Social media for taxi and private hire firms: a practical guide for 2026

People pick a local cab firm in a hurry or plan ahead for the airport, a wedding or a night out. Both start with a search, so your Google Business Profile matters most. If passengers never visit your office, Google says to remove your address and set a service area instead: up to 20 areas by city, postcode or similar, no more than about two hours' driving from your base, and not as a radius.

Facebook reaches local people, parents arranging school runs and community groups asking for recommendations. Instagram suits driver introductions, vehicle photos and Stories with booking reminders. LinkedIn is worth it if you want account work with hotels, offices, schools or care providers.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Manage your service area for service-area businesses, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google, checked 15 October 2026

Reliability is hard to show and easy to tell. Put names and faces to your drivers, and answer the questions people ask your controllers every day.

• Monday: meet a driver, with their consent: how long they have driven, what they like about the job.
• Tuesday: a booking how-to, such as using the app, booking an airport run or adding a child seat.
• Wednesday: a local event or venue reminder, posted with time to book.
• Thursday: a vehicle post: cleaning, a new accessible vehicle, a service check.
• Friday: a weekend message: book ahead, share your number, get home safe.
• Monthly: an account customer story, with written permission.

A driver talking to camera while driving looks casual and is illegal in the UK. GOV.UK says it is illegal to hold and use a phone or any device that can send or receive data while driving, including taking photos or videos, and that this still applies when you are stopped at traffic lights or queuing in traffic. The penalty for holding and using a device is 6 penalty points and a £200 fine, and drivers who passed their test in the last two years lose their licence.

Film only when parked safely with the engine off. If a driver sends you a clip that was clearly filmed while driving, do not post it, even if it is funny.

Source: GOV.UK: Using your phone while driving, the law, checked 15 October 2026

Passengers trust you with where they live, where they go and who they are with. Treat every journey as private. In England, the Department for Transport's statutory standards say that where a licensing authority requires CCTV in vehicles, the authority is the data controller, and recordings can only be accessed by those with legitimate grounds, such as the police investigating a crime or the authority handling a complaint. In-car footage is not content.

1. Never post CCTV, dashcam or in-car footage that shows passengers.
2. Never name a passenger, a pick-up address or a regular journey, even as a thank-you.
3. Ask before posting a celebrity or wedding booking, and wait until after the event.
4. Get written consent from drivers before posting their face or name.
5. Never share a live location or driver's route publicly.

Source: GOV.UK: Statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards, checked 15 October 2026

Taxis (hackney carriages) and private hire vehicles are licensed differently, and the words you use in posts can matter. In London, section 31 of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 says an advertisement for private hire vehicles bookable at a London address or on a London phone number must not use "taxi", "taxis", "cab" or "cabs", or a word closely resembling them, unless the vehicles are London cabs. Using "minicab" does not by itself breach the section. The Act defines advertisement as any form of advertising in any medium, so it covers social posts.

Outside London, check your licensing authority's conditions before choosing your words, profile name and hashtags.

Prices need the same care as any other business. In the UK, the CMA says a price in a social media post should be the total price, including mandatory charges, and a "from" price must include them too. If a fixed airport fare excludes parking or waiting charges, say so clearly.

Sources: legislation.gov.uk: Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998, section 31, checked 15 October 2026; CMA: Providing clear and accurate information about prices (summary), checked 15 October 2026

Reply to reviews without repeating pick-up points, times or names. Take complaints about a driver to a private message and a phone call. Google's policy bans incentives for reviews and selectively asking only happy customers, and in the US the FTC's fake reviews rule bans rewards for reviews with a particular sentiment.

Disclosure: this guide is published by Zolyp, an AI social media manager. Zolyp plans a calendar around your content pillars, writes and designs each post, and schedules it to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads. You start in review-everything mode, so nothing goes live without your approval. Brand Brain can hold words you never use, such as "taxi" or "cab" if your licence rules them out. You still check every post before approving it. Everything in this guide works just as well done by hand.

• Week 1: list the month's events, holidays and late-night peaks.
• Week 2: photograph drivers and vehicles while parked, with consent.
• Week 3: post one booking how-to and one account-work post on LinkedIn.
• Week 4: read reviews, update your Google Business Profile and plan next month.

Sources: Google Maps user-generated content policy: fake engagement, checked 15 October 2026; FTC: Federal Trade Commission announces final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials (14 August 2024), checked 15 October 2026