How to get your business onto Google Maps in Lebanon.

When someone in Jounieh types "bakery near me", Google Maps answers from Google Business Profiles. If your shop doesn't have one, it isn't in that answer. Setting one up is free and takes about twenty minutes, plus a wait for Google to check it.

I went through Google's own help pages for every step below and linked each one, so you can check anything yourself.

Before you start

Have these ready:

• A Google Account. A Gmail address works. If you have an email on your own domain, Google suggests using it.
• Your business name exactly as it appears on your sign, your Instagram and your receipts.
• One phone number customers actually answer.
• Your opening hours.
• Three or four good photos: the front of the shop, the inside, your products.

Google also has an eligibility rule. Your business must either have a place customers can visit, or travel to customers to serve them. And it must be staffed during the hours you list (Google's guidelines (opens in a new tab)). A purely online shop with no place and no delivery by you doesn't qualify.

Step 1: Check whether you're already on the map

Search your business name on Google Maps first. Customers, delivery apps or a former employee may have added it already.

• Nobody manages it: you can claim it while creating your profile (Step 2).
• Someone else manages it: go to business.google.com/add (opens in a new tab), find your business and choose Request access. The current owner gets an email and has 3 days to reply. If they don't, you may be able to claim it yourself (Google's help page (opens in a new tab)).

Don't make a second profile to get around this. Google allows one profile per business, and duplicates cause problems on Maps.

Step 2: Create the profile

These are Google's steps (source (opens in a new tab)):

1. Sign in and open business.google.com/create (opens in a new tab).
2. Type your business name. If it appears in the suggestions, pick it.
3. Choose your business category and click Next.
4. Say whether customers can visit you at a physical location.
5. If you also travel to customers, add your service areas.
6. Add your phone number and website, then click Next and Finish.

Getting the name right

Use your real name only. "Abou Elie Bakery" is right. "Abou Elie Bakery – Best Manakish in Zahle, Delivery 24/7" breaks Google's rules, which ban keywords and taglines in the name.

Picking a category

Google says to use as few categories as possible, and to choose the most specific one that fits your main business. "Florist" beats "Store". "Dental clinic" beats "Health". You can add a couple of secondary categories later for things you also do.

No shop? Set a service area

Plumbers, caterers, cleaners, tutors and home-based bakers usually serve customers at their place, not their own. In that case, remove your home address so it doesn't show publicly, and list the areas you serve instead (Google's help page (opens in a new tab)).

• You can add up to 20 areas.
• Use real towns or regions, like Baabda, Metn or Batroun.
• Keep the whole area within about two hours' drive of your base.

Step 3: Verify

Your profile won't show reliably on Maps until Google verifies it. At the top of your profile, click Verify now.

You don't pick the method. Google shows the options available for your business. They can include (source (opens in a new tab)):

• Phone call or text with a code.
• Email with a code.
• Video recording from your phone (details below).
• Live video call with Google support, during your local business hours.
• Postcard with a code, if it's offered. Codes expire after 30 days.

After you submit, Google says reviews take up to 5 business days. If you're verifying by postcard, Google says not to edit your name, address or category while you wait. I'd leave them alone during any check.

What the video must show

Google's video verification page (opens in a new tab) sets the rules. You record live from your phone, in one unedited take of at least 30 seconds. It can't be done from a computer. The video needs:

1. The location. Street signs, building numbers, neighbouring shops or a landmark, so Google can match you to the spot on the map.
2. The business. Your name on a permanent sign, wall or window. It must match the name on your profile.
3. Proof you run it. Something only staff can access: opening the register, the kitchen, the storeroom, or using your card machine.

Record in daylight if you can, so the sign is readable.

Step 4: Fill in everything else

A verified but empty profile loses to a full one. Add:

• Hours, including holiday hours. If you close for Christmas or Eid, update it beforehand so nobody drives to a closed door.
• Photos. Real ones, from your phone, in good light. The storefront helps people recognise you from the street.
• A description. Plain words: what you sell, where, and for whom.
• Your website or, if you don't have one, your Instagram page.
• The map pin. Many Lebanese streets don't have formal addresses that people use. Make sure the pin sits on your actual door, and write the landmark people use to find you ("next to the church", "facing the pharmacy") in your address line or description.

Step 5: Ask for reviews, the right way

Reviews help people choose you. Ask happy customers in person, or send them the review link from your profile on WhatsApp after a sale.

Never offer a discount or a gift in exchange. Google calls that fake content and strictly prohibits it (Google's policy (opens in a new tab)). Reply to reviews, good and bad, politely and briefly, and don't use replies to advertise deals.

Beyond Google

Google isn't the only place people look. Customers also search directories like this one, by sector and by town, for example bakeries (opens in a new tab) or businesses in Tripoli (opens in a new tab). Keep the same name, phone number and hours everywhere you're listed, so nobody gets confused about which one is really you.