Google Business Profile when you work from home: service areas, your address and staying live
Last updated: 30 October 2026
A question that comes up again and again on UK trade forums: "I work from home and go to my customers. Do I have to put my home address on Google? Will I still show up? And can I just buy a business address instead?" Here is how Google's own help pages answer it, in plain words.
1. You are a "service-area business"
Google calls a business that visits its customers, rather than having customers come to it, a service-area business. Plumbers are one of the examples Google gives. Google's help page says that if you don't serve customers at your business address, you should remove the address from your Business Profile. You still enter it when you set up and verify the profile, but it is not shown to the public.
That means strangers don't see where you live, and you are doing exactly what Google asks.
2. Pick your service areas by town or postcode
- You can add up to 20 service areas, by town, city or postcode.
- Google says the whole area should be no more than about two hours' driving from where you are based. Listing half the country does not make you look bigger.
- You can't set a radius around your base any more; you choose named areas instead.
- After you change your areas, Google says it can take up to 48 hours before the change shows.
3. One profile only
Google says a service-area business can only have one profile for the whole area it serves. A second profile for the next town over is not allowed, and neither is a new profile to replace one that has a problem.
4. Don't buy an address
A virtual office or mailbox address used only to appear in a town where you don't work from is a common reason profiles get suspended. If customers don't visit you, you don't need a public address at all: your service areas do that job.
5. Keep the details true and the same everywhere
- Use your real business name, not "Cheap Emergency Plumber Leeds". Google's guidelines say the name should match the one you use in the real world.
- Use the same phone number and business name on your website, your profile and any directories.
- Keep opening hours and services accurate.
6. If your profile gets suspended
Don't panic and don't start a new profile. Google asks you to appeal on the existing profile. It helps to have papers ready that show you are a real business working from that address, such as your Companies House record, a recent utility bill or council tax statement, invoices, insurance and any trade registrations such as Gas Safe.
What showing up then depends on
With the profile set up properly, what moves you up is mostly within your control: being close to the person searching, a profile with the right category and services, a website that says your trade and your towns, and a steady stream of honest reviews. Our guide How to get more Google reviews covers the reviews part, and Lead sites or your own website? covers the website.
How Avant Trades helps
We build UK trades a website that gets found, set up your Google Business Profile properly and help you ask every customer for a review. It is £59 a month with no upfront fee, you only start paying once your first enquiry has come in, and if none comes in within 60 days of going live, you can leave at no cost.