What to include in a business listing
A practical checklist for a clear business listing: your offer, customers, service area, working terms, evidence and contact details, with examples for services, agencies and suppliers.
By Zero Ceremony, Mercator’s publisher
A clear description, useful details and relevant evidence form a business introduction. Conceptual illustration. · Illustration · OpenAI-generated illustration for Mercator.A business listing should help someone answer three questions: Can this business help me? Can it work with my location and requirements? How do I take the next step?
Include your business name, a specific description of your services or products, the customers you serve, your working area, relevant conditions, useful evidence and a contact route. A long company history or a full catalogue can wait.
Use this checklist as a writing guide. Each directory has its own eligibility rules, fields and limits; not every detail belongs in every platform’s description box.
1. A recognizable name and an accurate business type
Use the business or professional name customers actually know. Keep it consistent with your other public material so people can recognize the same business.
If a directory asks for a category, choose one that describes your main activity. Put individual services in their own fields or description, where supported. Do not add unrelated categories just to appear in more searches.
On Google Business Profile, the representation guidelines require a real-world business name and categories that reflect the core business. Extra promotional words in the name are not a substitute for a useful description.
2. A description of what you do, for whom
Lead with the work or products, followed by the customer and the need you address. Replace broad claims such as “complete solutions” or “excellent service” with details someone can use to decide whether to enquire.
A useful starting sentence is: We provide [service or product] for [customer type], helping with [specific task or buying need].
These are writing examples, not descriptions of actual listed businesses:
- Service business: “We edit product demonstration videos for small online retailers, using footage supplied by the client.”
- Agency or studio: “We design packaging and product catalogues for consumer brands. Clients can approach us with an existing identity or a new product brief.”
- Supplier: “We supply protective packaging to small manufacturers. Buyers should send the item dimensions, quantity and delivery destination for a quote.”
Add only details that are true for your business. Avoid promising an outcome, capability or level of experience you cannot support. If you offer several activities, separate them into a few clear service or product groups.
3. Where and how you work
Distinguish between your base, the places customers can visit and the places you actually serve. A head-office address does not explain your delivery area.
Include the details relevant to your work:
- For a customer-facing location, give accurate arrival information and customer-facing hours where the platform supports them.
- For work at customers’ premises, describe the actual service area and any travel limits.
- For remote services, state that the work is remote and mention relevant languages or time-zone constraints.
- For product supply, state the destinations you can discuss and any exclusions you want customers to know.
Do not describe your reach as worldwide if it depends on the product or destination. Use wording such as “delivery to other destinations is subject to confirmation” when that is how you operate.
Handle a home address separately from a public service area. Google’s profile editing guidance explains that businesses which do not meet customers at their address can choose not to display it. Check the rules of your chosen platform before publishing a private location.
4. The conditions that determine whether an enquiry fits
Include conditions that would change a customer’s decision to contact you. You do not need to publish every contract term.
For professional services, useful details might include the assignments you accept, what the client must supply, whether meetings require an appointment, and what is outside the scope. For an agency, explain whether you accept a defined production task, a full project or ongoing support.
For suppliers and wholesalers, consider product categories, customer types, minimum quantities or order amounts, and delivery limits. Attach each condition to the goods it actually covers. A minimum order for one range should not appear to apply to everything you supply.
If you publish a price, explain its currency, unit and scope, plus any material exclusions. If pricing depends on a brief, say what is needed for a quote. Do not present a guide price as a confirmed quotation or estimated timing as a guaranteed completion date.
Keep changing stock and lead-time claims narrow and dated when you include them. “Supplies this category” does not mean every item is available now. Mercator’s supplier listing guidance makes this distinction explicit.
5. Evidence that explains your offer
Choose evidence that answers a customer’s question. A clear product photograph can show what you supply; a relevant project example can show the kind of work you undertake; an exterior photograph can help visitors recognize the premises.
For each image or work sample:
- Confirm that you may publish it, including any client material.
- Explain what it shows and your role in the work.
- Add useful image descriptions, captions and creator credits where supported.
- Remove confidential details and avoid implying that a past project is a current offer.
Qualifications and affiliations should be specific and current. Name the credential and its scope where relevant; do not turn a membership, document or directory entry into an unsupported claim of official approval.
Google’s business-photo guidance calls for clear, well-lit images that depict the real business without substantial alterations. For any directory, do not pass a generated scene or stock photograph off as your premises, products or completed work. An illustration can explain an idea, as the cover of this guide does; it does not establish a business fact.
A basic Mercator listing does not require a portfolio. Start with an accurate introduction if you do not yet have public work samples.
6. One clear contact route and a useful next step
Tell customers where to go and what to send. “Contact us” is more useful when followed by the information you need to assess the enquiry.
A project-based business might ask for the deliverables, deadline and budget range. A supplier might ask for the product specification, quantity and destination. Ask only for information needed at this first stage; sensitive documents can wait for an appropriate private conversation.
Use a route you monitor and are comfortable making public: a business website, business email or a contact link supported by the directory. Test it as someone outside your account. Do not promise a response time you cannot maintain.
Keep account-access and private follow-up details separate from public customer contacts. On Mercator, the reply address supplied with an introduction stays private unless you separately select and approve it for publication.
7. The right details in the right fields
Prepare a master description, then adapt it to each directory. Follow its current category, address, contact, image and description rules rather than pasting the same block everywhere.
For example, Google’s description guidance sets a 750-character limit, excludes URLs and HTML, and directs businesses to focus on business information rather than promotions. Its dedicated location and contact fields have different purposes.
This checklist is not a ranking formula. Adding more words or filling unrelated fields does not guarantee visibility, enquiries or sales. Choose a platform that fits your business; our guide to where to list your business online compares the main types.
Before you publish
Read the draft as a prospective customer. Can you tell what is offered, whether the location and conditions fit, and what to do next? Does each image or claim have a sound basis? Are all published contacts and personal details intentional?
Keep a copy of the approved wording and review the listing when services, hours, order conditions or contacts change. Remove claims that are no longer current.
Publisher disclosure: Zero Ceremony publishes this guide and operates Mercator. Our free business listing offer starts with an introduction and private follow-up. We prepare a proposed description and contact arrangement for your approval before publication; no Mercator account is required. You can request corrections, a pause or removal in the same conversation.
If you do not have a website, you can still prepare the information above. See how to list your business without a website for a first-listing workflow and an introduction template.