Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research
      Moz Pro

      Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research

      Try it free!
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. Local SEO
    4. Local Listings
    5. Google Business Listing with no physical office location

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    Google Business Listing with no physical office location

    Local Listings
    3
    8
    2300
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • ichorstudios
      ichorstudios Subscriber last edited by

      Hey, everyone! As a business owner who works from home and doesn't have a physical office location.

      Is setting up a Google business listing without location going to hurt my local search ranking? Should I get a virtual office so I have a physical location?

      Thank you!! 😃

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • MiriamEllis
        MiriamEllis Subject Expert @ichorstudios last edited by

        My pleasure!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • ichorstudios
          ichorstudios Subscriber @donsilvernail last edited by

          Thank you, Donald. 😃

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • ichorstudios
            ichorstudios Subscriber @MiriamEllis last edited by

            This is super helpful! Thank you so much!!!! 😃

            MiriamEllis 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • donsilvernail
              donsilvernail @ichorstudios last edited by

              If you are comfortable using your home address that is what would do. In fact that is what i do and i am in the same business as you 🙂

              Thanks,

              ichorstudios 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • MiriamEllis
                MiriamEllis Subject Expert @ichorstudios last edited by

                Hey There,

                Donald is correct that virtual offices, P.O. boxes, etc. are ineligible as far as Google My Business listings go. What you are describing is a Service Area Business (SAB) if you are going to the homes of your clients or other remote locations to serve them. So, in order to be guideline-compliant, you'll want to list yourself as an SAB, using your home address, which Google will then hide publicly. The most important thing here is to avoid violating Google's guidelines ... that is a much more important consideration than how something affects your rankings.

                There has been debate over the years as to whether businesses with physical, public addresses have a ranking advantage over home-based businesses with hidden addresses, it's true, but until you do get a staffed physical office to which customers come to do business with you, it's not accurate to represent your business as having one. So, list yourself accurately and focus all the energy you have on the ranking factors you can control. Hope this advice is helpful!

                ichorstudios 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                • ichorstudios
                  ichorstudios Subscriber @donsilvernail last edited by

                  So I am web designer and I work from home mostly. I either meet with my clients at their office or a coffee shop. I currently have a virtual office that I literally never go to. I don't know if I want to pay rent for something I don't use.

                  I am concerned about if I switch my GMB from physical location to a service area business, that might hurt my ranking?

                  MiriamEllis donsilvernail 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • donsilvernail
                    donsilvernail last edited by

                    I would advise against a virtual office as it is against google guidelines https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en

                    What type of business are you? Are you a service area business or do people see you at your office. My business is run out of my home as well. I use my home address for my business on google. So that is the physical location for me. You cannot have a po box or remote location to get a business verifies so you will need to set it up as a service area business. There has been some studies to suggest that google is bias to these type of business listings. However, I handle a couple custom home builders websites and this has not been an issue.

                    I have also set up custom local landing pages for these businesses to help them rank in towns that they want to be found in. Maybe you could do the same.

                    Thanks,

                    Don Silvernail

                    ichorstudios 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • 1 / 1
                    • First post
                      Last post

                    Got a burning SEO question?

                    Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                    Start my free trial


                    Browse Questions

                    Explore more categories

                    • Moz Tools

                      Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                    • SEO Tactics

                      Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                    • Community

                      Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                    • Digital Marketing

                      Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                    • Research & Trends

                      Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                    • Support

                      Connect on product support and feature requests.

                    • See all categories

                    Related Questions

                    • Rmarkjr81

                      What do I need to do for SEO when moving a business out of state?

                      Hello! So I have a business that I run out of a single location for the last 3 years. I am unfortunately having to move here in the next few weeks My question is what do I need to do in order to have the best chance at SEO for the new location? When should I make the changes? Does it take a long time for me to stop showing up in the previous location? and is there something I need to do to remove those? Also, is there an app or a website where I can find and update all listings at once or at least a bulk of them? I know that there are some weird sites that have my business info in them that I did not put there. Obviously these would have the wrong address. Some do not have a contact info or a way for me to log into them. What would I do with these sites? Thank you!

                      Local Listings | | Rmarkjr81
                      0
                    • Mike-i

                      GMB best practice for chiropractic office (individual vs. business pages)

                      For a chiropractic or other doctor's office with multiple doctors, should each have their own personal Google My Business page page AND a business page for the practice? If they just have a business page now, is it worth creating a page for each of the individual doctors? And what if some of them have different focuses (like a acupuncturist and chiropractor), does that mean you should make individual doctor pages when you otherwise wouldn't bother? And IF we should create pages for the individual doctors, should they all have the same address and website since they work in the same practice. Curious if there is a best practice for this... has anyone seen positive or negative results with or without the individual doctor pages? Thanks!

