Frequently Asked Questions

What are GBP APIs?

The Business Profile APIs are programming interfaces that let developers write applications to manage their Business Profile account and location data. The APIs let merchants or their representatives to manage how their data is presented across Google and control who co-manages their data. User-created data, such as photos, posts, and reviews, can also be managed through the APIs.

The Business Profile APIs offer almost the same features as the Business Profile user interface with some additional features specific to the APIs. Users of the APIs can expect Google updates to occur just as they do for users of the user interface.

Who can get access to GBP APIs?

GBP APIs aren't open to the public. Users have to request access to GBP APIs to use them. Any individual or company who can demonstrate legal business reason to access GBP APIs are approved for access. A few recommendations to demonstrate legality as a business are:

  • Use a valid business email address that is tied to your business domain.
  • Ensure that the business website is updated and live.

Does having access to GBP APIs allow a user to query any Google Business Profile data?

No. Even if you get access to GBP APIs, you can't query a Google Business Profile data unless you have access to that particular Google Business Profile.

What are the relevant policies for GBP API users?

Partners need to be compliant with Google Business Profile policies along with all API policies and terms and conditions.

How do users get access to GBP API?

To successfully create your first client application, you must complete the following prerequisites:

  1. Get a Google Account.
  2. Try out Business Profile.
  3. Create a project in the Google API Console.
  4. Request access to the API: Requests are reviewed within 14 days.

How do users get access to a certain API within GBP API?

There are eight APIs associated with Business Profile that must be enabled in the Google API Console:

  • Google My Business API 4.9, that includes the following important feature API calls:
    • FoodMenus
    • Media
    • Reviews
    • LocalPosts
  • My Business Account Management API
  • My Business Lodging API
  • My Business Place Actions API
  • My Business Notifications API
  • My Business Verifications API
  • My Business Business Information API
  • My Business Q&A API
  • Business Profile Performance API

If a user's application to request access is approved, they are granted with a standard default quota for all eight APIs.

How does access to GBP API work?

GBP API access is granted on a Google Cloud project level. If a user A has applied for Google Business Profile API access for project # - 12345678, then access is granted to the project # - 12345678. As such any user including user A with access to the Google Cloud project can make calls to the Google Business Profile APIs. Partners must control access to the Google Cloud project on a need to access basis to avoid abuse.

Do you have a summary of the APIs and example capabilities?

Refer to the following table to know about different APIs and their capabilities.

API Reference documentation Example capabilities
Account Management API Documentation
  • Manage access to a location.
  • Creates an account with the specified name and type under the given parent.
  • Lists all of the accounts for the authenticated user.
  • Lists pending invitations for the specified account.
  • Moves a location from an account that the user owns to another account.
  • Updates the administrator for the specified location.
Business Information API Documentation
  • The Business Information API allows to manage profile lifecycle and add or manage business information on the GBP.
  • Allows merchants to get, create, update, or delete Google business profiles.
  • Allows merchants to get or update profile attributes.
  • Allows merchants to get or search for chains, profile categories.
Lodging API Documentation
  • Allows management of lodging data, for example, property amenities, and policies for businesses on Google. The API is specific to businesses that provide lodging services, such as hotels. Lodging API allows developers to update lodging attributes of a Google Business Profile.
Place Actions API Documentation
  • Allows management of place action links on businesses.
  • Redirect users to perform actions such as book an appointment, make a table reservation, and order food delivery.
Notifications API Documentation
  • Enables management of notification settings for specified accounts.
Verifications API Documentation
  • Starts the verification process for a location.
  • Reports all eligible verification options for a location in a specific language.
Q&A API Documentation
  • Allows the management of a location's questions and answers.
Business Profile Performance API Documentation
  • Allows merchants to fetch performance insights about their business listing on Google.
  • Insights include business impressions, direction requests, call clicks, website clicks, bookings, food orders, menu interactions, and more.
Media API Documentation
  • Allows API developers to upload photos and videos for a business profile.
Reviews API Documentation
  • Allows merchants to get reviews and reply to reviews on a business profile.
Local Posts API Documentation
  • Allows merchants to get, create, or update local posts.
FoodMenus API Documentation
  • Allows merchants to get, create, or update food menus for a business profile.

How can partners set up their account structure to use GBP APIs?

If you are a third-party partner who performs listing management for businesses:

How do businesses give authorization to a GBP API partner to manage their business listing?

Businesses grant access to a 3P partner in two ways:

  • OAuth setup: Refer to this guide to understand how 3P partner platforms use merchant credentials to edit and access Google Business Profile data on behalf of the merchant or business.

  • Owner or manager access: If a 3P partner is added as a manager of the Google Business Profile by the merchant, who should be the primary owner of the GBP, then the 3P partner need not use merchant credentials to use GBP APIs to edit and access GBP data.

    Note: We strongly recommend that 3P partners don't add themselves as owner of the GBP but only add themselves as manager.

If a business has 10+ locations, is there a way to bulk verify?

Yes. You can request bulk verification for 10+ profiles. After verification, published chain locations can be managed with the Business Profile APIs in the same manner as other locations are managed, with some exceptions. For example, site managers are treated differently, and they can add themselves to franchise locations.

What are the quota limits for the various APIs?

The standard quota limits are listed in the Usage limits. If you need higher limits, you can submit a standard quota request.

How much quota can I request?

Quota is a limited resource. GBP API support team determines your quota increase request eligibility by confirming your past quota usage. If your average quota usage is less than 70% of your current quota limits, you might be denied any further increase in your quota limits.

Can GBP API partners create a test account for prod?

No. Unfortunately, there's no direct way to create a fake GBP listing in prod either through GBP UI or API and test against it.

Most of the fake listings that are created get flagged by our moderation and suspended. The advice is to either use a client listing and work with it after hours (provided you don't change any primary information of the listing, such as name, address, category) or you create a listing for your company headquarters. If you want to test an API response to verify a listing or any other action that requires a prod listing, then you can use mock API responses.