Google Business Profile only lets you choose from its own list. Google's help page says: if the specific category you want isn't available, select a general category that describes your business. You can't create your own.
Step by step
- Try other wordings. Type the main noun only ("clinic", "repair", "school") and scroll the suggestions; Google's names are often more formal or more specific than everyday words.
- Pick the closest general category that is still true for the whole business ("this business IS a…").
- Put the specifics elsewhere: the exact service in your Services list, your speciality in the description (max 750 characters), and photos showing the work.
- Check what similar businesses near you use. Search the service on Google Maps and note the category shown under each top result. Use it as a sanity check, not a template.
- Re-check occasionally. Category lists differ by country and change over time.
Categories that may not appear in every account or country
In our guides these categories are marked verify: they exist for some accounts but may be missing from yours. Open one to see who uses it and which alternatives fit:
- Conference center
- Delivery Restaurant
- Fish and chips restaurant
- Payroll service
- Security system installation service
- Takeout Restaurant
What not to do
- Don't pick a more 'popular' category that isn't true. Category mismatches can confuse customers and can draw a review of your profile.
- Don't put the missing category word into your business name. Google treats extra keywords in the name as a guideline violation.
- Don't create a second profile to hold a second category.
Google's official help on this
- Manage your business category (Google Business Profile Help)
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google (Google Business Profile Help)
Common questions
Can I request a new category from Google?
Google doesn't offer a public form for this on its category help page; it says to choose a general category if the specific one isn't available.
Why can my competitor use a category I can't find?
Category availability can differ by country, language and account, and some categories are retired over time. Pick from what your own dropdown offers.
Honest note: This page summarises Google's own public help articles (linked above) plus common-sense checks. We are not Google and can't see inside your account, so we can't promise any outcome: Google alone decides suspensions, appeals, verification and rankings. Google changes its tools and wording often, so if anything here differs from what you see, follow Google's current help page.
Other profile problems
- Google Business Profile suspended or disabled: what to do
- Google Business Profile verification failed: what to try next
- Google Business Profile verification pending or stuck
- How to change your Google Business Profile category
- Service-area business vs storefront: hide your address or show it?
- Your business isn't showing on Google Maps: find out why
- Duplicate Google Business Profiles: how to clean them up
- Google Business Profile name rules (and why keyword-stuffing gets profiles suspended)
- Google reviews disappeared or not showing: why, and what you can do
- Someone else owns your Google Business Profile: how to request ownership
- Writing your Google Business Profile description (750-character limit)
- Your Google Business Profile edits aren't showing (or Google changed them)
- How to report a fake or unfair Google review (and when it can be removed)
- Add or remove an owner or manager on your Google Business Profile