Google Business Profile for Government

Optimizing your Google Business Profile isn’t just about visibility—it’s about providing accurate and useful information to the public. By maintaining comprehensive profiles, categorizing appropriately, and managing profiles centrally, government organizations can improve public trust and accessibility.

If you Google your government organization’s name, you’ll likely see a Knowledge Graph displayed on the right-hand side of the search results. This Knowledge Graph provides key details like your agency’s address, phone number, and website. However, it’s common for this information to need updates or corrections.

For instance, the State Treasurer office included below shows that Google has captured the agency’s basic information, but some aspects require attention:

State Treasurer Knowledge Graph

  • Claiming the Profile: The link “Edit your business information” indicates the profile hasn’t been claimed by the agency, leaving it vulnerable to inaccuracies and fraud.

  • Add Business Hours: The “Add full hours” and “Add business hours” links reveal missing or outdated information. Without updated hours, someone may visit the office only to find it closed.

  • Correct Categorization: The Google Business category is listed as “Corporate Office,” which should be corrected to “Department of State Treasury.”

  • Accurate Website Links: The “Website” button links to an outdated page.

Managing Government Google Business Profiles

1. Verify Your Organization

If your agency hasn’t been verified, click “Own this business?” in the Knowledge Graph and follow the steps to claim your profile. Google provides several verification methods, including:

  • Email verification using the address linked to your organization.

  • Phone verification via a call or SMS.

2. Centralize Profile Management

To ensure consistent and accurate updates, assign profile management to a central team, such as your Communications Department.

  • Unified Oversight: A centralized team ensures messaging consistency, reduces errors, and protects against unauthorized access.

  • Avoid Duplicates: Centralized management prevents duplicate profiles that confuse users and dilute your online presence.

  • Shared Access: Use a general team email (e.g., info@agency.gov) to maintain access even if individual employees leave.

3. Keep Information Comprehensive and Updated

  • Include logos, photos, and detailed descriptions to help users identify and trust your organization.

  • Update hours of operation, including holiday schedules, to prevent confusion.

4. Maintain Individual Profiles for Each Office

If your agency operates multiple offices or departments, each should have its own profile:

  • Unique Profiles: Separate offices—such as DMV branches or police precincts—should have distinct profiles with individual contact details and hours.

  • Linked Web Pages: Create individual web pages for each office and link them to the corresponding Google Business Profile for seamless navigation.

5. Assign Google Business Categories

Google Business offers over 4,000 preset categories for classifying organizations, with approximately 10% tailored to or applicable for government entities. Selecting the most specific categories ensures your organization is easily discoverable.

Tips for Choosing Categories:

  • Prioritize Specificity: Choose the most precise category that reflects your organization’s purpose. For instance, select "City Transportation Office" as the primary category rather than a broad category like "City Government Office." Use broader categories as secondary options to enhance search accuracy.

  • Maximize Visibility: Leverage multiple categories to highlight all aspects of your services. For example, designate "City Park" as the primary category for a large park, and add secondary categories like "Dog park," "Playground," or "Disc golf course" to inform the public about specific amenities.

  • Anticipate Category Challenges: Be prepared for inconsistencies in Google’s category system. Some categories may seem oddly included or excluded, with variations in spelling and capitalization. Additionally, some listed categories may not be U.S.-specific, so review options carefully to ensure relevance.

Government Google Business Categories

Google doesn’t organize its business categories into predefined groups, so this article consolidates the categories most relevant to government organizations for easier navigation.

  • Many of the categories listed below can apply to government-owned, nonprofit, or for-profit entities—for example, hospitals may fall under any of these ownership types. If none of the listed categories align with your organization, consider exploring the Google Business for Nonprofits page, as some categories overlap between government and nonprofit sectors, particularly in areas like education, healthcare, and tourism.

  • Additionally, certain categories appear in multiple groupings. For instance, “National Park” is listed under both Federal Government and Parks and Recreation due to its diverse functions and audience.

Government Levels

City Government

  • City Departments

    • City Department of Environment

    • City Department of Public Safety

    • City department of transportation

    • City employment department

  • City administration

  • City clerk’s office

  • City courthouse

  • City district office

  • City government office

  • City or town hall

  • City park

  • City pillar shrine

  • City tax office

Municipal Government

  • Municipal Departments:

    • Municipal Department Agriculture Development

    • Municipal Department Civil Defense

    • Municipal Department Communication

    • Municipal Department Finance

    • Municipal Department Housing and Urban Development

    • Municipal Department of agriculture food supply

    • Municipal Department of Culture

    • Municipal Department of Sports

    • Municipal Department of Tourism

    • Municipal Department Science and Technology

    • Municipal Department Social Defense

    • Municipal Health Department

  • Municipal administration office

  • Municipal corporation

  • Municipal Guard

  • Municipal office education

  • Municipal Social Development

District Government

  • District council

  • District government office

  • District Justice

  • District office

County Government

  • County government office

Regional Government

  • Regional government office

State Government

  • State Departments:

