What the registry actually holds
Who is listed
Not every file is a local shop. Search the registry by name. Do not assume Type A means “everyone here.”
The short version
Type A is the gate for a local public record — a real maps listing with a name, a way to call or visit a site, and a place or service area.
Other files sit next to those records: the company that paid Gold, the brand on a product site, the newspaper, the person, the Shopify shop, the firm with ten Google listings. Same registry. Different file. Different badge.
Company and locations
A group with many Google Business Profiles gets one parent file for the operating company and one file per public location. Example: a Tempe office plus branch listings in nearby cities.
We do not clone the same company onto every suburb page. The location file points up to the parent. Gold on the parent is not a free Gold stamp on every branch.
Shops that are not on a street corner
Shopify / own-site shop. The file hangs off the live store URL, not a walk-in address.
Marketplace seller. Amazon, Etsy, and similar — public seller page plus the brand site when there is one.
National or software firm. Headquarters or public site is enough. They are not forced into a “near me” roofing hub.
Nonprofit or church. Same idea: a real public identity, not a maps scrape of every hall.
Brand, publication, person
Brand. A product or service mark with its own site — not the LLC and not the founder’s name.
Publication. A live news or magazine site. Badge says Publication. It does not wear Gold.
Person. A named human with a personal site. Badge says Person. It must not open the company Gold file.
Gold is one paid company file
Gold is $297/year after the owner proves they control the company domain. That is the operating company — not 90 newspapers and not a personal homepage.
Bronze local files stay free public snapshots. They can move to Gold when the owner pays and proves the domain.
What this is not
Not a scrape of every Google pin. Not a paid “top 10.” Not a promise ChatGPT will name you first. A listing means the file met the bar for that kind of record.