Guide · Get found on Google
Google Business Profile for Singapore property agents
The short answer
Some property agents can have their own Google Business Profile. Some can't. Google lists real estate agents as "individual practitioners", but you still have to meet its rules, the big one being that you meet clients in person.
If you qualify, set it up under your own name, as a service-area profile with your home address hidden. Then ask every client for an honest review, with no gifts and no picking only the happy ones.
I set up Google Business Profiles as part of the websites I build for agents. The first question is always the same: "Am I even allowed one?" This guide answers that from Google's own words, not from blogs, then walks you through set-up and reviews.
Can a property agent have a Google Business Profile?
Often, yes. But it is not automatic. Google sets two kinds of rules, and you need to pass both.
Rule one applies to every business. Google's eligibility page says:
"To qualify for a Business Profile, a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours."
Google Business Profile Help, Business eligibility and ownership guidelines
Most agents pass this one easily. You meet buyers at viewings. You sit down with sellers at their homes. You meet tenants at the flat. That is in-person contact. A business that only works online does not qualify.
Rule two is about people who work under a firm. Google has a section for "individual practitioners", and it names our industry:
"Doctors, dentists, lawyers, financial planners, and insurance or real estate agents are all individual practitioners."
Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google
The same page says a practitioner should create their own profile if they work in a public-facing role:
"An individual practitioner should create their own dedicated Business Profile if: They operate in a public-facing role."
"Support staff should not create their own Business Profiles."
Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google
Google's page also says that sales associates and lead generation agents for corporations are not counted as individual practitioners, so they are not eligible. A Product Expert guide in Google's own help community puts it this way for our trade:
"Public-facing real estate agents are eligible for a profile if they directly interact with customers and publicly represent themselves locally through marketing, branding, and signage."
Google Business Profile Community, Real Estate Profile Best Practices (a community guide, not an official Google policy)
You likely qualify if…
- Clients deal with you directly, by name.
- You meet them in person: viewings, valuations, sign-ups.
- You market yourself as you: name card, ads, your own site.
- You can be reached during the hours you list.
You may not qualify if…
- You only make cold calls or pass leads on to other agents.
- You are an assistant or admin, not the agent clients deal with.
- You work fully online and never meet clients.
- You want a second profile for each area or property type.
Last thing before you start: ask your agency. Some agencies have their own rules about personal profiles and branding. It is easier to ask now than to take a profile down later.
Your own profile vs your agency's listing
These are two different things.
- Your agency's listing is for the firm and its office. The agency manages it. Reviews on it are about the firm.
- Your own profile is for you, the person clients deal with. You manage it. Reviews on it are about you, and they stay with you.
Don't try to merge the two. Google's practitioner rules say that where several public-facing practitioners share one location, each practitioner's profile name should be their own name and should not include the name of the organisation. In plain words: your profile is you, not the agency.
Also keep it to one profile. Google says practitioners should not have several profiles to cover each of their specialities. So no separate "rental" profile and "resale" profile. One person, one profile.
If you change agency later, your profile is still about you. Update the details that changed, like the agency name in your description and your hours, and carry on.
Set it up as a service area and hide your home address
Most agents don't have a shopfront where clients walk in. You go to them. Google calls this a service-area business. You give an address so Google can check you are real, then you hide it and show the areas you serve instead.
"If you don't serve customers at your business address, such as for a service-area business, you can choose to not show your address and list your service area instead."
"You should only choose to not show your address if your business is a service-area business."
Google Business Profile Help, Manage your business address and Manage your service areas
If you work from home, this is the setting you want. Your home address stays private. People see the areas you cover, not where you live.
Choosing your service areas
Google says, "You can have up to 20 service areas." In Singapore, I'd pick the towns or areas you really know and really work in. For example: Tampines, Pasir Ris, Bedok. Ten honest areas beat twenty you never set foot in.
Never use a virtual office
It is tempting to rent a nice business address. Don't. Google's guidelines say a rented mailing address where you don't actually operate (a virtual office) is not eligible. A co-working desk only counts if it has clear signage, you receive customers there during business hours, and it is staffed by your own people during those hours. Source: Google's guidelines for representing your business.
Can you use your agency's office address instead? Only if that address truly meets Google's rules for you, and your agency agrees. For most agents, a service-area profile from home, address hidden, is the simple and honest choice.
Your name: real name only, no keywords
This is the rule agents break most. It is tempting to write "Best Condo Agent Tampines" as your name. Google says no:
"Including unnecessary information in your business name isn't permitted, and could result in the suspension of your Business Profile."
Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google
Google's help page on editing your profile says to enter your name "exactly as it appears on your real world business signage, stationery, and other branding". Source: Edit your Business Profile. For an agent, that is the name on your name card. I'd use the same name you are registered under with CEA, so it matches everywhere.
- Tan Mei LingGood. Just your name, as on your name card.
- Tan Mei Ling | Condo Specialist EastNot allowed. A description stuffed into the name.
- Tan Mei Ling – 9123 4567Not allowed. Phone numbers don't go in the name.
- Top Property Agent SingaporeNot allowed. Not a real name, and a claim you can't back up.
"Tan Mei Ling" is a made-up name used only as an example.
Put what you do in the right places instead: your category, your service areas and your description.
Pick the closest category Google offers
Your category tells Google what you do. You can't type in your own. You choose from Google's list.
Google's help page explains that if you choose several categories, "the category in the first field will be your primary category". You can add up to nine more after that. Source: Edit your Business Profile.
- Primary category: type "real estate" in the category box and pick the closest match to what you do day to day.
