How to Hide Your Address on Google My Business

If you run your business from your home or travel directly to your customers, displaying a personal address on Google isn't just unnecessary - it's a privacy risk. This guide provides a complete walkthrough for hiding your address on your Google Business Profile while defining a proper service area. We'll cover how to set up a new profile correctly from the start, how to edit an existing one, and how to avoid common mistakes that can get your listing suspended.

Should You Hide Your Business Address on Google?

For many business models, displaying a physical address is standard practice. Cafes, retail stores, and dental offices need customers to know exactly where to find them. But for a growing number of entrepreneurs and service providers, a public address creates more problems than it solves. Hiding your address isn't about being secretive, it's about setting clear expectations for how customers should interact with your business.

For Service-Area Businesses (SABs)

You’re a service-area business if you deliver goods or provide services at your customers' locations. Think plumbers, electricians, landscapers, mobile dog groomers, or cleaning services. You and your team are on the road, meeting clients at their homes or offices. Your business address, which might be a home office or a small, unstaffed location, isn't a place where you transact business. Listing it publicly invites confusion, with potential customers showing up expecting a storefront they can walk into. Hiding your address and defining your service area tells Google and your customers: "We come to you."

For Home-Based Businesses

The rise of the home-based consultant, creator, or e-commerce shop owner means millions of businesses operate from a spare bedroom or garage. Whether you're a freelance graphic designer, a life coach who meets clients over Zoom, or an Etsy seller who ships products from home, your home address is private. Listing it on a public Google Business Profile is a significant security and privacy concern. It exposes your personal residence to the world, blurring the lines between your professional and private life. Hiding it is essential for maintaining that boundary.

For Hybrid Businesses

Some businesses do both. A pizza place might have a storefront for dine-in but also offer delivery within a 5-mile radius. A musician might teach lessons from a home studio but also travel to students' homes. In this "hybrid" scenario, Google allows you to display your physical address *and* set a service area. However, if your physical location isn't staffed or intended for customer walk-ins (e.g., it’s just your home office), you should still hide the address and operate purely as a service-area business online.

The Key Difference: A Physical Location vs. a Service Area

Before diving into the steps, it’s vital to understand how Google categorizes businesses. Your profile can either show a physical address *or* a service area, or in some cases, both. Choosing the right one is the foundation of properly managing your local online presence.

• A physical location is a pin on the map. It’s an address you want customers to visit. Think of a retail shop, a restaurant, or a hairdresser’s salon. Local search signals are heavily tied to this one specific location.
• A service area is a defined boundary on the map where you serve customers. Instead of a single pin, your business is represented by a shaded region. This can be defined by cities, zip codes, or a certain radius around a central point. Search visibility is targeted toward users searching from within that designated area.

When you hide your address, you are effectively telling Google to switch from showcasing a physical pin to highlighting your service area. This is the correct and intended setup for businesses that travel to their clients.

How to Set Up a New Google Business Profile Without a Public Address

If you're starting from scratch, getting this right from the beginning is the easiest path. Google’s setup wizard guides you through this, but one critical step determines whether your address will be public. Here’s what to do.

1. Start the Profile Creation Process: Go to google.com/business and sign in. Click "Add your business to Google."
2. Enter Your Business Name and Category: Type in your official business name and choose the best category that describes your service (e.g., "Plumber," "Landscaping," "Marketing Consultant").
3. The All-Important Question: Google will ask: "Do you want to add a location customers can visit, like a store or office?" This is the most crucial step. Select No and click "Next." By selecting "No," you are telling Google you are a service-area business without a public-facing storefront.
4. Define Your Service Areas: Next, Google will ask, "Where do you serve your customers?" This is where you build your service area. You can add multiple locations by city, zip code, or broader areas like states or countries. Be strategic here. Add only the areas you can realistically serve with high quality. You can always edit this later.
5. Add Contact Information: Provide a business phone number and website. This is what potential customers will use to reach you.
6. Provide a Verification Address: Here comes the part that often confuses people. Google will require you to enter a physical mailing address to verify your business. This address is for verification purposes only - it will NOT be shown publicly on your profile. It’s used to send you a verification postcard (or confirm you're a legitimate business in that region). You can use your home address here with confidence, it will remain private.
7. Complete Verification and Profile Details: Follow the steps to verify you are the business owner. Once verified, flesh out your profile completely with photos (of your work, not your home!), hours of operation, a detailed business description, and services offered.

