For a local business, the profile photos are effectively the storefront. They appear in search, in maps and in the knowledge panel, often before anyone visits the website.
The Specifications
- Format: JPG or PNG.
- Size: between 10 KB and 5 MB.
- Recommended resolution: 720 × 720 px minimum; 1200 × 900 or larger is better.
- Aspect ratio: 4:3 is displayed most reliably; square works well for the logo.
- Logo: square, 720 × 720 px.
- Cover photo: 1080 × 608 px (16:9) recommended.
Quality standard: sharp, well-lit, no heavy filters, no added text or borders, and no stock photography of a business that isn't yours. Google can remove images that look promotional rather than representative.
The Cover Photo Misunderstanding
Setting a cover photo tells Google which image you *prefer* to feature — it does not guarantee that image is shown. Google's algorithm picks what to display per surface and per user, and customer-uploaded photos frequently outrank yours.
The practical implication: you can't control the single hero image, so make sure every photo you upload is good enough to be the first one someone sees.
Photo Types That Matter
Upload across all categories; each gets used in different contexts:
- Exterior — several angles, including how the entrance looks from the street. This is what helps someone find you, and it correlates strongly with direction requests.
- Interior — the space as a customer experiences it on arrival.
- Product — clear, well-lit items with prices where relevant.
- Team/at work — builds trust for service businesses.
- Menu/service list — photograph flat and straight, or upload a clean digital version; blurry angled menu photos are a common failure.
Practical Habits
- Post regularly. Freshness affects both ranking signals and how active a business looks. A few new photos monthly beats a single upload of forty images.
- Shoot at the time customers visit. An evening restaurant photographed at noon looks wrong.
- Fix orientation before uploading. Sideways photos are common and look careless.
- Strip location metadata? No — but be aware of it. For a business address this is fine, but if you also manage personal accounts from the same phone, know which photos carry GPS.
- Compress sensibly: keep files between ~200 KB and 1 MB. Above the 5 MB limit uploads fail; far below 10 KB they're rejected.
Finally, encourage customer photos. They're weighted heavily, they appear whether you like it or not, and the best defence against an unflattering customer photo dominating your listing is a steady supply of better ones.