- Extra categories: only add ones that are really true. Fewer, accurate categories beat a long list.
- Don't use categories as keywords. Google's guidelines say categories should describe your business, not serve as keywords.
Google's list changes from time to time, so check the options on screen when you set it up rather than copying a label from a blog.
Photos and description
Photos
- A clear photo of your face. Recent, friendly, well lit. People want to know who will meet them.
- You at work. At a viewing or a handover, if you have one you like.
- Homes only with permission. Use photos you took or are allowed to use, and get the owner's OK before you show their home.
- No stock photos of strangers. If the photo isn't you or your real work, leave it out.
Description
Write a few short lines, the way you'd introduce yourself at a viewing. Who you help, where, and how to reach you.
I help HDB families in the east sell and move up to their next home. I'll walk you through every step, from valuation to handover, in plain English. WhatsApp me any time to ask a question.
Leave out "number one", "top agent" or "most trusted". You can't prove it, and clients see through it. A profile also promotes you in public, so I'd treat it like any other ad. My CEA advertising rules guide lists the details CEA expects on your ads, and they are worth keeping consistent here too.
How to get Google reviews as a property agent, the right way
Reviews are where a profile earns its keep. A buyer who has never met you reads what past clients say. So ask for them. Just ask the right way, because Google is strict here.
What Google does not allow
Google's Maps content policy lists these as not allowed for merchants:
"Offer incentives – such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services - in exchange for posting any review or revision or removal of a negative review."
"Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers."
Maps User Generated Content Policy, Prohibited and restricted content and Fake engagement
Google also treats reviews based on a conflict of interest as rating manipulation. Its policy says this may include "current or former employment, a contractual or consultory relationship or other professional or personal affiliations". So reviews from your colleagues, your team or your family are out.
Do
- Ask every client after a deal, happy or not.
- Send your review link on WhatsApp, while the deal is fresh.
- Thank people, and reply to every review politely.
- Reply to a bad review calmly, without sharing any private details.
Don't
- Offer vouchers, rebates or a lucky draw for a review.
- Ask only the clients you know were happy.
- Ask colleagues, family or friends to review you.
- Tell people what to write or what rating to give.
Get your review link
Google gives you a short link and a QR code that open the review box straight away. In your profile, go to Read reviews, then Get more reviews, then copy the link. Source: Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews. Menus move around, so if the button isn't where I said, search Google's help for "get more reviews".
A message you can send
Hi Mr Lim, thank you again for trusting me with your sale. If you have a minute, would you write an honest review of how I did? It helps other families decide whether I'm right for them. Here's the link: [your review link]. Good or bad, I'd like to hear it.
Notice what it does. It asks for an honest review. It doesn't hint at a star rating. It doesn't offer anything back. And you send the same message to every client.
Link your profile to your own website
Your profile has a website field. Put your own site there, not a generic agency page you can't change. Then the two work as a pair:
- Profile to site. Someone finds you on Google, taps "Website", and lands on your story, your listings and your WhatsApp button.
- Site to profile. On your site, add a "Read my Google reviews" link to your profile. People trust reviews they can check on Google.
- Same details everywhere. Your name, phone number and WhatsApp should match on your profile, your website, your portal profiles and your name card.
If you want to quote a review word for word on your website, ask the reviewer first. It is their words and their name.
Not sure what your site should have on it? My guide to what to put on a property agent website goes through it section by section.
What a profile can do, and what it can't
A good profile helps people who search for you by name find you, see your reviews and contact you. It gives a referral a quick way to check you out. Creating one is free; Google says you can add or claim your business at no charge. Source: Add or claim your Business Profile.
What it can't do is promise you a spot in the results. Nobody controls that except Google. Google says it "doesn't guarantee that it will crawl, index, or serve your page", even when a page follows its guidelines. Source: Google's guide to how Search works. Anyone who promises you a top spot on Google Maps is guessing, or worse.
So treat your profile like a shop window, not a lead machine. Keep it accurate, keep asking for honest reviews, and send people to it yourself: in your WhatsApp signature, on your name card, after every deal.
Set-up checklist
- Check you qualify. Read the eligibility section above. If you're not sure, read Google's own pages linked below.
- Ask your agency. Check if it has any rules about personal profiles.
- Use your own Google account. Not a shared office login. The profile is yours, so the account should be too.
- Enter your real name. Exactly as on your name card. No keywords.
- Pick your primary category. The closest match Google offers.
- Add your address for verification, then hide it. Set it up as a service-area business and list the areas you really serve.
- Verify. Google will ask you to prove the business is yours. Follow the steps it shows you.
- Add your phone, hours and website. Use your real WhatsApp number and your own site.
- Add photos and a short description. You, your work, plain words.
- Copy your review link. Save it in WhatsApp so you can send it after every deal.
Questions agents ask me
Can a property agent have a Google Business Profile?
Yes, if you meet Google's rules. Google lists real estate agents as individual practitioners. You need to be public-facing, deal with clients directly and meet them in person.
Will my home address show?
Not if you set it up as a service-area business and choose not to show your address. People then see your service areas instead.
Can I give a small gift to clients who leave a review?
No. Google's policy does not allow payment, discounts or free goods or services in exchange for a review. A thank-you gift at handover is fine, as long as it has nothing to do with a review.
Will a profile get me more leads?
It can help people find and trust you, but no one can promise rankings or enquiries. Treat it as one part of how people check you out, next to your website and your portal profile.
What happens if I break the rules?
Google says unnecessary information in your name could get your profile suspended, and it removes reviews that break its policy. It's not worth the risk.