Ask most small business owners where their customers find them and they will say Google. They are half right. On every iPhone in the country, the default map is Apple Maps, the default assistant is Siri, and both pull from a source most owners have never logged into: Apple Business Connect.
If you have only ever managed your Google Business Profile, there is a good chance the version of your business Apple shows is whatever Apple guessed. This guide walks through claiming it, verifying it, and keeping it right.
What Apple Business Connect is
Apple Business Connect is Apple’s free tool for managing how your business appears across Apple Maps, Siri, Spotlight search, and Wallet. Apple launched it in early 2023 to give business owners direct control over their “Place Card,” the panel customers see when they tap your business on the map.
It is the Apple equivalent of a Google Business Profile. Same idea, different ecosystem, and one that a lot of local businesses have left completely unmanaged.
Why it is worth twenty minutes
- Apple Maps is the default on iPhone. Every iPhone ships with Apple Maps as the built-in map app. When someone asks Siri for directions or the nearest option, that answer comes from Apple’s data, not Google’s.
- Spotlight and Siri read the same record. Search from the home screen or ask out loud, and your Place Card details are what get surfaced.
- Nobody is managing it for you. If you have not claimed your business, Apple assembles a Place Card from third-party data. That is exactly how a wrong phone number or an old address ends up in front of customers.
Twenty minutes of setup buys you control over a channel that reaches a large share of your customers, and one your competitors have probably ignored.
Before you start
You will need three things:
- An Apple Account (formerly Apple ID). A personal one is fine to start; you can add team members later.
- Your business details, ready and consistent: exact business name, address, phone number, hours, website, and the categories that describe what you do.
- A way to verify ownership. Apple confirms you actually run the business, usually through a code sent to your listed business phone number, or by reviewing business documents.
A quick note before you type anything: whatever details you enter here should match, character for character, what you show on Google, Bing, and everywhere else. Mismatched information is the single most common reason a business looks untrustworthy to both customers and the platforms listing it.
Step 1: Sign in and find your business
Go to businessconnect.apple.com and sign in with your Apple Account. Accept the terms for business use, then search for your business by name and address. In most cases Apple already has a Place Card for you, built from public data. If it exists, you will claim it. If it does not, you can add it as a new place.
Step 2: Claim your business
Select your business from the results and choose to claim it. Apple will ask you to confirm the basic details it has on file. This is your first chance to catch what is wrong, and there is almost always something: an old suite number, a phone line you gave up, hours from a season ago.
Do not fix everything yet. Just claim it. Editing comes after verification.
Step 3: Verify that you own it
Apple needs to confirm you are authorized to manage the business before your changes go live. Depending on the business, verification happens one of a few ways:
- A code to your business phone. Apple calls or texts the number on record and you enter the code. This is the fastest path when your listed number is one you can answer.
- Document review. For some businesses, Apple asks for a document that ties you to the address, such as a utility bill or business license.
- Instant verification. If your Apple Account is already connected to the business in a way Apple recognizes, you may be verified on the spot.
Verification can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. You cannot publish changes until it clears, so start here rather than saving it for last.
Step 4: Complete your Place Card
Once verified, fill out the Place Card completely. Every field is a field a customer might use, so leave nothing blank:
- Name, address, and pin. Make sure the map pin sits on your actual front door, not the center of the block. Customers navigate to the pin.
- Hours. Set your regular hours, and set your holiday and special hours too. Wrong holiday hours are one of the most expensive mistakes in local search, because they send loyal customers to a locked door.
- Categories. Pick the primary category that best describes your business, then add relevant secondary ones. Categories decide which searches surface you.
- Phone and website. Confirm both are current and that the website link lands on a live page.
- Logo and photos. Add your logo and a cover photo. A claimed Place Card with real photos reads as legitimate; a bare one reads as abandoned.
- Action buttons. Depending on your business type, you can add buttons for directions, calling, or actions handled through Apple’s partners.
Step 5: Use Showcases to stay current
Showcases are Apple’s version of posts or announcements. You can publish a promotion, a seasonal note, or a new offering, and it appears on your Place Card for a set period. They are optional, but they signal an active, cared-for business, and they are worth revisiting every few weeks.
The hard part is not setup. It is staying accurate.
Here is the catch nobody mentions. Claiming Apple Business Connect fixes your information on Apple, today. It does nothing for Google, Bing, Waze, the voice assistants, or the dozens of directories that also list you, and it does nothing next month when a detail drifts again.
Your business information does not sit in one place. It lives in scores of databases that copy from each other and go stale independently. Fix Apple by hand and Google is still wrong. Fix Google and a directory still has last year’s number. Do it all by hand and you get to do it again the next time something changes.
This is the problem LocalBasics exists to solve. You set your name, address, phone, hours, and categories once in a single protected record, and that record stays accurate across Apple Maps and the rest of the places customers look, monitored for life, on a one-time payment. Apple Business Connect is a piece worth claiming yourself. Keeping every piece consistent, forever, is the part worth handing off.
Common questions
Is Apple Business Connect free? Yes. Claiming and managing your Place Card costs nothing.
Do I still need it if I have a Google Business Profile? Yes. They are separate systems feeding separate ecosystems. A complete Google profile does nothing for the customer using Apple Maps on an iPhone.
How long does verification take? Anywhere from a few minutes to a few days, depending on the verification method Apple assigns to your business.
What if my business details are already wrong on Apple Maps? That usually means Apple built a Place Card from third-party data. Claiming and verifying the business gives you control to correct it.
The bottom line
Apple Business Connect is a free, high-leverage channel that most local businesses leave on autopilot. Claim it, verify it, and fill out your Place Card completely. Then, if you would rather not repeat this exercise across every other platform every time something changes, that is exactly what keeping one locked, monitored record is for.