When someone searches for “car dealership near me” or “used cars” plus the name of their town, the first thing they often see isn’t a website: it’s the Google map with three business listings. If yours isn’t there, or is only half filled in, that customer goes to someone else.
The good news is that Google Business Profile is free, and working on it properly needs no technical know-how – just method and consistency. In this guide you’ll learn how to set it up step by step, what to post, how to handle reviews, what to measure and the mistakes we see most often at dealerships and used car dealers.
What Google Business Profile is and why it matters
Google Business Profile, formerly Google My Business, is the listing that appears on the right when someone searches for your business by name, and on the map when they search for a type of business in an area. It shows your address, opening hours, phone number, photos, reviews and a button to get directions to you.
For a local dealership it’s probably the tool with the best ratio of effort to results: it appears above your website in many searches, customers can call you or get directions without leaving Google, and you pay nothing for it. Ignoring it means handing visibility to your competitors.
Step-by-step setup
- Claim and verify your profile. Search for your business on Google; if a listing already exists, claim it. If not, create one from the Google Business Profile website and complete whatever verification Google asks for.
- Your real name. Use your trading name exactly as it appears on your sign. Adding keywords to the name breaks Google’s guidelines and can get your profile suspended.
- The right primary category. Choose the one that describes you best, for example used car dealer, and only add secondary categories if they’re genuinely true: car repair, car hire or car dealer.
- Exact address and a correctly placed pin. Check that the map pin lands on your entrance and not on the next street over.
- Complete opening hours. Include bank holidays and special hours; nothing annoys people more than turning up to find you closed.
- Phone and website. The same number you use on your website and social media, plus a link to your homepage or your stock.
- Description. Explain in a few lines what you sell, where you are and what sets you apart: warranty, finance, part-exchange.
- Attributes and services. Tick everything that applies and add your services one by one.
Your name, address and phone number must be identical on your profile, your website, your social media and the car portals. Discrepancies confuse Google – and your customers.
Photos and posts: a profile that feels alive
After reviews, photos are what customers look at most. Upload real, well-taken images:
- Your frontage, so people recognise you when they arrive.
- Your showroom and customer area.
- Your team, with real faces and real smiles.
- Standout cars from your stock, clean and well lit.
- Handovers to customers, always with their permission.
Refresh your photos regularly and use profile posts like a mini social network: new arrivals, finance offers, open days or maintenance tips. A profile with recent activity shows that the business is thriving. If you already post on Instagram, you can reuse that content; we explain how in how to sell cars on Instagram.
A simple posting calendar
- Week 1: a featured car with its price and a link to its page.
- Week 2: a photo of the team or a handover.
- Week 3: an offer or service (finance, warranty, valuation).
- Week 4: a useful tip or news from the showroom.
Reviews: your best local SEO
The number, quality and frequency of your reviews influence your position on the map and, above all, the customer’s decision. Ask for them systematically after every handover, with a direct link or a QR code in the showroom, and reply to all of them, good and bad, in a friendly, professional tone.
Always steer clear of fake or paid-for reviews: Google detects them and may remove them or penalise your profile. You’ll find a complete method in our guide to Google reviews for car dealerships.
Connect your profile to your website and WhatsApp
Your profile and your website reinforce each other. Make sure your website shows the same address, a map, your opening hours and pages written for your town; that way Google better understands where you are and what you sell. We cover this in depth in SEO for car dealerships.
One detail that makes a difference: link from your profile to the page that’s most useful to the customer. If most people are looking for cars, the link should go to your stock, not a generic homepage. And if you have several sites, each one needs its own profile and its own page on your website with that location’s address and opening hours.
If you deal with customers on WhatsApp, turn on that contact option when Google allows it on your profile and, either way, reply quickly to anyone who messages or calls you from it.
What to measure every month
Google Business Profile has a performance dashboard with data worth checking monthly:
- Searches: the terms people use to find you.
- Views: how many times your profile appears in Search and Maps.
- Calls: those made from the call button on your profile.
- Direction requests: people planning to visit your showroom.
- Website clicks: visits you send to your stock.
Don’t obsess over a single figure. A slow month may be down to holidays or a long weekend; what matters is the trend over several months and, above all, whether calls and visits turn into sales. Ask everyone who walks through the door how they found you, and write it down.
Compare month by month and link the changes to what you did: new photos, more reviews or more posts. That’s how you’ll know what works.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Stuffing keywords into your business name.
- Having two profiles for the same location.
- Out-of-date opening hours, especially in summer and on bank holidays.
- Manufacturer brochure photos instead of your own.
- Not replying to reviews, or using the same line for every one.
- Forgetting about your profile for months after creating it.
15 minutes a week
A well-managed Google profile brings in calls and visits without spending a penny on advertising. It’s one of the highest-return actions a local dealership can take. Block out 15 minutes a week in your diary: reply to reviews, upload a photo and post an update.
If you’d rather hand it over, we build it into our local AI SEO work alongside your website and social media.
And if you want to know how your profile is doing right now, request a free audit and we’ll tell you what to improve first.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Google Business Profile cost money?
No, creating and managing your profile is free. You’d only pay if you chose to advertise on Google, which is a separate thing.
Can I put keywords in my profile name?
It isn’t advisable. Google asks you to use your business’s real name and may suspend profiles that don’t comply.
What should I do if my dealership has two duplicate profiles?
Ask Google to merge them, or remove the extra one, through Business Profile support. Keeping a single profile stops your reviews and visibility from being split.
How long does it take to see results from working on my profile?
It depends on your area and the competition. You’ll usually see gradual improvements if you keep the profile active and collect reviews consistently.