How to Hide Your Address on an Existing Google Business Profile

Do you already have a profile that shows your address? No problem. It's straightforward to update your profile and convert it to a service-area business. Note that Google’s interface can sometimes change, but the core steps remain the same.

1. Log In and Navigate: Access your Google Business Profile Manager by searching for "my business" on Google or going directly to the portal.
2. Access Your Business Info: Select the business profile you want to edit. Click on "Edit profile" right at the top of the main dashboard.
3. Find the Location Section: Click on the "Location" tab. You'll see "Business location" at the very top. Click the pencil icon to edit your address details.
4. Turn Off The Public Address: Inside the edit window, you should see a toggle switch labeled "Show business address to customers." Turn this off. Once you do, the specific street address fields should disappear or become greyed out. If you're on an older interface, you may need to manually click "Clear address" from the address editor screen.
5. Update Your Service Area: With your physical address now hidden, scroll down to the "Service areas" section. If it’s empty, add the cities, counties, or zip codes where you provide services. If it’s already filled out, double-check that it’s accurate.
6. Save Your Changes: Click "Save." Google may take a short time to review the changes. Once approved, your address will no longer appear on Google Maps or in Search results. Instead, users will see your defined service area when they click for location details.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Hiding Your Address

This process is simple, but a few missteps can lead to poor visibility or even a profile suspension.

Using a PO Box or Virtual Address (Don't Do It!)

It's tempting to use a PO Box or a virtual office address thinking it's a clever workaround. This is a direct violation of Google's guidelines. Google requires a real, physical address for verification to combat spam and fake listings. Using a PO Box, Mail Boxes Etc. address, or remote-only virtual office is one of the fastest ways to get your profile suspended. Always use the actual address where you manage your business, even if it's your home.

Forgetting to Define Your Service Area

Simply deleting your address without adding service areas leaves your business in a digital no-man's-land. Google will no longer know which local customers to show your profile to. A mobile car detailer who removes their home address but fails to specify they serve "San Diego, CA" will become invisible in local searches. Your service area is your new local signal - make it accurate.

Neglecting Your Online Footprint (NAP Consistency)

NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone Number. It’s a key factor in local SEO. After you remove your address from Google, make sure you update other online directories where your business is listed, like Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Maps, and industry-specific sites. If your physical address is still listed everywhere else, it sends conflicting signals to search engines, which can weaken trust and harm your ranking.

Will Hiding My Address Tank My Local SEO?

This is the most common fear business owners have. The reassuring answer is no, as long as you do it correctly. For a service-area business, hiding your address is Google’s desired protocol. Complying with guidelines is always better for SEO in the long run than trying to improperly represent your business model.

Local SEO for an SAB shifts its focus. Instead of proximity to a single point, Google weighs factors like:

• Your designated service areas.
• The location of the person searching.
• Reviews that mention locations within your service area.
• Location-specific keywords and pages on your website.
• The overall authority and completeness of your Google Business Profile.

A complete, optimized profile with dozens of positive reviews, a great website, and a clearly defined service area will outperform a poorly managed profile with a physical address every time.

Final Thoughts

Hiding your address on Google is a simple but powerful way to align your online presence with your real-world business operations. By clearly defining your business as a service-area operation, you set proper customer expectations, protect your privacy, and give Google the right signals to connect you with relevant local customers.

Getting your local presence corrected on platforms like Google is a huge first step. The next piece of growing your brand locally is engaging directly with a community online. As you start freeing up administrative time by streamlining your local profiles, you can focus on building your brand’s voice. My team and I built Postbase to make that part easier. It’s a modern, clean social media tool created specifically for creators and small businesses who need to plan, schedule, and analyze their content across every platform - especially for video - without the complexity or high costs of older platforms.