Google My Business, GMB, GBP: one thing, three names
“GMB” means Google My Business. It was the name of the free Google tool for managing your business on Google Maps and Search until 2021, when Google renamed it Google Business Profile, or “GBP”. Articles, agencies and Google itself still mix the names, so this short lesson sets them straight, then lists the handful of other terms you will keep meeting.
GMB vs GBP: why Google My Business became Google Business Profile
Both names refer to the same thing: the profile you edit, signed in as the owner, to control what Google shows about your business. Google My Business (GMB) was the brand from 2014 to 2021, with its own app and dashboard. In November 2021 Google renamed it Google Business Profile (GBP), closed the separate app in 2022, and moved editing into Google Search and Google Maps themselves. If a guide says “log in to your GMB dashboard”, it is out of date; today you search for your business on Google while signed in and edit it there.
| Name | What it means | Still in use? |
|---|---|---|
| Google My Business (GMB) | The old name of the owner's tool, 2014–2021. | Only in older articles and in agency habit. |
| Google Business Profile (GBP) | The current name. What you edit. | Yes, this is Google's name for it. |
| Business listing / Google Maps listing | What customers see: the public card built from your profile. | Yes. |
| Fiche d'établissement / fiche Google | The French name for the same profile, used on Google's French pages. | Yes, in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec. |
| Google Places | The name before GMB, until 2014. | No, except in the name of Google's developer API. |
Local SEO terms explained: local pack, NAP, citations, geo-grid
- Local SEO: everything you do so that your business shows up when people nearby search for what you sell. Your Google profile is the biggest part of it; your website, reviews and directory listings are the rest.
- Map Pack, local pack, 3-pack: the box of three businesses with a map at the top of a Google search. Lesson 1 explains it.
- NAP: name, address, phone. Local SEO people say “NAP consistency” to mean that these three are written exactly the same way on your profile, your website and every directory.
- Citation: any mention of your business name, address and phone on another website, with or without a link. Directories are citations.
- Geo-grid scan, rank grid: a check of your ranking from many spots around your business at once, shown as a coloured grid. It exists because your position changes with the searcher's location; lesson 4 shows one.
Find or claim your Google My Business profile today
GMB and Google Business Profile questions
Is Google My Business gone?
The name and the separate app are gone. The profile and everything it does are still there, under the name Google Business Profile, edited from Google Search and Google Maps.
Is GBP free?
Yes. Creating and managing a Google Business Profile has always been free. The only paid things on the page are ads, marked “Sponsored”.
What does “fiche Google” mean?
It is French for your Google listing or profile. Google's French pages say “fiche d'établissement”; owners say “fiche Google” or still “fiche Google My Business”.
Do I need a Google account to have a profile?
Yes, to claim and edit it. The listing itself may already exist without you, created by Google from public sources.
Next lesson How to find your Google ranking for a keyword
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