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    For garages, mechanics and dealerships

    One garage, or separate sales, servicing, parts and other departments?

    An independent garage is almost always one profile. A dealership is a different question entirely — sales, servicing and parts can be genuinely separate, distinctly named, separately categorised operations with their own customer entrances, or they can just be departments of the same building wearing different signage.

    This guide works through Google's department rules, the car-dealer-specific guidance that sits alongside them, and the practical structure that follows — plus the services, hours and photo decisions every garage or service department has to make regardless of structure.

    Google's department rules, and the Southend Toyota example

    Google allows departments within businesses to have their own profile where a department operates as a genuinely distinct, public-facing entity: a different name from the main business and from other departments, typically its own customer entrance, a distinct most-representative category, and hours that may differ from the main business.

    Google guideline
    Google's own category examples include "Southend Toyota" as a Toyota Dealer alongside "Southend Toyota Service & Parts" as a separate Auto Repair Shop and Auto Parts Shop listing — a named, distinctly categorised department rather than the same business repeated.
    Read Google's guidance

    Note that car dealers have their own specific Google guidelines beyond the general department rules, which is part of why the Southend Toyota pattern (dealership profile plus a separately named, separately categorised service and parts profile) is treated as an established acceptable shape rather than something each dealer has to argue for from first principles.

    When a dealership service or parts department may qualify

    GBPly recommendationA dealership's service or parts operation may qualify for its own profile only if it genuinely functions as a distinct entity: its own name distinguishing it from the sales side, its own customer-facing entrance or bay separate from the showroom, a category that actually fits auto repair or parts rather than vehicle sales, and hours that reflect when the workshop — not the showroom — is open. A service desk that's just a corner of the same showroom with no distinguishing name or entrance doesn't meet that bar, and listing it separately anyway creates two profiles representing what's functionally one place.

    Google guideline
    Google's acceptable department examples are entities that genuinely operate distinctly — a hospital department, an optical centre, a branded café; it explicitly rules out things like a product section of a shop. The same distinction applies to a service bay that isn't actually run as a separate operation.
    Read Google's guidance

    For an ordinary independent garage with no dealership structure, this question mostly doesn't arise: MOT testing, servicing, diagnostics and tyre fitting carried out by the same team in the same building are services of one garage, not departments, and belong on the services list of a single profile rather than being split into separate listings for "MOT bay" or "tyre bay".

    Illustrative dealership structure Illustrative example

    A hypothetical layout showing which parts of a dealership may, and may not, have their own profile.

    • Southend Motors (Toyota Dealer)

      Own profile

      Main category: Toyota Dealer

      • Southend Motors Service & Parts

        Only if it qualifies

        Main category: Auto Repair Shop + Auto Parts Shop

        May qualify only if distinctly named, separately entered and genuinely run as its own operation.

      • MOT bay

        No separate profile

        A service carried out by the garage, not a separate public-facing entity.

      • Tyre bay

        No separate profile

        Also a service, listed on the relevant profile's services, not a profile of its own.

    Own profileOnly if it meets the rulesPart of the main profile
    Independent garage vs. dealership
    Independent garageDealership
    Typical profile countOne profile for the whole garageSales profile, plus a service & parts profile only where it genuinely qualifies as a distinct department
    Services vs. departmentsMOT, servicing, diagnostics, tyres etc. are services on the one profileService and parts may be a department; MOT bay or tyre bay within it are still just services, not further departments
    CategoryAuto Repair Shop (plus closely related categories actually offered)Sales profile uses a manufacturer-specific dealer category; a qualifying service department uses Auto Repair Shop / Auto Parts Shop
    Hours shownThe garage's own workshop hoursDealer uses car sales hours on the sales profile; a qualifying service department sets its own hours on its own profile

    Services: MOT, servicing, diagnostics, tyres, brakes, air con, breakdown

    Whatever the profile structure, the services list should reflect exactly what's carried out, not a generic "repairs" entry. For most garages that's a mix of MOT testing, routine servicing, fault diagnostics, tyre fitting and balancing, brake inspection and repair, air conditioning servicing, and — where offered — breakdown or roadside assistance.

    Google guideline
    Services should list only what's actually offered, and the predefined options available vary by category — a garage without a matching predefined service entry can usually add a custom one instead.
    Read Google's guidance

    Breakdown and roadside recovery deserve particular honesty: a profile implying 24-hour roadside cover that's actually a daytime-only callout service, or that only covers a limited radius, sets an expectation that causes real problems for someone stranded at 2am outside that radius.

