GBP photos are the images attached to a Google Business Profile, shown in Search, in Maps and in the photo gallery people open when they tap your listing. Some are uploaded by the business; many are added by customers, and Google decides which ones appear first.
How GBP photos work
As the owner you can upload a logo, a cover photo and as many other images as you like: the outside of the premises, the inside, the team, products and finished work. Video can be added in the same place. Customers can also upload photos when they leave a review or contribute to Maps, and those appear in the gallery alongside yours, usually labelled by source.
You choose a cover photo, but Google does not always show it. It may pick another image that it thinks better matches the search, such as a photo of a specific dish when someone searched for that dish. Photos are also checked against Google’s content policies, and images that are mainly text, adverts, stock pictures or unrelated to the business can be rejected or taken down.
The gallery is sorted into tabs such as “By owner”, “Street View”, “Videos” and sometimes themes Google detects, like “Food”. At the time of writing (October 2026), owners cannot delete a customer’s photo, but they can report it if it breaks the policies.
Why they matter
Photos answer practical questions before anyone calls. Is there parking? Is the salon modern or traditional? What does the shopfront look like, so I can find it on a busy high street? For a service business they show the standard of work: a kitchen fitter’s finished kitchens or a landscaper’s before-and-after gardens do more than any description.
They also affect who clicks. When three businesses sit side by side in the local pack, a clear photo of real work stands out against a blurry logo. That is about winning the click once you are visible; I have not seen evidence that simply uploading more photos moves a profile up the rankings.
Common mistakes
- Uploading stock images. They tell customers nothing true and can be removed.
- Leaving the first photos customers see to chance, so an old, dark interior shot from years ago leads the gallery.
- Adding text, prices or offers on top of images. Put offers in GBP posts instead.
- Believing that adding geotags to photo files will boost local rankings. There is no good evidence that it does, and the location data is generally removed when the image is published.
- Ignoring customer photos, including unflattering ones that you could answer by adding better, current images.
- Showing photos of clients or customers’ homes without their permission.
How to act on it
Open your profile as a customer would and look at the first six images. If they are out of date, blurred or misleading, replace them. Then build a small set of honest, well-lit photos that answer the questions people ask you on the phone: the entrance, where to park, the space inside, the team and examples of the work.
Take them on a phone in good daylight, keep them landscape where possible, and name the files sensibly before upload. Add new photos when something changes, such as a refit, a new service or a new team member, rather than on a fixed quota. For jobs at customers’ homes, ask permission before photographing and avoid anything that identifies the address.
Photos are one part of the profile work in Google Business Profile optimisation. If your images also live on your website, the same files can support image SEO with good file names and alt text.