If you run a mobile business from home, hiding your address can feel like you’re tying one hand behind your back. You still want calls, form fills, and map visibility, but you don’t want strangers showing up at your door.
The good news is that service area business SEO is built for this exact situation. You can rank in local search without publishing your street address, as long as Google (and real customers) can clearly tell where you work and what you do.
This guide breaks down what matters most: your Google Business Profile setup, your website location signals, and the trust factors that help you compete with storefronts.
What Google expects from service-area businesses (in 2026)
A service-area business (SAB) travels to customers or delivers to them, instead of serving them at a public location. Think plumbers, painters, mobile groomers, cleaners, and many contractors.
Here’s the key: if customers don’t visit you at your address, you should hide it on your Google Business Profile. That doesn’t mean “hide everything.” It means you replace your public address with a defined service area.
Based on Google’s SAB guidance:
- You can set up to 20 service areas (cities, ZIP codes, neighborhoods, or similar).
- Avoid oversized coverage. A common rule is staying within about a 2-hour drive from your base.
- Don’t use states or countries as service areas, and don’t use radius phrases like “within 25 miles.”
- Don’t try to “rent an address” just to rank. Using unstaffed virtual offices can get a profile suspended.
Ranking without an address starts on your website (not just Maps)
Google Business Profile helps you show up in the map results, but your website is where you prove relevance. If your site is vague, your profile has to work harder.
Think of your website like a service menu on a food truck. You don’t have a dining room address to promote, so the menu needs to be crystal clear about what you serve and where you park.
Build “where you serve” signals into your core pages
Start with pages that already have authority:
- Homepage: include your main service area (city/region) in a natural sentence.
- Footer: list your service region in plain language (not a giant keyword dump).
- Contact page: you can still show a phone number, email, and service areas without listing a home address.
Also, make sure your site has a clean structure, fast load times, and easy navigation. Those basics don’t feel glamorous, but they often decide who ranks when two businesses look similar.
If you want help tightening up the on-site fundamentals, https://bringinghomebacon.com/services/search-engine-optimization/ is a good starting point for local-focused SEO work.
Create service pages and location pages that don’t feel fake
Many SABs make one of two mistakes:
- They only have one generic “Services” page.
- They create 40 thin “City + Service” pages that all say the same thing.
A better approach is fewer pages with more detail.
For services, write one strong page per core offering (example: “Water Heater Repair,” “Drain Cleaning,” “Sump Pump Installation”). Add pricing ranges if you can, common problems, photos, and a short “what to expect” section.
For locations, only build a location page when you can make it real. Good “real” details include:
- Neighborhoods you often work in
- Local job photos (with permission)
- Common local issues (hard water, older homes, lakefront weather, etc.)
- Short customer stories and reviews from that area
Google Business Profile: how to compete while your address is hidden
A hidden address does not block you from ranking. But it does raise the bar on clarity and trust.
Get the basics right (because Google actually checks)
Make sure these match everywhere:
- Business name: no extra keywords, no city stuffing
- Primary category: pick the closest true match (this matters a lot)
- Hours: accurate, including holiday updates
- Services: list the services you actually sell, using plain names customers search
- Service areas: specific cities or ZIP codes you truly serve
Use proof, not promises
Google is trying to rank businesses customers can trust. So give it evidence:
Photos that show your work: before and after shots, team photos, branded vehicles, tools, and jobsite context.
Short Posts: quick updates, seasonal promos, and recent project highlights.
Q and A: seed common questions and answer them clearly (warranty, travel fees, scheduling).
Review replies: thank customers, mention the service performed, and keep it human.
Here’s a simple example of a review reply that helps both trust and relevance:
“Thanks, Jenna. We’re glad the garbage disposal swap in Aurora went smoothly. Call us anytime if that sink starts draining slow again.”
It’s not stuffed. It’s just specific.
The trust signals SABs can’t skip: reviews, citations, and links
When you don’t show an address, you’re asking Google to trust your service footprint. That trust comes from consistency.
Reviews that support your service area
You can’t tell customers what to write, but you can guide them with a prompt like:
“If you have a minute, mention what we helped with and what town you’re in.”
A steady stream of reviews beats a big spike once a year. If reviews are a weak point, build it into your process: send a text or email request right after the job, while the win is fresh.
Citations and directory listings (keep them consistent)
Citations are mentions of your business on other sites (think directories and local platforms). The goal is matching info across the web, especially your name, phone, and service categories.
For SABs, consistency matters even more because Google can’t use a public storefront address as a confidence anchor. Don’t create multiple versions of your business name, and don’t “move” your service area every month unless your business truly changed.
Use paid ads to fill the gap while SEO ramps up
Local SEO builds over time, but small businesses often need leads now. A smart pairing is:
- SEO for steady growth and lower cost per lead long-term
- Google Ads for fast visibility in high-intent searches
For service-area businesses, ads can also help you test which towns and services convert best. Then you can build content around what’s already proven.
If you want that faster lead flow, https://bringinghomebacon.com/services/pay-per-click/ can support service-area targeting and tighter conversion tracking.
Conclusion: you can rank without an address, but you can’t be vague
Hiding your address doesn’t block you from local rankings. It just means Google needs stronger clues about where you work and why customers trust you.
Get your service areas right, build clear location signals on your website, and collect real proof through reviews, photos, and consistent listings. If you want leads while that foundation grows, paid search can keep the phone ringing.
The goal of service area business SEO is simple: show up for the right searches, in the right towns, with enough trust that customers choose you.