    Fixed garage, mobile mechanic, or hybrid

    A fixed garage with a real workshop and permanent signage shows its address as normal. A mobile mechanic with no public workshop — someone who travels to customers' homes or workplaces to carry out repairs — should be set up as a service-area business with the address hidden, rather than showing a home address that isn't a genuine place of business.

    Google guideline
    A business that doesn't serve customers at its address should remove that address, use one profile to cover its whole service area (up to 20 areas, no radius, roughly two hours' driving as a rough guide), and a service-area business can't rely on a virtual office unless that office is actually staffed during the stated hours.
    Read Google's guidance

    A hybrid business — a workshop that also sends mechanics out for roadside callouts — is explicitly the kind of case Google's own guidance covers with a hybrid example of an auto shop that also offers roadside service: it can show its workshop address if genuinely staffed and able to receive customers there during stated hours, while still describing the roadside side of the business. A hybrid business without permanent signage at a real address should be listed as service-area rather than showing an address that doesn't meet the fixed-location bar.

    Hours and booking links

    • Dealer sales hours Google guideline

      A dealership's main profile should show car sales hours (and new-car sales hours specifically, if they differ from used).

    • Service department hours Google guideline

      Where a service department genuinely has its own profile, its hours go on that profile — not copied from the sales side.

    • Independent garage hours

      Standard workshop opening hours; seasonal hours can be used as the regular hours if that's genuinely how the garage operates.

    • Booking links

      Link directly to an online booking or quote request page where available; provider support for in-profile booking buttons varies.

    • Honest emergency availability

      State plainly whether roadside or emergency callout is available outside normal hours, and any real limits on area or response time.

    • Special hours for closures

      Use special hours for holiday closures and short-notice closures of up to six consecutive days.

    Workshop photo checklist

    • Workshop and bays

      Genuine photos of the working space, equipment and bays customers' cars will actually go into.

    • Reception and waiting area

      Honest photos of where customers wait or drop off keys.

    • Number plates blurred GBPly recommendation

      Blur or crop out customers' number plates in any photo showing their vehicle.

    • No customer details visible GBPly recommendation

      Check job sheets, invoices or screens aren't readable in the background of any photo.

    • Team at work

      Technicians carrying out diagnostics or repairs, with consent, rather than only static shots of an empty workshop.

    • Recency

      Update photos after any refit or new equipment — an outdated workshop photo undersells current capability.

    How GBPly fits a garage or dealership

    Profile Guard across departments

    Watches for unexpected changes to hours, category or contact details on a sales profile and any linked service or parts profile.

    Profile Guard →Multi-location management →

    AI-drafted review replies

    Drafts a reply to new reviews about servicing or repairs for a team member to check and send.

    Review management →

    Citation Management

    Checks existing directory listings for a garage or dealership for consistency; it finds and checks listings rather than creating new ones.

    Citation Management →

    GBPly works with profiles you already manage. It does not create, verify or decide eligibility for Business Profiles; Google does.

    Garage and dealership profile questions

    Should MOT testing have its own Google profile?
    No. MOT testing is a service a garage offers, not a separate public-facing department. It belongs on the services list of the garage's own profile.
    When can a dealership's service department have its own profile?
    Only if it genuinely operates as a distinct entity — its own name different from the sales side, typically its own customer entrance, a fitting category such as Auto Repair Shop, and its own hours.
    What hours should a car dealership show?
    Google's guidance for car dealers is to use car sales hours (new-car sales hours specifically if they differ), with any qualifying service department's hours shown separately on its own profile.
    Should a mobile mechanic show their home address?
    No. A mobile mechanic with no public workshop should be set up as a service-area business with the address hidden, covering the areas actually served.
    Can a garage with roadside callouts still show its workshop address?
    Yes, if it's genuinely staffed and able to receive customers there during its stated hours — this fits Google's own hybrid example of an auto shop that also offers roadside service.

    Sources and guidance

    Statements tagged Google guideline paraphrase Google's own help pages below. Statements tagged GBPly recommendation are GBPly's editorial opinion, and Illustrative example scenarios describe hypothetical businesses. Google's guidelines change; check the live pages before acting.

    Guidance checked against Google's help pages on 12 October 2026.

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