Google Business Profile posts: what to post and how often

Google Business Profile posts are short updates, offers and events that show on your listing in Google Search and Maps. Post when you have something a customer can act on: new work, a deal with an end date, an event, a change worth knowing about. About once a week is plenty for most small businesses, and once or twice a month still keeps the profile from looking abandoned. Here is what each type of post is for, examples you can borrow, a rhythm you can keep, and the usual reasons a post never shows up.

Where people actually see your posts

Google's help center lists three places. On a phone, posts sit in the Updates or Overview tab of your profile in Search and Maps. On a computer, they appear in a section called "From the owner". And for some businesses Google picks featured posts.

Featured posts are worth knowing about if you run a cafe, restaurant or bar. Google says posts about events, deals or specials may show on your mobile profile automatically, taken from your Facebook and Instagram or from posts you made on the profile. When they show, they sit where your reviews would be, and people reach the reviews by tapping your star rating. Google says this is available in English for single-location food and drink businesses in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

One more thing about lifespan: Google archives posts older than 6 months unless the post has a date range. A post from last winter is not still working for you.

The three types of post

Two details from Google's page save confusion. An event without a start or end time shows as lasting 24 hours on each of its dates, so add the hours. And the button on an update should go to a page where the customer can do the thing: book, order online or learn more.

Examples: a weak post and a better one

These are made-up businesses. The pattern is what matters: one clear thing, one photo of the real thing, and a next step.

A bakery, an update. Weak: "Come visit us, best bakery in town." Better: "Strawberry rhubarb pie is back for June. We bake six every morning and they are usually gone by noon. Order a whole pie a day ahead with the button below." Photo: the pies on the rack, shot that morning.

A plumber, an update. Weak: "Quality plumbing at fair prices." Better: "This week we swapped out a leaking water heater in a 1960s ranch house and moved it to make room for a laundry closet. If yours is rusting at the base, book an inspection." Photo: the new heater, installed and tidy.

A hair salon, an offer. Title: "Midweek blowout special". Dates: June 16 to June 30. Details: "Tuesday and Wednesday blowouts at a lower price. Mention the post when you book." The dates make the offer real and tell customers exactly when it ends.

A bookstore, an event. Title: "Saturday story hour for ages 3 to 6". Times: 10 to 10:45 a.m. Details: who reads, which book, whether parents need to sign up.

Notice what the better versions skip: adjectives about yourself. A post earns attention with something specific a customer can see, buy or attend.

How often to post

Google does not give a number. Its own page on improving your local ranking lists complete business info, verification, up-to-date hours, replies to reviews and photos and videos. Posts are not on that list.

A survey of local search experts points the same way. In Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors survey of 47 local search specialists, published in November 2025, the frequency of Google posts ranked 148th and the number of posts 168th out of 187 factors for ranking in the map results. The report's author does argue that real people engaging with a profile, reading posts and looking through photos, helps. Either way, the honest takeaway is the same: posts are for the people who already found you, not a trick to climb the map.

So pick a rhythm you can keep:

• Once a week if you have fresh photos anyway. One finished job, one new item, one change.
• Once or twice a month as a floor, so the newest post a customer sees is recent.
• An offer or event post whenever you actually have one, with its real dates.

Google lets you schedule a post for later: turn on Schedule this post and pick the date and time. A Repeats menu publishes a post again weekly, monthly or on a custom schedule, which suits a standing weekly special. Use it for things that really repeat. Google's own tips warn against text that adds no value and auto-generated content.

Why a post does not show up

When a post is missing, open the Posts section and read its status. Google uses three:

• Live: public on Search and Maps.
• Pending: still uploading or processing, or your profile is not verified yet. If it is the last one, start with How to verify your Google Business Profile.
• Not approved: it broke a content rule. A question mark next to the status tells you which one.

The rules that catch small businesses most often:

1. A phone number in the text. Google does not allow phone numbers in post content. Add a Call now button instead, which uses the verified number on your profile.
2. A regulated product. Businesses in industries such as alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, health and medical devices, gambling, fireworks, weapons and financial services can post, but not about the products. A brewery can post its trivia night, not its new IPA.
3. Hotels and offers. Hotels cannot create offer posts or mention deals and discounts at all.
4. Sloppy text. Google asks you to avoid misspellings, extra characters and text that adds no value.
5. A bad link. Links to malware, phishing or adult sites are blocked, so link only to your own site or a booking tool you trust.

For the photo, Google's photo guidelines for profiles ask for JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, recommend 720 by 720 pixels, and want the picture in focus, well lit and free of heavy filters or AI edits. In Google's words, "the image should represent reality." A plain phone photo of real work passes easily.

If the whole profile has vanished rather than one post, that is a different problem, covered in Google Business Profile suspended: why, and how to fix it.

A ten-minute routine

1. On Monday, pick one photo from last week's work.
2. Open your profile, select Posts, then Add post, and choose Update, Offer or Event.
3. Write two or three sentences: what it is, and what the customer can do next.
4. Add the button that fits: book, order online, learn more or call.
5. Schedule it for a weekday morning, or post it right away.
6. Once a month, scan the Posts section for anything Not approved, and put any upcoming offer or event in with its dates.

Handing it off

Google Business Profile can be one of the networks in any of our plans, so the photos you send us for Instagram and Facebook also become posts on your Google profile. If you would like the rest of the profile looked after too, our Reviews & Google Profile add-on, at $39 a month, replies to every new Google and Facebook review and keeps your hours, services and photos current. You stay the owner and add us as a manager. If you already post on Google every week and enjoy it, keep going: you do not need us for this. See the add-on.