                      Local Listings | | Mike-i
                      0
                    • SeoSheikh

                      How to verify Google My Business (GMB) account in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

                      Hi folks, I know the majority of you are based in the US, so won't be experiencing the same problem as me. I have set up a Google My Business account for a company here in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The only problem is that I can't verify it using the normal methods like a postcard being sent out as the UAE doesn't have a postal service, so there are no postcodes to target an address. Basically I go through the process of creating a GMB account, setting the address details and map marker, then try to verify the account by postcard (this is the only way). I wait 14+ days but still no postcard arrives for obvious reasons - no postal address! So - my question is, how do we get round this problem? I know it can be done as there are plenty of businesses out there in Dubai that are verified on Google maps and GMB. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

                      Local Listings | | SeoSheikh
                      0
                    • coolhandluc

                      How to change your location for local search results?

                      Hi Everybody Back in december 2015 I came across this article https://gofishdigital.com/google-results-change-location/  explaining how to change location for local search results using the google emulation tool by setting up new coordinates. This was also picked up by mikeblumenthals' blog as being one of the best way of doing this. I tried it at the time and it worked very well. I tried using it last week and again this week but my location no longer seems to update. I have tried it on fifferent computers located in different locations and still it doesn't work. Does anyone know if this feature is no longer available and if not what else they'd recommend to verify local search results. Thanks

                      Local Listings | | coolhandluc
                      0
                    • TopFloor

                      Bing Places Listings for Real Estate Agents in the same office?

                      We've got a client that has a number of real estate agents that operate out of the same location. There are clear guidelines for how to approach this with Google My Business (https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en) but I'm having no luck finding resources as it relates to Bing Places and individual practitioners. Does anyone have experience with this within Bing? Essentially the client wants to maintain the office itself as a location, and there are agents that want to create/claim pages that would utilize the same address. Thanks

                      Local Listings | | TopFloor
                      0
                    • GO2Tech

                      Can I request removal of a duplicate competitor Google Business listing?

                      I have a local competitor that is boggling me with his local pack rankings. For certain keyword phrases, he is ranking in multiple local 3 pack spots. The thing is, he only has one business location. So basically he has two different Google maps listings for the same business location ranking in the local pack. The NAP information is different for both listings except for the physical address. I can't understand for the life of me how this is actually helping him instead of hurting him.... My client has way more citations. A decent blog with solid content. An SEO optimized mobile website (compeititor website is not mobile ready). Etc..... Don't get me wrong, my client is doing really well and is ranking top 3 in his area for nearly 30 industry related keyword phrases. I guess that is part of the reason I'm so boggled. Can anyone provide any insight? Can I bring this up to Google and have them remove the duplicate listing somehow? I'm literally sitting #4 in the local pack for some valuable keywords, and the only reason I'm not #3 or higher is because the same physical business location is taking up two of the spots. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

                      Local Listings | | GO2Tech
                      0
                    • coolhandluc

                      Is there a purpose to the "google my business" description?

                      Hi there Can someone tell me if the description serves a purpose in the google my business profile since:
                      a) It is not displayed anywhere as far as i have seen (maps, 3 pack local results, knowledge graph, organic results)
                      b) It is no longer considered as a ranking factor since it was abused so much Thanks

                      Local Listings | | coolhandluc
                      0
                    • henya

                      1800 number for google local

                      Hi A client with a local business has a 1800 number on their google plus page and most citations. How important is it to use the local number and not a 1800 one for google local? Should we change the phone number to the local number and update all listings? Or should we just continue with the 1800 number and stay consistent? I have added the local number as a second number on the google plus page.

                      Local Listings | | henya
                      1

                    Get started with Moz Pro!

                    Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                    Start my free trial
                    Products
                    • Moz Pro
                    • Moz Local
                    • Moz API
                    • Moz Data
                    • STAT
                    • Product Updates
                    Moz Solutions
                    • SMB Solutions
                    • Agency Solutions
                    • Enterprise Solutions
                    • Digital Marketers
                    Free SEO Tools
                    • Domain Authority Checker
                    • Link Explorer
                    • Keyword Explorer
                    • Competitive Research
                    • Brand Authority Checker
                    • Local Citation Checker
                    • MozBar Extension
                    • MozCast
                    Resources
                    • Blog
                    • SEO Learning Center
                    • Help Hub
                    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                    • How-to Guides
                    • Moz Academy
                    • API Docs
                    About Moz
                    • About
                    • Team
                    • Careers
                    • Contact
                    Why Moz
                    • Case Studies
                    • Testimonials
                    Get Involved
                    • Become an Affiliate
                    • MozCon
                    • Webinars
                    • Practical Marketer Series
                    • MozPod
                    Connect with us

                    Contact the Help team

                    Join our newsletter
                    Moz logo
                    © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                    • Accessibility
                    • Terms of Use
                    • Privacy

                    Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.