For most home inspector profiles the best primary category is Home inspector — use it when: pre-purchase / pre-listing inspections. Most trades are service-area businesses: the category tells Google what you do, and your service areas (up to 20) tell it where. Neither needs keyword-stuffing.
Open the free tool for a home inspector → tick what you really offer and get a copy-ready setup sheet
Primary category
- Home inspector — Pre-purchase / pre-listing inspections who else uses it
Secondary (additional) categories
Add one only if the condition is genuinely true at this location. Fewer, accurate categories beat a full list of nine.
- Surveyor — only if: building surveys (UK) who else uses it
Categories to avoid
These are often added to home inspector profiles but usually describe a different or broader business:
- Real estate agency
- General contractor
Address or service area?
Usually set up as a service-area business: hide the street address and list the cities, ZIP codes or postcodes you genuinely serve (up to 20). Don't create a separate listing for each town. Service-area vs storefront rules.
Starter services to add
Categories say what you are; services say what you do. Good first entries:
- Pre-purchase inspection
- Pre-listing inspection
- Radon test
Check before you change anything
Search “home inspector” on Google Maps in your own area, open the top few profiles and note their primary category (shown under the business name). Use what's common as a sanity check, not a template — your categories must describe your business. Ready to switch? How to change your category safely.
Profile problems?
Suspended, stuck in verification, or not showing on Maps? See the free fix guides: suspended profile · verification failed · not on Maps · name rules.