Guide · Google Maps

Your Google Maps listing: a checklist you can do yourself.

For most small businesses in Pakistan the Google Maps listing is the first thing a customer sees, before any website. It costs nothing, and most of this takes minutes. It is the same list the Google plan on sitey.pk works through every month.

1. Claim it and verify it. Search for your business on Google Maps. If it offers to let you claim it, do. Google verifies ownership by phone, text, email, video or a postcard, depending on the business, and until then you cannot change most of it.
2. Use your real name. The name on your signboard and nothing more. Adding words like "best biryani in Lahore" to the name is against Google's rules and can get the listing suspended.
3. Pick the right main category. The first category counts most. "Chinese restaurant" says more than "Restaurant" if that is what you are. Add a few more categories only if they are also true.
4. Set your hours, and special hours. Put in your normal hours, then add special hours before Ramzan, Eid and public holidays. Wrong hours send people to a closed shutter, and they rarely try twice.
5. A phone number somebody answers. List the number that is actually picked up. If orders come on WhatsApp, say so in the description.
6. Your website. Add the link so people can see your menu and prices without calling. A Facebook page is better than nothing; your own site is better than a Facebook page.
7. Photographs you took. Your food, your shop front, your setups. Add new ones every month, because a listing with recent photos looks open. Never use pictures from the internet.
8. Your menu or services, with prices. Restaurants can add a menu; shops and services can list products or services with prices. People compare prices before they call.
9. Reply to every review. Thank the good ones. Answer the bad ones calmly, without arguing. People read your replies as closely as the reviews.
10. Ask for reviews the honest way. After a good order, send your review link on WhatsApp. Never pay for reviews, never trade a discount for one, and never write them yourself: Google removes them and can act against the listing.
11. Post updates. Deals, new dishes, festive packages. Posts appear on your listing and show Google the business is active.
12. Keep your details the same everywhere. Name, address and phone should read the same on Google, your website, Foodpanda and Facebook. If you find two listings for the same place, ask Google to remove the duplicate.

Doing all of this every month is the work in the "Website + Google" column on the pricing page, if you would rather somebody else did it.

Last checked: 10 September 2026 · All guides