    • Department of State Treasury

    • State Department Agriculture Food Supply

    • State Department Communication

    • State Department Finance

    • State Department for Social Development

    • State Department Housing and Urban Development

    • State Department of agricultural development

    • State Department of Environment

    • State Department of social defense

    • State Department Tourism

    • State Department Transportation

    • State Department Science Technology

    • State Dept of Culture

    • State Dept of Sports

    • State employment department

  • State Archive

  • State government office

  • State office of education

  • State owned farm

  • State park

  • State parliament

Federal Government

  • Federal Agency for Technical Relief

  • Federal government office

  • Federal police

  • Federal reserve bank

  • National forest

  • National library

  • National museum

  • National park

  • National reserve

Specialized Entities

Military

  • Air force base

  • Army barracks

  • Army facility

  • Civil defense

  • Ground self defense force

  • Marine self defense force

  • Military archive

  • Military barracks

  • Military base

  • Military board

  • Military cemetery

  • Military hospital

  • Military recruiting office

  • Military residence

  • Military school

  • Naval base

  • United States Armed Forces Base

Diplomatic

  • Embassy

  • Foreign consulate

Customs and Border

  • Border crossing station

  • Border guard

  • Customs department

  • Customs office

  • Detention center

  • Immigration detention centre

  • Main customs office

  • Passport office

  • Passport agent

  • Visa and passport office

Public Services

Departments

  • Conservation department

  • Department for Regional Development

  • Department of education

  • Department of finance

  • Department of housing

  • Department of motor vehicles

  • Department of Public Safety

  • Department of Social Services

  • Department of State Treasury

  • Department of Transportation

  • Dept of City Treasure

  • Ministry of Education

  • Public health department

  • Public works department

  • Social security financial department

  • Tax department

  • Urban planning department

  • Veterans affairs department

Offices

  • Environment office

  • Government office

  • Land registry office

  • Land surveying office

  • Local government office

  • Office of Vital Records

  • Patent office

  • Pension office

  • Probation office

  • Public safety office

  • Registration office

  • Registry office

  • Social security office

  • Tax collector’s office

  • Unemployment office

  • Voter registration office

Services

  • Animal control service

  • Birth certificate service

  • Career guidance service

  • Crime victim service

  • Environmental health service

  • Forestry service

  • Garbage collection service

  • Sanitation service

  • School bus service

  • Vehicle inspection service

Utilities

  • Electric utility company

  • Electrical substation

  • Filtration plant

  • Gas company

  • Housing utility company

  • Power station

  • Public utility company

  • Thermal power plant

  • Water treatment plant

  • Water utility company

  • Wind farm

Medical

  • General hospital

  • Ambulance service

  • Child health care centre

  • Children Policlinic

  • Children’s hospital

  • Community health centre

  • Emergency room

  • Free clinic

  • Government hospital

  • Heart hospital

  • HIV testing center

  • Hospice

  • Hospital

  • Hospital department

  • Maternity hospital

  • Medical center

  • Organ donation and tissue bank

  • Public medical center

  • Specialized hospital

  • STD clinic

  • STD testing service

  • Surgical center

  • University hospital

  • Veterans hospital

  • Walk-in clinic

Law & Order

  • Carabinieri police

  • Civil police

  • City courthouse

  • Correctional services department

  • Court executive officer

  • District attorney

  • Guardia Civil

  • Guardia Di Finanza Police

  • Halfway house

  • Highway patrol

  • Juvenile detention center

  • Legal affairs bureau

  • Legal aid office

  • Police academy

  • Police officers’ housing

  • Public defender’s office

  • Public prosecutors office

  • Prison

  • State police

  • Traffic officer

Infrastructure

Transport

  • Airport

  • Airstrip

  • Container terminal

  • Cruise terminal

  • Domestic airport

  • Ferry service

  • International airport

  • Port authority

  • Port operating company

  • Regional airport

  • River port

  • Suburban train line

  • Train depot

  • Train ticket agency

  • Train ticket office

  • Train yard

  • Transit depot

Transportation

  • Department of motor vehicles

  • Department of Public Safety

  • Driver and vehicle licensing agency

  • Driver’s license office

