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Represent your real service area
Apply the area cap and approximate travel guidance to a SAB or hybrid business.
This written lesson is currently in English. Thai lesson translations and narration are planned.
This lesson is ready to read and practise. English narration is awaiting production and source review; Thai narration follows next.
Understand
A service area tells customers where you visit or deliver to them. A service-area business does not receive customers at its base; a hybrid business both receives customers at an eligible location and visits or delivers. An ordinary storefront does not need an area list simply to attract visitors from surrounding towns. Classify the operating model before editing.
Use areas the business genuinely serves, with no more than 20 entries. Google's guidance describes an overall boundary of about two hours' driving from the base, with exceptions depending on the business; it is not a hard circular radius or an automatic suspension finding. Use the supported named areas rather than an invented radius. Protect a hidden address and document uncertain coverage for owner review.
Practice example
A fictional plumber visits customers and has no walk-in workshop. Draft the real areas served, check travel evidence with the owner, and confirm the base address stays hidden in public proof.
RIM coaching: Count entries and explain the real operating model. Label unusually distant work for review rather than claiming Google has automatically rejected the business.
Read the original source below. Identify which features apply to your business and which facts you need to confirm before making changes.
- Google Service Business Profile Playbook 2026Original Google instruction
- Current service-area guidanceCurrent Google policy
Practise
Apply to your business
List the areas actually served, keep within 20, and review travel beyond about two hours against current Google guidance and the real business model.
This action applies to service-area and hybrid businesses. A storefront-only business can document that it does not apply.
Keep proof of your work
A dated area list and operating-model explanation; exceptions require owner review, not an automatic suspension claim.
A saved note is an owner report. Evidence is checked separately; keep drafts, applied changes and public observations distinct.
Check what changed
Recheck when service coverage changes.
Your learning record
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