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Key takeaways
- You get one primary category plus up to nine additional ones, ten in total.
- The primary category carries far more weight than the additional ones, so it should be the most specific match for the work you most want.
- Adding every loosely related category dilutes rather than broadens. A tight primary plus two or three genuinely relevant extras is the pattern that works.
- You cannot invent a category. If yours is not on Google's list, pick the closest and carry the exact wording in your services and description instead.
A Google Business Profile can carry one primary category and up to nine additional categories, ten in total, and you change them in Edit profile under Business category. The primary category is the one that matters: it tells Google what the business fundamentally is, and it influences which searches you are eligible for more than any other field on the listing apart from the name.
Most trade profiles get this wrong in the same way. They either leave a vague primary in place from setup, or they load all ten slots with everything vaguely related and wonder why nothing ranks.
How many categories can I add?
Ten: one primary and up to nine additional. Google does not document that limit publicly, but it has held steady. More important than the ceiling is that additional categories have sharply diminishing returns. A tightly chosen primary with two or three genuinely relevant extras consistently outperforms a profile with all ten slots filled, because the extras dilute what the profile is understood to be.
How do I change my Google Business Profile category?
- Open your profile and choose Edit profile, then Business category.
- Set the primary first. Type what you actually do and take the most specific match Google offers, not the broadest.
- Add additional categories only where you genuinely do that work and would happily take the call.
- Save, then leave it alone. Category is a core field, so changing it in the same week as the name or address invites a review.
How do I see which categories my competitors use?
This is the step almost nobody takes, and it removes the guesswork entirely. Search the term you want to rank for, look at the businesses in the top three, and read the categories they have loaded, both primary and secondary. A free browser extension like GMB Everywhere shows them on the listing.
The pattern is usually obvious once you can see it. If every profile in the top three for hot water cylinder replacement carries the same specific primary and you carry a generic one, that is your answer, and it costs nothing to fix.
What if my category is not listed?
You cannot create one. Google's category list is fixed, and it is built for a global market, so some New Zealand trades sit awkwardly in it. Drainlayer, for instance, does not map neatly onto anything American.
When that happens, pick the closest category available and carry the exact wording everywhere else on the profile: in the services section, in each service description, in the business description, and in the reviews you ask customers to leave. Google reads all of it. The category narrows the field you compete in, but the words on the profile decide which searches inside that field you match.
| Field | How much it moves rankings | What to put in it |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | The most of any dropdown on the profile | The single most specific match for the work you most want |
| Additional categories | Some, with diminishing returns after two or three | Only work you genuinely do and would take the call for |
| Services | Meaningful, and almost always left blank | Every service, each with a real description naming the service and the city |
| Business description | Little directly, more for the reader | What you do, where, and your PGDB or LBP registration |
Which primary category should a New Zealand trade use?
Google's list is built globally, so some New Zealand trades map onto it awkwardly. These are the ones that catch people out most often.
| If you are a | The trap | Usually the better primary |
|---|---|---|
| General plumber | Sitting on a broad contractor category | Plumber, then add gasfitting and drainage as additional |
| Gasfitter | Being filed under plumber only | Gasfitter where offered, with plumber additional |
| Drainlayer | There is no clean New Zealand match | The nearest drainage category, with the exact wording used throughout your services |
| Roofer doing long run and repairs | Choosing a materials supplier category | Roofing contractor, with repair as additional |
| Electrician doing domestic and commercial | Splitting across four categories | Electrician, with the specialisms as additional |
Will changing my category lose my rankings?
Changing the primary category changes which searches you are eligible for, so expect movement, and expect some of it to be down before it settles. That is the point of the change rather than a side effect.
Two rules make it safe. Change the primary on its own, not in the same week as the name or the address, because several core edits together look like a different business. And give it three to four weeks before judging the result, since the first few days tell you almost nothing.
Does the primary category matter more than the rest?
Yes, and it is not close. If you only change one thing on your profile this month, make it the primary category, then fill in the services section underneath it. Almost every trade profile we open has that section empty, which is a free advantage sitting there untouched. The rest of the profile checklist is in the Google Business Profile checklist for trade businesses.
Read next: the Google Business Profile checklist and what to do if the profile is suspended.
