Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile posts: types, rules, real impact and examples

Updates, offers and events: how to post on your Google Business Profile, how long posts stay up, whether they help ranking, and what to post by industry.

By Oz IlyasFounder of Revys

Published October 19, 2026

Contents

Posts are the part of your Google Business Profile that changes week to week: a few lines and a photo you publish when something happens. They take minutes to create, and they come with a lot of overblown claims. This guide covers what posts are today, what they really do, and what to post in your industry.

Posts are just one section of the profile. For the full picture, see the Google Business Profile optimization checklist.

What types of Google Business Profile posts are there?

Google's help center lists three post types: Updates, Offers and Events.

Type	Use it for	Required fields	Button
Update	News about the business: a new service, a closure, a new arrival	None (text, photo or video recommended)	Optional, your choice
Offer	A sale or a deal	Title, dates and times	"View offer" added automatically; coupon code and terms optional
Event	A workshop, a tasting, an open house	Title, start and end dates and times	Optional

If an event has no start or end time, Google shows it as lasting 24 hours on the event dates. Buttons map to an action: book, order online, buy, learn more, sign up or call. Google says the button should lead to a site where customers can complete that action.

Two newer features are worth knowing:

Scheduling and repeats. You can schedule a post for a later date and time, and repeat it weekly, monthly or on a custom schedule. Google added recurring posts to the Business Profile API on April 7, 2026.
Featured posts. Some posts can be added directly to the profile on mobile. Google says this is currently available in English for single-location food and drink businesses in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

How long do Google posts stay up?

Six months. In Google's words: "Posts older than 6 months are archived unless a date range is set." Offers and events, which have dates, stay up until they end.

On mobile, posts show in the Updates or Overview tab of your profile on Google Search and Maps. On desktop, they appear in the "From the owner" section.

What rules do posts have to follow?

Google reviews every post. A post can be Live, Pending or Not approved, and a post that isn't approved doesn't appear anywhere. Posts from unverified profiles stay pending.

No phone number in the post text: Google may reject the post if it can't verify the number belongs to the business. Use the Call button, which uses your verified profile number.
No unverified email addresses or social handles in the text, for the same reason.
Links to trustworthy sites, ideally your own.
Regulated industries (alcohol, tobacco, gambling, financial services) can post, but not about those products.
Hotels can't create Offer posts or any post that mentions deals, promotions or discounts.
Real photos and videos that meet Google's content policy.
No keyword stuffing: Whitespark's 2026 survey lists it among suspension-risk factors.

Do Google Business Profile posts help ranking?

Not in any way that's been shown. This is where you need to be most careful, because a lot of advice says otherwise.

Controlled test. Joy Hawkins at Sterling Sky posted once a week for nine weeks on three inactive profiles, tracking 441 keywords per location. No ranking change could be tied to the posts. Her conclusion: "It should not be seen as a way to increase rankings for specific keywords on Google."
Correlation data. Across 16,098 profiles, Localo found that profiles with ten or more active posts were in the local top 3 73.0% of the time, versus 63.7% with no posts. But frequency didn't matter: fewer than one post a month scored 73.0%, eight or more a month 70.5%. Keywords in posts added almost nothing (+1.8 points at best).
Expert survey. Whitespark's 2026 survey ranks posting frequency 148th of 187 factors.

+9.3 points

Top-3 rate gap between profiles with ten or more active posts and profiles with none. Correlation only: businesses that post tend to keep their whole profile in better shape. Localo also sells a post-scheduling tool.

(Localo, Whitespark × 16,098 profiles, September 14, 2026)

The takeaway: a post won't win you a spot, but a profile with a recent update reassures the customer deciding between you and the business next door. Post when you have something to say, not to hit a quota.

How do you post on Google Business Profile?

Open your profile signed in as a manager
Search your business name on Google, or open Google Maps, with the account that manages the profile. The management panel appears.
Select Add update (or Posts, then Add post)
Pick the type: Update, Offer or Event.
Write the text
Lead with the point, because the first line is what people see. Be concrete: what, when, for whom.
Add a real photo
Your storefront, a dish, a finished job, your team. No AI-generated images or stock photos: the profile should show your actual business.
Add a useful button
Book, Order online, Learn more or Call, pointing to the page on your site that matches the post.
Publish or schedule
Turn on scheduling to pick a date, or Repeats for something recurring (this week's specials, the Saturday market). Then check the post went Live.

Google Business Profile post examples by industry

The best post answers a question customers have right now. A few ideas to adapt (examples, not templates to paste as-is):

Industry	Update	Offer or event
Restaurant	New seasonal menu, weekly special, holiday closure	Themed night, holiday menu to pre-order
Bakery or café	Seasonal item is back (pumpkin bread, king cake)	Holiday pre-orders, tasting
Salon or spa	New service, new stylist on the team	Weekday openings, open house
Auto repair	Winter check, new service (A/C, tires)	Free safety inspection day, summer hours
Contractor	Finished project photos (with the client's OK)	Booking window for estimates
Dental or medical practice	New provider, new hours, accessible entrance	Community health day (no medical claims)
Hotel	Renovated rooms, rooftop reopening	On-site event (Offer posts aren't allowed for hotels)
Retail store	New arrivals, new brand, holiday hours	Sale with real dates

Two topics work in every industry: special hours (holidays, vacations), and what customers say about you. If several reviews mention fast service or a friendly team, a post that shows it lands better than a slogan. To generate those reviews in the first place, see how to get more Google reviews.

Which post mistakes should you avoid?

Posting for the sake of it. A weekly post with nothing in it does nothing for rankings and bores customers.
Inventing an offer to fill the calendar. An advertised deal has to exist, with real dates.
Putting your phone number in the text. It's one of the most common reasons posts get rejected.
Copy-pasting the same post across locations. For multi-location businesses, tailor each one.
Leaving an expired offer as your latest post for months.

Revys suggests post ideas for you

The Revys Google Business Profile advisor (Pro plan) flags profiles with no post in the last three months. It then offers three AI-written post ideas, each with a short title and text, based on the season and the strengths customers mention in your reviews.

To avoid false promises, dates, offers and events are left as placeholders in brackets for you to complete, and any percentage or price the AI writes is replaced with a placeholder too. You fill them in and publish.

Posts show an active profile; what really moves prominence is a steady flow of reviews and your replies to them. Method and examples in how to respond to Google reviews, and for the full ranking picture, how to rank higher on Google Maps.

FAQ

Does posting on Google Business Profile work?

For customers, yes: a recent post shows the business is active and answers questions like holiday hours. For rankings, there's no solid evidence. A Sterling Sky test (2021) saw no effect, and Localo's 2026 data shows posting frequency makes no difference.

What should I post on my Google Business Profile?

Real news customers care about right now: a new service or menu, holiday hours, an event, a genuine offer with dates, a finished project. One clear message per post, a real photo, and a button that leads to the right page.

Where can I see Google Business Profile posts?

On mobile, in the Updates or Overview tab of the profile on Google Search and Maps. On desktop, in the "From the owner" section of the profile.

How long do Google Business Profile posts last?

Google archives posts older than six months unless a date range is set. Offers and events stay up until their end date.

Can you schedule Google Business Profile posts?

Yes. When creating a post, turn on scheduling to pick a publish date and time, and use the Repeats option to publish weekly, monthly or on a custom schedule.

Why was my Google post not approved?

Common reasons are a phone number in the text that Google can't tie to the business, a link to an untrusted site, content about regulated products, or an offer post from a hotel. Unverified profiles also keep posts pending.