Google Business Profile Categories (Updated List 2025)

Buddy Rathmell • May 12, 2025

With over 4,000 categories to choose from, selecting the right ones for your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) can be overwhelming. Google doesn’t offer much guidance, making it challenging to determine the best fit for your business.

What Are Google Business Profile Categories?

These categories help your business appear in relevant Google Maps and Local Pack searches, ensuring potential customers can find you when searching locally. When setting up your profile, you’ll need to select:

  • 1 primary category (most important for ranking)
  • Up to 9 secondary categories (to refine your visibility)
A screenshot of a google page showing a list of categories

Why Are Categories Important for Ranking?

Your primary and secondary categories play a major role in local search rankings. Optimizing them can significantly boost your visibility.


As of March 6, 2025, there are 4,051 Google Business Profile categories, with Google frequently adding new ones (one was added in the last 30 days).

How to Choose the Best Categories

To maximize impact, align your selections with your business goals:

  1. Profitability – Prioritize categories tied to your most profitable services.
  2. Search Volume – Opt for categories with high-demand keywords.
  3. Competitor Analysis – Check what categories similar businesses are using.

Pro Tip: Follow Google’s guidelines—sometimes, fewer, well-chosen categories work better than overloading your profile (which could risk suspension).

How to Research Competitor Categories

A smart strategy is analyzing competitors’ categories. Here’s how:

  1. Install the Phantom Chrome Extension.
  2. Search for a competitor or target keyword in Google Search/Maps.
  3. The extension will display their listed categories.

Pro Tip: Include these category optimizations in your local business Schema Markup, local citations and other local listings to further increase relevance signals.

Full List of Google Business Profile Categories

If you’re struggling to find the perfect category, try a broader term— use our tool to find the perfect category!

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