How much does Google My Business cost per month?

Nothing per month. Google My Business is the older name for the same free product. A monthly figure attached to it is a third party's management fee, an advertising budget, or a scam. Google's instructions say you can add or claim a business at no charge. Google will never ask you to pay to maintain it.

Is it free to verify a business on Google?

Yes. Verification is part of creating the profile and carries no fee for video, phone, email, or mail. Anyone charging for verification is charging for a free process. Google's protection guidance says it will never ask for a one-time password or PIN.

How do Local Services Ads charge?

Per valid lead rather than per click. Google says prices may vary by location, job type, lead type, and bidding mode. Leads determined to be invalid or low quality are not charged. You set an average weekly budget around the average number of leads you want. Weekly spend can exceed that average, but it cannot exceed the monthly maximum.

Does running Google Ads help the profile rank?

Ads and organic local ranking are separate. Ads buy paid placement while the campaign runs, while Google states there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. An ad budget cannot buy or preserve an organic map position.

What should you check before paying anyone to manage a profile?

Four things, all answerable in writing. Whether the fee is disclosed alongside the fact that the profile itself is free. What role they will hold, since Google's policy says the customer must retain ownership. What happens the month the payments stop. And whether any guarantee of placement appears anywhere in the offer, which the policy prohibits.

google-business-profile

What does a Google Business Profile cost?

By Sergey Sulimko, Founder

Nothing. Google states you can add or claim your business at no charge, including verification. The $0 covers the profile itself. Advertising, photography, and monthly management are separate costs.

Is a Google Business Profile free?

A Google Business Profile is free to create, claim, and keep. Google's instructions say you can add or claim a business at no charge. Google's product page includes photos, posts, review replies, and products as features of the free profile.

Does verification cost anything?

No. Google says it will never try to convince you to pay to maintain a Business Profile. Google assigns the available verification methods, and a profile may need more than one. Methods can include video, phone or text, email, or mail. A review usually takes up to 5 business days, but it can take longer on rare occasions. Most postcard codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30. None of those steps has a fee. Maps Agent scores that public result in its free Visibility Score audit.

What actually costs money around a profile?

Three things cost money around the listing. Advertising includes Local Services Ads, which charge per valid lead, and Google Ads campaigns with advertiser-chosen budgets. Google's Maps-app advertising guidance excludes service-area businesses and businesses in sensitive categories from that app's advertising flow. Assets include photography, a website, and print material carrying the review link. Labour includes writing posts, updating hours, and answering reviews. Those invoices pay for work, not the listing.

Can you pay Google for a better position on the map?

No. Google's local ranking guidance states there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity. Google's Prominence section says links and reviews can contribute to how well-known a business is. Google Ads and Local Services Ads are separate paid products, not a way to buy an organic map position.

What is a monthly management fee actually for?

Time spent on work the owner could do without a profile fee. Posts, photos, keyword research, review replies, and monthly reporting take real hours. That is not a criticism of the fee, but it changes what a buyer compares. Two quotes at the same price can cover different amounts of work. Price alone does not reveal which quote covers more.

What must a paid manager disclose?

Google's third-party policy sets a floor. A fee-charging manager must tell new customers in writing that Business Profile is provided at no extra cost. The notice must arrive before the manager handles the profile, and the management fee must appear on customer invoices. The policy bars top-placement guarantees and claims that profiles will always appear in Google Search or Maps. A manager needs explicit approval before replying to reviews for a customer. Every customer must retain ownership or co-ownership of the Business Profile.

Why do businesses get calls demanding payment for the listing?

Because the free product is the hook. Google warns about calls, emails, or texts offering Business Profile help in exchange for money. The warning includes people or companies claiming to be Google support or Google employees. Google does not charge for this service and will never ask for a one-time password or PIN.

What does a published price tell you that a quote does not?

That the work has a fixed shape. A firm quoting per client can price the size of the business and the urgency in the request. A published price is tied to a fixed list of work. Neither model is automatically better value. Only the published price can be compared before a conversation starts.

See where your profile stands

The audit shows how this applies to your own profile: it reads a verified Google Business Profile and scores it the same way every month.

Visibility Score

0 to 100

20 scored factors across profile completeness, performance, competitive position. Free, no signup, on any verified Google Business Profile.

Run the free Visibility Score audit

No signup, no card. You get the score and the factors behind it.

Sources

Common questions

How much does Google My Business cost per month?: Nothing per month. Google My Business is the older name for the same free product. A monthly figure attached to it is a third party's management fee, an advertising budget, or a scam. Google's instructions say you can add or claim a business at no charge. Google will never ask you to pay to maintain it.
Is it free to verify a business on Google?: Yes. Verification is part of creating the profile and carries no fee for video, phone, email, or mail. Anyone charging for verification is charging for a free process. Google's protection guidance says it will never ask for a one-time password or PIN.
How do Local Services Ads charge?: Per valid lead rather than per click. Google says prices may vary by location, job type, lead type, and bidding mode. Leads determined to be invalid or low quality are not charged. You set an average weekly budget around the average number of leads you want. Weekly spend can exceed that average, but it cannot exceed the monthly maximum.
Does running Google Ads help the profile rank?: Ads and organic local ranking are separate. Ads buy paid placement while the campaign runs, while Google states there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. An ad budget cannot buy or preserve an organic map position.
What should you check before paying anyone to manage a profile?: Four things, all answerable in writing. Whether the fee is disclosed alongside the fact that the profile itself is free. What role they will hold, since Google's policy says the customer must retain ownership. What happens the month the payments stop. And whether any guarantee of placement appears anywhere in the offer, which the policy prohibits.

More on this subject in the answers library, and on the Maps Agent blog.