How to Use Google Business Profile Posts
Updates, Offers and Events: Which to Use, What Gets Rejected, and What to Post
Short answer
Google Business Profile posts are short updates, offers or events published to your profile in Google Search and Maps. Use Updates for news, Offers for time-limited deals and Events for dated happenings. Add a photo and one action button, keep phone numbers out of the text, and post regularly, because posts older than six months are archived.
1. What are Google Business Profile posts, and where do they appear?
They are short posts attached to your business listing. On mobile they appear in the Updates or Overview tabs of your profile in Search and Maps, and on desktop in the "From the owner" section.
- Google Business Profile post
- A short update, offer or event that a business publishes to its Google Business Profile, shown to people viewing the profile in Google Search and Google Maps.
- Also known as: Google posts, GBP posts
Google says posts show in the Updates or Overview tabs of the profile on mobile, on Search and Maps, and in the "From the owner" section on a computer [s1]. The audience is unusual for social content: people who searched for you by name, or for a category near them, and are deciding whether to visit, call or book.
That makes the job of a post different from a feed post. It does not need to stop a scroll. It needs to answer the question a near-ready customer has right now: is this place open, is there a deal, is something happening, can I book.
2. Which post type should I use: Update, Offer or Event?
Use an Update for news and general information, an Offer for a promotion with a start and end date, and an Event for something happening at a specific time. The type decides the required fields and the button.
| Type | Use it for | Required | Optional | Button |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Update | News, new products, opening hours changes, behind the scenes | Description | Photo or video, action button with a link | Optional, such as booking or ordering |
| Offer | Discounts, promotions, limited-time deals | Title, start and end dates and times | Description, photo or video, coupon code, link, terms and conditions | "View offer" is added automatically |
| Event | Workshops, tastings, launches, open days | Title, start and end dates and times | Description, photo or video, action button | Optional |
3. How long do Google Business Profile posts stay visible?
Google archives posts older than six months unless a date range is set. Offers and Events carry their own dates, so plan them to match the promotion or the event exactly.
Google's help page states that posts older than six months are archived unless a date range is set [s1]. Posts are also shown newest first, so every new post pushes older ones down the list: an Offer that is still valid can be buried under a newer Update.
What that means for planning:
- Set Offer and Event dates to match reality. An offer that ended last week but still shows is worse than no offer.
- Avoid publishing a low-value Update on top of a live Offer you want people to see.
- Post often enough that the newest post is recent. A profile whose latest post is months old looks unattended to the customer reading it.
Google's posting tool also lets you schedule a post for later and set it to repeat weekly, monthly or on a custom schedule [s1]. Repeating works well for standing information, such as a weekly special, and badly for anything that should read as news.
4. Why do Google Business Profile posts get rejected?
Most rejections come from contact details in the text, content that breaks Google's prohibited content policies, or media that does not meet the photo and video requirements. Keep phone numbers in the button, not the description.
Check these before publishing:
- No unverified contact details in the text. Google may remove posts with phone numbers, email addresses or social media handles it cannot verify as belonging to the business [s2]. Use the profile's verified phone number and the "Call now" option instead.
- Hotels: no Offer posts and no links to deals or discounts [s2].
- Content has to comply with applicable law and with Google's prohibited and restricted content policies [s2].
- Photos in JPG or PNG between 10 KB and 5 MB, at least 250 by 250 pixels, with 720 by 720 recommended; in focus, well lit and without heavy filters [s3].
- Videos up to 30 seconds and 75 MB, at 720p or higher [s3].
5. What should a small business post on its Google profile?
Whatever answers the near-ready customer: what is new, what is on offer, what is happening, and what changed about hours or services. Use a fixed structure per type so posts take minutes to write.
Fill-in structures for each post type. The example business is an invented local bike repair shop.
- Update: [what is new] + [why it matters] + [action]. Example: "We now service e-bike motors in house. Most repairs are back to you within the week instead of being sent away. Book a slot online." Photo: the workshop or the part, not a stock image. Button: book.
- Offer: [deal] + [who] + [until when] + [how to claim]. Title: "Spring tune-up, reduced price". Dates: the exact promotion window. Description: who qualifies and what is included. Terms: exclusions in plain language. Coupon code only if you actually check it at the counter.
- Event: [what] + [when] + [who it suits] + [what to bring]. Title: "Free puncture repair workshop". Dates and times: start and end. Description: one line on who it suits and one on what they will leave able to do. Button: sign up or learn more.
- Change: [what changed] + [from when] + [alternative]. Post it as an Update the day you know, and update the profile hours as well. Customers read the post, but Google uses the hours field for opening times.Changing the hours field is the part that matters for "open now" searches. The post explains the change; it does not replace it.
Put the point in the first line. Someone deciding where to go reads the start of a post and skips the rest, so write for the customer standing outside deciding, not for a follower.
6. How do I measure whether Google Business Profile posts work?
Tag the button link with UTM parameters so visits from posts show separately in your analytics, and compare bookings, calls and direction requests in the weeks you post against the weeks you do not.
Profile activity such as calls, direction requests and website clicks comes from many things besides posts, including reviews, photos and search demand. Posts are one input. The cleanest signal you control is the link: tag it with a source of google and a medium that identifies the business profile, so that post traffic is not mixed with organic search traffic in your analytics.
Then judge posts on the action they asked for. An Offer is working if coupon redemptions or bookings rise during its window. An Event is working if people turn up. An Update is working if the question it answered stops being asked on the phone.
Oppira Studio can publish to Google Business on schedule alongside your social channels, with UTM-tagged links and promotions that carry a was-price and an expiry date read from your product catalogue. Every post waits for approval before it goes out.
Key Takeaways
Three types, three jobs
Updates for news, Offers for dated promotions with an automatic "View offer" button, Events for dated happenings.
Posts are archived after six months
Unless a date range is set. Posts also display newest first, so a new Update can bury a live Offer.
Keep contact details out of the text
Unverified phone numbers, emails and handles can get a post removed. Use the verified phone number and button instead.
Write for the customer about to decide
Profile viewers are near-ready. Answer whether you are open, what is on offer and how to book, in the first line.
Posts do not replace profile fields
Hours changes belong in the hours field. The post explains; the field is what Google uses for opening times.
Tag the button link
UTM parameters separate post traffic from organic search, which is the only clean measurement you fully control.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- Create and manage posts on your Business Profile Google Business Profile Help, September 2026.Post types, required fields, where posts appear, archiving, scheduling and repeating posts.
- Posts content policy Google Business Profile Help, September 2026.Rules on contact details, hotel offers and prohibited content in posts.
- Business Profile photos and videos Google Business Profile Help, September 2026.Photo and video format, size and resolution requirements.
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