Yes. If you have an address where customers can visit you, show it.
Of all the quick wins in local SEO, this is one of the best known, and it takes about a minute to do.
Plenty of Australian tradies and home-based businesses switch their address off when they set up a Google Business Profile. Google calls this setup a service area business. It feels tidy and private. It also removes your pin from the map, and the research below shows what that can cost in rankings and calls.
We show our own address on our profile for the same reason.
- If customers can visit you, show the address. It is a one-minute change in your profile settings.
- A switch-off test, a study of 8,186 businesses and the 2026 expert survey all point to a visible address helping Google Maps rankings.
- The suburbs you list as service areas do not change where you rank. Google ranks you around your address.
- Hidden-address businesses can still rank well. They need steady reviews and a complete profile to do it.
Does hiding your address affect your Google Maps ranking?
Three pieces of research say it does.
The switch-off test
Sterling Sky, a local search agency known for its ranking experiments, took a home services client whose address was showing and removed it. Rankings for one of the client's top keywords fell sharply, and calls from the profile dropped that month. A month later the address went back on and the rankings returned.
They then ran it in reverse on a second profile that had its address hidden. Adding the address produced the same lift. For one keyword, the map results disappeared from the search page while the address was hidden and came back when it was restored. (Sterling Sky, first published 2023)
The 8,186-business study
In late 2025, Sterling Sky and Places Scout analysed 8,186 businesses across 200 cities for searches such as Plumber Near Me and Lawn Care Near Me. Being a hidden-address business was one of the factors that went with ranking lower in the map results. "Show your address" was the first item on their list of takeaways. (Sterling Sky, 2025)
The expert survey
Every year Whitespark asks leading local search specialists to rank what moves Google Maps results. In the 2026 edition, a visible address came in as the 7th most influential factor on local rank. (Whitespark Local Search Ranking Factors, 2026)
Why a visible address helps you rank
Google Maps is built around places. When your address is hidden, your profile has no pin on the map and no directions button, as Local Falcon explains (2025). Customers see a business that serves an area. Your competitors with a pin look like they are just around the corner.
The suburbs you list as service areas do not make up the difference. Darren Shaw of Whitespark has tested this repeatedly and found service areas have no effect on where a profile ranks. Google ranks a business in a radius around its address, which he puts at roughly 2 to 8 km for most businesses. (Whitespark, 2024)
The address is the anchor. A visible one tells both Google and the customer exactly where you are.
Can a service area business rank on Google Maps with a hidden address?
Yes, and the same experts say so.
Darren Shaw argues that hiding an address is not the kiss of death many assume. In his testing, a profile verified at the same address it has always used keeps the same ranking radius whether the address shows or not. The sharp drops, he says, tend to hit businesses that have moved, because Google falls back to the address where the profile was first verified. (Whitespark, 2024)
He has also documented the reverse case. One business he tracked ranked well across its target suburbs with the address hidden, then dropped when the address was switched on. The profile had been verified at a different location from the one being shown. (Whitespark, 2023)
Local Falcon, the rank tracking tool, puts it plainly: a drop after hiding an address is possible but not guaranteed, and many hidden-address businesses rank well when the rest of the profile is strong. (Local Falcon, 2025)
What does strong look like? The same 8,186-business study points to the levers that work with or without a pin: a steady flow of new reviews each month, reviews with written text, and a landing page with real content about your services. (Sterling Sky, 2025)
A hidden address does not rule you out. It means the rest of your profile has to work harder.
How to show your address on Google Business Profile
If customers can come to you, whether that is a shop, a workshop, a depot or an office where you see clients by appointment, put that address on your profile.
- Open your Google Business Profile and choose Edit profile.
- Go to Location, then Business location.
- Switch on "Show business address to customers" and save.
Check your rankings before and a few weeks after, across your whole area and not just from your own phone. A grid-based ranking check shows where on the map you moved.
If you work from home and have nowhere for customers to visit
The best fix, according to Whitespark, is a dedicated, staffed office where you see at least some customers (Whitespark, 2025). For a growing business, a small office in the suburb you most want to win can pay for itself in calls.
If that is not on the cards yet, keep the address hidden and put your effort into reviews, a complete services list and a solid website page for each service. If you are not showing up at all, start with our checklist for a business that is not ranking on Google Maps.
Frequently asked questions
Should I hide my address on Google Business Profile?
If customers can visit you, no. Tests and studies from Sterling Sky (2023, 2025) and the Whitespark 2026 expert survey all point to a visible address helping local rankings.
Does a service area business rank lower on Google Maps?
On average, yes. A 2025 Sterling Sky and Places Scout study of 8,186 businesses found hidden-address profiles tended to rank lower for Near Me searches. Many still rank well with strong reviews and a complete profile.
Do service areas help me rank in more suburbs?
No. Whitespark's testing (2024) found the suburbs listed as service areas do not change where a profile ranks. Google ranks you around your address.
How quickly do rankings change after showing an address?
Sterling Sky saw rankings fall in the month the address was hidden and recover once it was restored.
Sources: Sterling Sky, Does Hiding Your Address Impact your Google Business Profile Ranking? (Joy Hawkins, first published 2023); Sterling Sky and Places Scout, What Gets You Ranking for Near Me in 2025 (8,186 businesses, 200 cities, published November 2025); Whitespark, Local Search Ranking Factors 2026, as summarised in 7 Local Search Ranking Factors That May Challenge Your Current Thinking (Miriam Ellis, December 2025); Whitespark, Should Service Area Businesses Show or Hide Their Address for Local SEO (Darren Shaw, updated 2024); Whitespark, Do Service Areas Impact Rankings for Local SEO (Darren Shaw, 2023); Local Falcon, When Should You Hide Your Address on Google Business Profile? (December 2025). The studies cited were run on North American businesses.
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