How to get your pub showing on Google Maps

When someone types “pub near me” or “trad music tonight” into their phone, the pubs that come up on the map get the visit. What shows up there comes from your Google Business Profile — a free listing you can claim and manage yourself. Here’s how to set it up properly, step by step.

1. Find out if your pub is already listed

Search for your pub’s name and town in Google Maps. Most pubs already have a listing, often created automatically or suggested by customers. If it’s there, choose the option to claim or manage the business. If it isn’t, add it through Google Business Profile. Either way, it’s free.

2. Verify that it’s really yours

Google needs proof that you run the business before it gives you control. For most new or changed listings this is now a short video recorded on your phone. It usually needs to show:

• where you are — the sign over the door or the street outside
• that it’s a working pub — the bar, taps or till
• that you manage it — unlocking the door or going behind the bar

Some listings get other options instead, such as a phone call or email. Reviews of the video can take a few working days. Keep faces and private paperwork out of the shot.

3. Use your real name — and nothing else

Enter the name exactly as it appears on your sign: “Murphy’s Bar”, not “Murphy’s Bar — Best Pub in Naas, Live Music & Food”. Adding extra keywords to the name breaks Google’s guidelines and can get a listing suspended. What you do and where you are belongs in the category, description and website instead.

4. Choose the right category

Your primary category tells Google what kind of place you are, so it matters more than almost anything else. For most pubs that’s simply “Pub”. You can add a few secondary categories — Google suggests options as you type — but only add ones that genuinely describe you, such as a bar or gastropub if you serve proper food. More categories isn’t better; accurate ones are.

5. Get the hours right — including bank holidays

Wrong opening hours are the fastest way to lose a customer’s trust. Set your regular hours first, then:

• Special hours for bank holidays, Christmas and New Year, and any closures for private events or refurbishment
• More hours for specific parts of the business, such as takeaway or happy hour, where Google offers them for your category
• Put food serving times in your description and on your website if your kitchen closes earlier than the bar

Make sure the hours match your website, your Facebook page and the sign on the door.

6. Fill in the details people check

• Phone number that someone actually answers
• Website link — see step 9
• Description: a few honest lines on what makes the pub worth visiting — the food, the music, the beer garden, the history
• Attributes such as outdoor seating, wheelchair access, live music, sports on TV or dogs welcome — tick only what’s true
• Menu: link to your menu or add the main items

7. Add good, real photos

Photos are often what decides it. Add a clear shot of the outside so people recognise it from the street, then the bar, the snug or lounge, the beer garden, the food and a busy night. Use daylight where you can, skip heavy filters, and add new ones every so often — customer photos will appear too, so yours should set the standard.

8. Ask for reviews, and reply to them

Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. The simplest way to get them is to ask: put your review link on a small card at the bar, on your receipts, or in a message after a function. A few rules worth knowing:

• Don’t offer free drinks, discounts or prizes in return for reviews — Google doesn’t allow it
• Don’t write reviews yourself or ask staff and family to
• Reply to reviews, good and bad, politely and briefly — other customers read your replies

9. Link it to a proper website

Your profile gets you noticed on the map; your website is where people go to decide. A good pub website gives them the full menu as readable text, what’s on this week, function room details, directions and booking links — things a listing can’t show well. Link to it from your profile and make sure the name, address, phone number and hours are identical on both. More on this in Google Business Profile vs website.

10. Keep it alive

A listing that’s looked after tends to look more trustworthy. Once a month or so:

• check the hours and update special hours before bank holidays
• add a few new photos
• post upcoming events — a match night, a trad session, a quiz
• reply to any new reviews and answer questions
• check that nobody has suggested a wrong edit to your details

What decides where you appear?

Google says local results are based mainly on relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how far you are from the person searching) and how well known the business is, which takes in things like reviews and links from other websites. You can’t pay for a better position on the map, and nobody can honestly guarantee one. What you can do is give Google complete, accurate information and give people good reasons to leave a review.

Quick checklist

1. Claim and verify your Google Business Profile
2. Use your real pub name only
3. Set “Pub” as the primary category, with only accurate extras
4. Add regular hours, special hours for bank holidays and any More hours
5. Fill in phone, website, description, attributes and menu
6. Upload real photos of the outside, inside, food and atmosphere
7. Ask for reviews the right way and reply to them
8. Link to a website with the same details
9. Check and update it monthly

Need the website part? See pub website design — a custom pub website is €800, with managed hosting and care at €30/month — or start your website.