Your Google Business Profile is the card a guest looking for a café on Google Maps sees first: opening hours, photos, reviews, directions. Filling it in once isn’t enough, because the information goes stale and the café next door competes with you for the same search. The free profile is the foundation; with ads you also reach people that distance keeps out of reach.
What is a Google Business Profile, and where do guests see it?
The Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is your café’s free listing on Google Maps and Google Search. It’s where guests see your opening hours, photos, reviews and menu, and where they start directions or call you.
Most owners fill it in when they open: address, opening hours, a few photos, done. After that the profile lives a life of its own. Yet guests don’t look at your website or Instagram first, but at this card, usually on their phone, while walking.
Why does it matter for a café?
Because most new guests find you on Maps, and not by your name. Someone who types your name already knows you. A new guest types in what they’re looking for.
We looked at the search data of the Google Business Profiles of 13 hospitality venues we manage (October 2025 – September 2026, 747,567 impressions):
Google decides who to show those 86%, and it uses your profile to do it. If the profile is out of date or incomplete, it shows the café next door instead. We explained in detail what this looks like in practice in our article on regulars versus new guests.
Why isn’t setting it up once enough?
For two reasons: the information goes stale, and competitors don’t stand still. Both cost you guests quietly: at the till you never see who didn’t come in.
Stale information loses guests. Wrong opening hours, a holiday closure you didn’t enter, a menu you replaced two years ago still on the profile, photos of the old interior. The guest either walks up to a closed door, or sees in the profile that something’s off and picks the other place. Someone who ran into a closed door once rarely gives you a second chance.
Competitors keep moving. We looked at data from 255 Hungarian cafés (autumn 2026, 43 towns):
The sample isn’t complete: we collected it from a “specialty coffee” Google search and left out places with fewer than 5 reviews. But the direction is clear. Most cafés have a neighbour that shows up for the same search, and since almost everyone is above 4.5, stars don’t decide. What decides is whose profile is fresher, who has more reviews and better photos. If the café next door posts a photo every week and you haven’t for two years, the gap grows month by month.
What decides Google’s free results?
According to Google’s own description, local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence. You can influence two of these, but not the third.
| Factor | What it means | Can you influence it? |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How well your profile matches what the guest typed | Yes: categories, description, menu, photos |
| Distance | How far you are from the person searching | No: your café is where it is |
| Prominence | How well known the place is: number of reviews, links | Yes, slowly: reviews, presence |
On the same page Google also says that you can’t request or pay for a better local ranking. That matters: among the free results, only the quality of your profile and how well known you are improve your position.
Why isn’t organic presence enough?
Because you can’t change distance. The free profile brings in people searching near you, for whom Google finds your profile relevant. Someone two streets away, or someone who types another café’s name, gets shown the café next door.
This is where Maps ads come in. They don’t improve your free ranking; they put your profile, marked “Sponsored”, in front of people you wouldn’t reach organically because of distance: people searching from further away, or searching for a competitor’s name.
| Free profile | Maps ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it reaches | People searching near you, if Google finds you relevant | People further away and people searching for a competitor too |
| What it costs | Your time | Monthly fee + ad budget |
| What makes it work | Fresh information, photos, reviews | The same: ads can’t sell a bad profile |
| When you need it | Always, it’s the foundation | When too few guests come from your current area |
So the order is: profile first, reach second. Ads show your profile to more people. If the profile is weak, ads just show its weaknesses more expensively.
What to do on Monday?
Two things, and you don’t need to hand either of them to anyone.
- Look at your profile on your phone, as a guest would. Are the opening hours right? Are the upcoming holidays in? Is this the current menu? When was the last photo added? Whatever you find, you can fix in a few minutes when you edit your Business Profile.
- Stand in front of your café and type “coffee” into Maps. See who shows up before you, and why: more reviews, fresher photos, a better category? That list is your real list of competitors.
If the profile is in order and the question is how to reach more people than those searching in your current area, that’s our job. Our prices are here. How to get your profile into top shape yourself is in our Business Profile optimisation article.
FAQ
Is the Google Business Profile free?
Yes, creating and managing the profile is free. It only costs money if you want to show your profile beyond your current area with ads. According to Google, you can’t buy a better free ranking.
What’s the difference between Google My Business and the Google Business Profile?
They’re the same thing. Its old name was Google My Business; today it’s the Google Business Profile. You can edit the profile from Google Search and from Maps.
How often should I update my Business Profile?
Immediately whenever something changes (opening hours, menu, holidays). It’s worth adding photos regularly so guests see the café as it is now, not as it was when you opened. And once a year, go through the whole thing with a guest’s eyes.
Do I need a website if I have a Business Profile?
The profile works on its own: guests plan directions and call you from it. A website helps if you want to show more than fits in the profile: your story, your roasters, your events. If you have one, make sure the link is on the profile.