Google Business Profile Help for Plumbers
Google doesn’t charge for a Business Profile, and plenty of plumbers run their own. If you’d rather spend the time under sinks, here’s how outside help works: the access you give, what stays yours, and the numbers that show whether it’s worth it.
The profile is free. The labor isn’t.
Google says Business Profile is a tool you can use at no charge, and that third parties often charge to manage it. Our fees pay for our setup and management work. If you’d rather do it yourself, our plumbing post on the blog covers each step.
Source: Google: tips for working with third parties.
Google Business Profile is free from Google. Anyone can create and manage a profile at no cost. Our fees pay for our setup and management work. Working with a third party → (opens in a new tab)
Who can do what on your listing.
- Owners have full control. They add and remove people, edit the profile, and can delete it.
- Managers have mostly the same access, but can’t add or remove users or remove the profile.
- Only owners change other people’s roles or remove them.
- Brand-new owners and managers wait 7 days before Google lets them delete a profile, remove users, or transfer primary ownership.
So the safe setup is simple: you stay owner, and we’re a manager.
Source: Google: manage owners & managers.
Invite us; don’t share a login.
Google’s tip is that each user has their own Google Account, so no one shares a password. In the profile, go to More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access. Select Add, enter our email, pick Manager, and send the invite. Our terms put it plainly: never send us passwords.
Source: Google: manage owners & managers; 5W: Terms of Service.
Where we’d spend the first month.
The home address
Google’s own example: a plumber running the business from home should clear the address and show a service area instead.
One profile
Google wants one profile per business; extras can cause problems with how your information shows on Maps and Search.
Your phone line
Google asks for a number under your direct control, local where possible, rather than a call-center line.
Hours you answer
Regular customer-facing hours, with special hours for holidays.
Services
Leaks, drains, water heaters, repiping: the jobs you want, listed as services.
Reviews
Ask every customer the same way. No discounts for reviews; Google removes those.
Source: Google: guidelines for representing your business; Google Maps: fake engagement and incentives.
Look at Performance once a month.
Google’s Performance report shows owners and managers how many people viewed the profile, which searches found it, and how many tapped call, website, or directions. Searches update at the start of each month and can take up to 5 days to show. Google recommends reviewing those numbers monthly when you work with a third party, and says you have the right to see them.
Source: Google: performance & insights; Google: tips for working with third parties.
Google’s list, in plain words.
- A promised spot on Google. Google says no third party can promise or directly influence where you appear.
- “We’re from Google.” Ask for an email from an @google.com address.
- Threats. An outsider can’t remove your listing or get in without your permission.
- Price creep. Get a written agreement listing services and costs before you start.
You can remove a manager any time.
An owner selects the person in People and access and chooses Remove person. Google says their earlier replies and posts stay up. On our side, we take our access off within 7 business days of a request and never hold your profile back.
Source: Google: manage owners & managers; 5W: Terms of Service.
What happens after you buy.
Onboarding starts the day of purchase. A GBP Setup is live 5 to 7 business days after your content and access reach us, with 1 round of revisions and 5 business days for you to review. Verification is up to Google; if Google adds steps, the timeline follows Google.
Onboarding form
Your services, towns, hours, and the RMP details.
Manager invite
Sent from People and access; no password needed.
Clean-up pass
Address hidden if you work from home, services filled in, duplicate profiles flagged.
One round of edits
You look it over and tell us what to change.
After launch
With Monthly GBP Management: weekly posts, review responses, photo refreshes.
What we need from you
Photos from real jobs, and a habit of asking every customer for a review.
Source: 5W: Services & Pricing; 5W: Terms of Service.
What a client said about his website.
We don’t have a plumbing client review to show. Luis Madera, who owns Cam Collision, a New Braunfels auto body shop, wrote this Google review about his website. Word for word:
“I have owned a business for 6 years now and never made a website for two reasons, one I have been luck enough to stay busy and the other is because I'm extremely picky with work that I provide and received. Darren built me a website that was just perfect! Everything about it was exactly what I was looking for and more. I am glad it took me 6 years to get one. Any sooner and I would have missed out on his talent. Thanks again”
Plumbing profile help, priced.
Google Business Profile setup: $349 one time. Or $99 for setup when you keep Monthly GBP Management at $199 a month, with weekly posts, review monitoring and responses, and photo updates. Need a site as well? Get Found Bundle, $799 then $249 a month. Website alone: $599, plus Site Care at $59 a month. Cancel any month.
Google Business Profile is free from Google. Anyone can create and manage a profile at no cost. Our fees pay for our setup and management work. Working with a third party → (opens in a new tab)
All sales are final. Work starts when payment is received. Monthly plans renew automatically until you cancel; cancel anytime, effective at the end of your paid period. No refunds.
See your plumbing profile through our eyes.
Send your plumbing company’s name as Google shows it. Usually within a business day, a narrated recording compares your listing with the first plumbers on the map and lists our fixes.
- A screen recording, about 3 minutes long, of your plumbing listing next to the map’s top 3.
- Three fixes, biggest first, that you can do with or without us.
- Free. You keep the video.
More for plumbers.
Plumbing pages
Plumber sites by city
Profile help, other trades
Your town may be on Trades We Serve.
Plumbers ask about profile help.
Should my home address show?
Not if customers don’t come to you. Google’s own example tells a home-based plumber to clear it.
Can I list 24-hour service?
Only if someone really answers around the clock. Google asks for your real customer-facing hours.
What do you need from me?
A manager invite, your service list, the towns you cover, and photos from your jobs.
Who owns the profile if I cancel?
You do. It was always yours.
Will you reply to bad reviews?
Yes, calmly and briefly. You can see every reply on the profile.
Is the setup fee different for an old, messy profile?
No. Same fee for new profiles and rebuilds.
Want help with your plumbing profile?
Plumbers: get the free recorded Map Check, or give us a call.