How to list your business on Google before it opens

• Before you open: with a future date set and the business verified, your profile shows on Google 90 days before the opening date.
• Protection until opening day: customers can't suggest edits or post reviews or photos until the business is officially open.
• After you open: the profile shows a Recently opened tag on Google for 90 days.
• For established businesses: you can add the date you opened. Google says it may use the opening date in some places on Search to show how many years a business has been running.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Add a business opening date, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Edit your Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026

Use the normal sign-up. Google's opening date page says you can create a profile to tell your community when you'll open at the given address.

1. On a computer, sign in to your Google Account. If you create a new one, use your business email domain.
2. Go to business.google.com/create and enter your business name.
3. Search for and choose your business category, then click Next.
4. Say whether customers can visit you. If yes, enter the address or place the marker on the map. If not, enter your service area.
5. Enter a phone number and website, then click Next and Finish.
6. Choose a verification option. You can verify now, or select Verify later.

• Customers can only find your profile on Google after verification, so the 90-day lead time starts once you're verified.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Sign up for Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Add a business opening date, checked 15 October 2026

1. Go to your Business Profile.
2. Select Edit profile.
3. Next to Opening date, select Edit.
4. Enter the year and month. The day is optional.
5. Select Save.

• You can enter a date up to one year in the future. To change it later, repeat the same steps.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Add a business opening date, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Edit your Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026

Google suggests three things while the profile is live but the doors aren't open yet:

• Posts: announce the opening, share updates and offer an opening day discount or coupon.
• Photos: show progress from building work to opening day.
• Description: explain what the business is and what customers can expect.
• Our suggestion: post a short update each week of the fit-out so people who find you early see the business taking shape.

Source: Google Business Profile Help: Add a business opening date, checked 15 October 2026

Check these against Google's help pages:

• The profile isn't verified. Google only shows profiles after verification.
• The opening date is more than 90 days away. The profile appears 90 days before the date you set.
• You want a date more than a year away. Google only accepts dates up to one year ahead, so add it later.
• Customers can't review you. That's expected until you're officially open.
• Google shows the wrong number of years in business. Set the correct opening date in Edit profile.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Add a business opening date, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Sign up for Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Edit your Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026

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