Google Business Profile for recruitment agencies: a setup guide

Most recruitment agencies have a Google Business Profile. Few have one that works. It was set up years ago, the category is generic, the hours are wrong, three reviews are unanswered, and nobody owns it. Meanwhile it is often the first thing a hiring manager or candidate sees when they search your name or "recruitment agency in [town]".

This guide covers what a google business profile recruitment agency setup needs: who is eligible, which categories to choose, how to handle service areas and offices, a reviews policy that stays within Google's rules, what to post, and how to connect the profile to your sector pages. Google changes its guidelines from time to time, so check the current Google Business Profile guidelines before you make changes.

Who can have a profile, and how many

Google's guidelines say a business is eligible if it makes in-person contact with customers during stated hours. For recruiters, the practical rule is one profile per office that is staffed during the hours you list. Candidates and clients should be able to visit or meet someone there.

That rules out several common habits. Do not create profiles for:

• →Virtual offices, mailbox addresses or unstaffed shared desks
• →Home addresses where you do not meet clients or candidates
• →A separate profile for each sector desk in the same office
• →Individual consultants, unless they operate as a distinct, separately staffed business
• →Towns where you plan to have an office but do not yet

Duplicate or ineligible profiles can be suspended, and a suspension can take your main listing down with it. If you are unsure, read the eligibility section of Google's guidelines or ask Google Business Profile support.

Setting up a Google Business Profile for a recruitment agency

Follow these steps for each staffed office.

• →Search for the office first to check no profile already exists, then claim it if it does
• →Use your real trading name exactly as it appears on your signage and website. Do not add keywords or town names
• →Enter a precise address, local phone number and opening hours that match your website
• →Choose categories (covered below) and write a plain description of what you recruit and for whom
• →Set the website link to the page for that office, not the homepage, where you can
• →Complete verification as Google instructs, then keep the method and the owner account documented
• →Add real photos: the office exterior, reception, the team. Avoid stock images

Make sure at least two people at your business have manager access, and that one of them is not a consultant likely to leave. Losing access to a profile is a slow, irritating problem to fix.

Choosing categories

Your primary category tells Google what your business is. It carries the most weight, so choose it carefully. You can add secondary categories, up to nine at the time of writing, to describe other services.

The available categories change, and the list you see depends on your region. Options typically include Employment agency, Recruiter, Executive search firm and Temp agency, but check the live list in your dashboard. Then apply this logic:

• →Primary: the category that best describes most of your revenue, such as Employment agency for a generalist or Executive search firm for a retained search boutique
• →Secondary: only categories that truly apply, such as a temp or contract service if you run one
• →Do not use categories for sectors you do not have a desk in
• →Search a few competitors and compare their categories, but do not copy them blindly

Sector detail belongs elsewhere: in your description, your services list and your sector pages, not in the business name.

Service areas versus office locations

A service area is the region where you serve clients, which may be wider than your office postcode. Google lets you add service areas, with a cap on how many and a recommended limit on distance from your base. Check the current figures in its help pages.

For recruiters, the choice comes down to one question: do clients or candidates visit the address? If yes, show the address and add service areas for the surrounding region. If you meet people only at their premises or online, Google's service-area business rules let you hide the address. Do not show an address you do not staff just to appear in more searches.

If you place across the UK from one office, say so in the description and on your website. Do not stretch the service area to cover the whole country. Cover the areas you can realistically serve.

A reviews policy that stays within the rules

Reviews are the most visible part of your profile. They are also where agencies most often break Google's policies. Write a short internal policy and share it with every consultant.

• →Ask every client and candidate you have worked with, not just the happy ones. Selectively asking for positive reviews is called review gating and Google prohibits it
• →Never offer a reward, discount, prize or favour in exchange for a review, including entry into a draw or a referral fee
• →Staff, relatives and anyone with a conflict of interest must not post reviews
• →Never write or buy fake reviews, and do not pressure someone to change a review
• →Reply to every review, positive or negative, within a few working days
• →Never name clients, candidates or placements in a reply without clear permission

Make asking easy. Use the short review link from your profile, and send it by email after a placement is complete or a search closes. A polite line works: "If you have a minute, we would value an honest review."

For negative reviews, reply calmly, take the detail offline and keep it brief. If a review breaks Google's content policies, flag it for removal. Disagreeing with it is not grounds for removal.

Posts, services and linking to sector pages

Posts are a minor ranking factor at best, but they keep the profile current for anyone who views it. Aim for one post a fortnight. Good topics are a new salary guide, a live vacancy batch, a market update for a sector, or an event your team is attending. Keep posts factual and add a link.

Use the services section to list what you recruit, such as permanent, contract, executive search and the sectors you cover. Use the same wording as your website.

The website link on each profile should go to a page about that office. That page should link to your sector pages, so Google and visitors can see the connection between location and specialism. Where a post is about one sector, link it straight to that sector page. Add UTM parameters to those links so you can see profile traffic in analytics.

For a wider view of how profiles fit into a location strategy, read our guide to local SEO for recruitment agencies.

Next steps

Start with an audit. List every profile you manage, confirm each one maps to a staffed office, and check names, addresses, hours and categories against your website. Merge or remove duplicates through Google's tools.

Then agree your reviews policy, assign an owner for each profile, and schedule a monthly check for new reviews, questions and edits suggested by users. If you want help aligning profiles, location pages and sector pages, TRG Digital's SEO work for recruitment businesses covers exactly that.