Google Business Profile for taxi drivers: how to set one up

Why a Google Business Profile matters for taxi drivers

When someone searches "taxi near me" or "taxi in [your town]" on their phone, Google shows a map with three highlighted businesses — the "local pack" — above the ordinary results. A Google Business Profile is how you appear there. It's free, it's owned by you (not an app), and for local taxi work it's where most "I need a car now or later" demand actually lands. Every booking it sends you is direct and commission-free.

Step 1 — Create or claim your profile

Go to Google Business Profile and search for your business name first — Google may already have generated a listing that you can claim rather than duplicate. If nothing exists, create a new profile. You'll verify ownership (usually by phone, text, or a postcard code) before it goes fully live. Use one consistent business name — your trading name — exactly as it appears on your other listings.

Step 2 — Choose the right category

Set your primary category to "Taxi service" (or the closest match Google offers for your work, such as an airport-shuttle category as a secondary one). The category is one of the strongest signals Google uses to decide which searches you show up for, so getting it right matters more than almost anything else on the profile. Don't stuff unrelated categories — pick the ones that genuinely describe what you do.

Step 3 — Set a service area, not a shop address

Most drivers don't have a public office, and you don't need one. Google lets a service-area business hide its street address and instead list the towns and areas it covers. Set your service area to the places you actually work — your council area and the routes you run — so you rank for those searches without publishing your home address. This is Google's intended setup for businesses that travel to the customer.

Step 4 — Add your booking page as the website

The profile lets you add a website link and a phone number. Point the website at your own booking page — the one that takes direct requests — not at an app or a social account. That turns a Maps search into a booking you keep in full. Add your WhatsApp/booking number as the phone so passengers can reach you in one tap. Original Drivers gives every driver a free booking page built for exactly this link.

Step 5 — Fill in hours, photos and details

Complete every field — Google favours complete profiles:

• Hours — including whether you cover nights and weekends. Mark 24-hour if that's you.
• Real photos — a clean, ideally sign-written car, inside and out. Genuine photos build trust and lift clicks; avoid stock images.
• Attributes and services — wheelchair access, card payments, airport transfers, larger vehicles. These help you match need-specific searches.
• A short description — who you are, your area, your licence. Licensed and local is the message.

Step 6 — Get reviews (the ranking fuel)

Reviews are the biggest lever for local ranking and the thing that converts a search into a booking. After a good trip, ask — a quick "if today was helpful, a Google review really helps" with your direct review link, sent by WhatsApp, works well. Google's guidelines prohibit fake or incentivised reviews, so never buy them or offer a discount for one; ask genuine passengers honestly and reply to every review, good or bad.

A note for private-hire drivers

Your Business Profile is marketing, not a booking operator — so it's fine for both hackney carriage and private-hire (PHV) drivers. Just remember that PHV bookings must still be recorded through a licensed operator, so the profile is how people find you, and your operator record is how the booking is logged. Keep your listed name and licence details consistent with your council record.

The bottom line

A Google Business Profile is the highest-value free thing a taxi driver can set up: right category, honest service area, your own booking page as the website, real photos, and a steady trickle of genuine reviews. Do that and you own a spot in local search that no app can switch off.