When someone types "real estate agent near me", Google shows a map with three names under it before any website. Many agents are not in that list at all, because they never set up a profile of their own. They rely on the brokerage office, or on their listings on the big portals.
A Google Business Profile for real estate agents is free, Google allows it, and it puts your own name, photo and reviews in front of people searching in your area. Here is who qualifies, how to set it up properly, and how to keep it bringing in buyer and seller inquiries. We cover real estate SEO in its own post.
Can a real estate agent have their own profile?
Yes. Google's own guidelines name real estate agents as individual practitioners, the same group as doctors, lawyers and insurance agents. Practitioners can have a profile of their own, separate from the office they work in.
There is one condition that matters. Google says a practitioner should be reachable directly at the verified location during the hours they list. Read the guidelines page yourself before you start, since Google updates it from time to time.
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Check your brokerage's own rules as well. Some brokerages have a policy on agent profiles, branding and which address you may use. It is much easier to ask first than to rebuild a profile later.
Office address, home office or service area
Where you list the profile depends on where you actually meet clients. Google is strict about this, and getting it wrong is the most common reason profiles get suspended.
- At the brokerage office. If you are there and reachable during your listed hours, you can use that address.
- From home. Set it up as a service-area business and hide the address, then list the towns and neighborhoods you work in.
- A virtual office or mailbox. Google does not accept these, so do not use one.
Name it the way you are known
The business name should be your real name, the way it appears on your signs, cards and website. Adding keywords like "Best Realtor in Austin" to the name breaks Google's rules and can get the profile suspended. The town belongs in the address and service area fields, not the name.
If you are the only agent under a brand at that location, Google's guidelines show a format that joins the brand and your name. If several agents share the office, the office gets its own profile and yours carries only your name.
Fill in every part of the profile
A half-finished profile looks like an agent who is not very active. Take an hour and do the whole thing:
- Category. "Real estate agent" as the main one, so Google knows exactly what you do.
- Description. A few plain sentences on the areas you know and whether you work with buyers, sellers or both.
- Photos. A clear, friendly headshot, plus photos of you at work in the neighborhoods you serve.
- Hours and phone. Real hours you keep, and a number you answer.
- Website link. Your own site, not just the brokerage roster page.
That last one matters more than it looks. A searcher who taps through to a generic office page often forgets your name by the time it loads. We wrote about this in why every agent needs a website beyond the brokerage page.
Want more inquiries from your website?
We'll look at your website and rankings and tell you plainly what we would fix first. No charge and no sales pitch.
Reviews from every closing
Reviews are what make a searcher pick one agent over the other two on the map. The best time to ask is right after closing, when the client is holding the keys or the check and feeling grateful.
Send your direct review link by text the same day, with a short thank you. Ask every client the same way, never offer a gift in return, and reply to each review in a sentence or two. A steady trickle of recent reviews says more than a large pile from years ago.
Keep it active between deals
A profile that only changes when you close a deal goes quiet for weeks. Small, regular updates keep it looking alive to the people who find it:
- A post for a new listing or an open house, with a photo and a link to the page on your site.
- A short note on what is happening in a neighborhood you know well.
- Fresh photos every month or so.
- Answers to the questions people ask in the profile's questions section.
None of this takes long. Ten minutes a week is enough for most agents. The point is not volume, it is showing a searcher that a real person is behind the name and is working in their area right now. Put a reminder in your calendar for the same time every week, so it happens even in a busy month.
The profile sends people to your website
The map gets you noticed. Your website is where a seller decides whether to call you or the agent below you. The website is the base, because search and the map decide who arrives, and the site decides who gets in touch. That is why we work on the pieces together. What the site has to do for a seller in particular is covered in our post on bringing in seller leads.
- Real estate website design first, built on our website design and development work, with pages for your neighborhoods and a clear way for sellers to reach you.
- SEO for agents so those neighborhood pages come up in searches.
- Local SEO, including the profile in this post. Our local SEO service page explains the approach.
- Conversion rate optimization so more of the people who tap through from the map send an inquiry.
Around them sit landing pages for a home valuation offer and a care plan that keeps the site and its forms working.
Where to start this week
Search for yourself on Google Maps. If nothing comes up, check with your brokerage and create a profile under your real name. If something does come up, fill in every empty field, link it to your own site, and ask your last three clients for a review.
If you would like to know how your profile and website look to a buyer or seller searching today, ask us for a free website and SEO review.
Want more inquiries from your website?
We'll look at your website and rankings and tell you plainly what we would fix first. No charge and no sales pitch.