  • Driving test center

  • Emergency call booth

  • Free parking lot

  • Park & ride

  • Parking garage

  • Parking lot

  • Parking lot for bicycles

  • Parking lot for motorcycles

  • Pedestrian zone

  • Public parking space

  • Rest stop

  • Toll booth

  • Toll road rest stop

  • Truck stop

Community Spaces

Venue

  • Amphitheater

  • Arena

  • Auditorium

  • Civic center

  • Concert hall

  • Convention center

  • Event venue

  • Exhibition and trade centre

  • Fairground

  • Festival hall

  • Marina

  • Observation deck

  • Philharmonic hall

  • Stadium

  • Stage

  • Technology park

  • Village hall

Parks & Recreation

  • Animal park

  • Arboretum

  • BBQ area

  • Beach pavilion

  • Botanical garden

  • Campground

  • City park

  • Country park

  • Cycling park

  • Dance pavillion

  • Disc golf course

  • Dog park

  • Ecological park

  • Fishing pier

  • Garden

  • Hiking area

  • Hunting area

  • Leisure centre

  • Lido

  • National park

  • National reserve

  • Nudist park

  • Outdoor swimming pool

  • Park

  • Picnic ground

  • Playground

  • Public bathroom

  • Public female bathroom

  • Public male bathroom

  • Public swimming pool

  • Public wheelchair-accessible bathroom

  • Promenade

  • Protected area

  • Recreation center

  • Shelter

  • Swimming basin

  • Swimming lake

  • Swimming pool

Sports Venues

  • American football field

  • Athletic field

  • Athletic park

  • Athletic track

  • Badminton complex

  • Badminton court

  • Baseball field

  • Basketball court

  • Beach volleyball court

  • BMX park

  • BMX track

  • Bocce ball court

  • Canoeing area

  • Cricket ground

  • Golf course

  • Handball court

  • Hockey field

  • Hockey rink

  • Little league field

  • Parkour spot

  • Pickleball court

  • Public golf course

  • Rugby field

  • Skateboard park

  • Soccer field

  • Softball field

  • Tennis court

  • Volleyball court

Tourism

  • Archaeological museum

  • Army museum

  • Art museum

  • Castle

  • Children’s museum

  • City pillar shrine

  • Cultural center

  • Cultural landmark

  • Ethnographic museum

  • Exhibit

  • Handicraft museum

  • Heritage building

  • Heritage museum

  • Heritage preservation

  • Heritage railroad

  • Historical landmark

  • Historical place museum

  • History museum

  • Local history museum

  • Maritime museum

  • Modern art museum

  • Museum

  • Museum of space history

  • Museum of zoology

  • Natural history museum

  • Open air museum

  • Planetarium

  • Rail museum

  • Scenic spot

  • Science museum

  • Sculpture museum

  • Space of remembrance

  • Technology museum

  • Toy museum

  • Tourist attraction

  • Tourist information center

  • Visitor center

  • Wax museum

  • Zoo

Educational

Primary and Secondary Schools

  • Agricultural high school

  • Boarding school

  • Boys’ high school

  • CBSE school

  • Charter school

  • Combined primary and secondary school

  • Community school

  • Comprehensive secondary school

  • Elementary school

  • General education school

  • Girls’ high school

  • Government school

  • Grammar school

  • Hauptschule (lower-tier secondary school)

  • High school

  • Higher secondary school

  • Kindergarten

  • Middle school

  • Military school

  • Montessori school

  • Nursery school

  • Parochial school

  • Preschool

  • Primary school

  • Realschule (middle-tier secondary school)

  • School for the deaf

  • School for the visually impaired

  • Secondary school

  • Senior high school

  • Special education school

  • Vocational gymnasium school

Post-Secondary Education

  • Adult education school

  • College

  • College of agriculture

  • Community college

  • Graduate school

  • Junior college

  • Open university

  • Polytechnic institute

  • Public university

  • Teachers college

  • Technical school

  • Technical university

  • Trade school

  • Vocational school

  • Vocational secondary school

  • University

Miscellaneous

  • Building inspector

  • Cemetery

  • Certification agency

  • Civil registry

  • Emergency management ministry

  • Employment agency

  • Employment center

  • Fire station

  • Garbage dump

  • Government college

  • Government economic program

  • Government hospital

  • Government ration shop

  • Government school

  • Home inspector

  • Housing authority

  • Institute of Geography and Statistics

  • Land planning authority

  • Library

  • License bureau

  • Marriage license bureau

  • Mortuary

  • Post office

  • Provincial council

  • Public housing

  • Public library

  • Reclamation centre

  • Records storage facility

  • Recycling center

  • Recycling drop-off location

  • Refugee camp

  • Regional council

  • Sheltered housing

  • Stock exchange building

  • Tax assessor

  • Veterans center