile away types "install faucet," Google can pull that exact service onto your listing. Google's Business Profile help puts it plainly: "When local customers search Google for an offering you provide, that service may be highlighted on your profile. On the Google Maps app, customers can view your full menu under 'Services.'"
Most owners fill in their name, hours, and a few photos, then stop. The services box sits empty. That is a missed match every time a customer searches for a job you happily do. Here is how to fill it out, in the order that moves the needle.
Open Edit services on your Business Profile
Sign in to the Google account that manages your business, then find your profile. You can search your business name on Google, or open the Business Profile manager. Once you are looking at your own profile, find and select "Edit services."
Google's own documentation lays out the whole path: go to your Business Profile, select "Edit services," pick the services you want to add, then select "Save." That is the core loop. Everything below is just doing it well.
One note before you start. The Services option shows up for service-based businesses. A plumber, a salon, a cleaner, an electrician, a mobile mechanic all get it. If you do not see a Services section at all, your primary business category may not support one, which is a category problem, not a services problem. Your category is what your business *is*; services are the specific things you *do*. If the box is missing, fix the category first. Our guide to choosing the right Google Business Profile categories walks through that.
Tick every suggested service you actually do
When you open Edit services, Google shows you a list of suggested options. These are not random. They are tailored to your primary business category. Google's help gives the exact example: "a plumbing business might get options such as 'Install faucet' or 'Repair toilet.'"
So a plumber sees plumbing jobs. A salon sees "Haircut," "Balayage," "Blow dry." A cleaner sees "Deep cleaning," "Move-out cleaning." Go down the list and tick every single one you genuinely offer. Do not skip a real service because it feels obvious. To Google, an unticked service is a service you do not provide.
These pre-defined, suggested services matter more than they look. When Sterling Sky, a well-known local-SEO agency, tested this, the suggested ones carried real weight. More on that test below. For now, the rule is simple: turn on everything true.
Add a custom service for anything Google did not suggest
The suggested list will not cover everything. A plumber who also does underfloor heating, or a salon that does bridal packages, needs to add those by hand.
Google's help covers this too: to add services that are not listed, choose "Edit services," then "Add more services," and pick "Add custom service" if yours is not shown. Type the service name, and it joins your menu alongside the suggested ones.
Custom services are how you describe the real, specific work you do that a generic category list misses. A mobile mechanic might add "Pre-purchase car inspection." A cleaner might add "Post-renovation dust removal." Be specific. "Emergency boiler repair" tells Google and the customer far more than a vague "repairs."
Write honest service names with no prices or phone numbers
Custom service names have rules, and Google enforces them automatically. From the Business Profile help: "Custom services that violate policy will be automatically rejected. Avoid including profanity, gibberish, personal information, prices, or phone numbers in custom service names."
So the name field is for the name of the job. Nothing else. Do not write "Faucet install from $120" or "Call 555-0100 for a quote." Google will reject it, and you will not know why unless you go looking. Keep names clean: "Install kitchen faucet," "Toilet repair," "Gel manicure."
Here is the part almost everyone gets wrong. Prices are not banned from your profile. They are only banned from the custom service *name*. Google's help says you can group services into categories and "include additional details, like descriptions and prices." Prices are allowed as a proper detail field. So the move is: put the plain name in the name field, then add the price in the price field where it belongs. You get the price shown to the customer without tripping the policy filter.
Write names the way a customer would say them out loud. Someone with a leaking tap does not search "plumbing solutions." They search "fix leaking tap" or "faucet repair." Match their words, honestly. Never list a service you do not actually do to catch more searches; it wastes the customer's call and yours.
Group your services and add a short description
If you offer several different kinds of work, group them. Google lets you sort services into categories, so a salon can split "Hair," "Colour," and "Nails," and a plumber can split "Bathrooms," "Heating," and "Emergency callouts." A grouped list is easier for a customer to scan on the Maps app.
Under each service, add a short description. One or two sentences on what the job includes, who it is for, or how long it takes. "Full deep clean of kitchen and bathrooms, including inside the oven and behind appliances" does more work than the bare service name. This is also the place to add a price if you want one shown.
You do not need a hundred services. You need every real one, named clearly, grouped sensibly, with a description on the ones that need explaining. Ten well-written services beat forty vague ones.
Keep the list current when what you offer changes
Your services are not a set-and-forget field. When you add a new offering, add it here the same week. When you stop doing something, take it off. A salon that dropped extensions six months ago should not still be listed for them, fielding calls it has to turn away.
This is quiet, ongoing work, the same as updating your hours for a bank holiday. It is easy to let it drift. A profile that matches what you actually do today is the one Google can trust to show for the right searches.
Across the owner-run businesses we help at Fonzy, the Services box is one of the first things we check, and it is almost always half-empty or years out of date. We have watched a two-van plumbing company sit on a category default with three services ticked while it quietly did fifteen. Filling in the missing twelve, in the customer's own words, is the kind of small, honest fix that keeps paying off long after you have forgotten you did it.
Does filling out services actually help you rank?
This is the fair question, so here is the honest answer. Sterling Sky, run by local-search expert Joy Hawkins, ran a controlled test on exactly this. Her team first tested it in 2019 and found no ranking effect. Then they retested in 2022 and found something different. As Hawkins reported, "a 2022 retest showed a significant impact on rankings when services like 'DUI injury litigation' and 'vampire facial' were added to client profiles," with ranking changes typically showing up "within 24 to 72 hours of adding the service."
Read that carefully. It is not a guarantee, and the earlier test found nothing, so treat services as one input among many, not a magic switch. But the retest, especially for pre-defined suggested services, moved rankings for the related search terms. That lines up with what Google says the field is for. It is worth doing well.
And the demand is real. BrightLocal reports that close to half of consumers, 46 percent, said they "always" or "often" add "near me" to their local searches. Those searches are specific and ready to buy. A complete services list is how you meet them. If you want the wider picture, our guide to showing up in "near me" searches and the one on ranking higher on Google Maps cover the surrounding moves.
Where services fit in the bigger picture
Services are one box. A strong profile is many boxes done well: an accurate name, the right categories, real photos, steady reviews, current hours. The services list works best when the rest of the profile backs it up. Our full walkthrough of optimizing your Google Business Profile covers the whole checklist, and if you run a small shop or trade, the broader local SEO guide for small businesses puts it all in order.
Frequently asked questions
How many services should I add to my Google Business Profile?
Add every service you genuinely offer, not a fixed number. Tick all of Google's suggested options that apply, then add custom services for the rest. Ten clear, honest services beat forty vague ones. The goal is a complete, accurate list, not a padded one.
Can I put prices on my Google Business Profile services?
Yes, but only in the right place. Prices are barred from custom service *names*, and Google auto-rejects names that include them. But Google lets you add prices as a service detail field alongside a description. So keep the name plain ("Gel manicure") and add the price in the price field.
What is the difference between categories and services?
Your category is what your business is, like "Plumber" or "Hair salon," picked from Google's fixed list. Services are the specific jobs you do, like "Install faucet" or "Balayage." Your category also decides which suggested services Google offers you, so set the category correctly first.
Why don't I see a Services option on my profile?
The Services section appears for service-based businesses. If it is missing, your primary business category may not support one. Check and correct your category, since Google shows the Services box based on the type of business you are listed as.
The Services box is not SEO wizardry. It is just telling Google the truth about what you do, in full, in the words your customers use. Fill it in once, keep it current, and Google has what it needs to match you to the person searching for that exact job. Fonzy handles this kind of steady profile upkeep for owners who would rather run their business than babysit a listing.
