Google updated its service areas business guidelines help document to add "Do not add countries or states as a service area." Google also updated numerous parts of the document. But the big thing here is that you should not add states or countries to your service area lists, it is not designed for that.
This change was spotted by Stefan Somborac who posted about the details on X - he said, "Google just updated the rules for Business Profile service areas."
This adds to the existing guideline: "...boundaries of your profile’s overall service area shouldn’t extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based."
— Stefan Somborac (@StefanSomborac) June 24, 2025
The word "about" gives the guideline a bit of flexibility.
The new rule is rigid.
2/4 pic.twitter.com/ZleYUsS3bZ
He shared some examples of this:
Fun case: This marketing agency services 19 countries!
— Stefan Somborac (@StefanSomborac) June 24, 2025
4/4 pic.twitter.com/GZax1PHVQX
Here is a diff of the old and new document, so you can compare:
Forum discussion at X.
