Local search
Adult local search in Canada, honest from listing to till
Adult local search in Canada is how a licensed store or venue shows up when someone nearby searches: in the map pack, on its Business Profile and in reviews. The listing has to be accurate, bilingual where it counts, and honest about prices and reviews, because the Competition Act applies to all of it.
Your Business Profile, field by field
- Name
The name on your sign and licence, with no extra keywords
- Category
The closest honest category Google offers for what you do
- Address or service area
Real, staffed premises only
- Hours
Kept current, including holidays
- Description
What you sell or host, in plain, safe-for-work words, in French too for Quebec
- Photos
Storefront, interior, staff, events: nothing explicit
Toronto neighbourhoods and the local routine are covered in our note on Toronto local search.
Reviews and prices under the Competition Act
The Competition Bureau treats misleading prices and fake reviews as deceptive marketing, and recent cases show it enforces the rules. For a local business, that shapes how you ask for reviews and how you show prices in listings and posts.
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Drip pricing | Named as deceptive in the Competition Act since June 23, 2022 |
| Maximum penalty for a company | $10 million ($15 million on repeat), three times the benefit, or 3% of worldwide revenue |
| Cineplex | Ordered by the Competition Tribunal to pay a penalty of over $38.9 million over an online booking fee |
| FlightHub, 2021 | Settled allegations including hidden fees and false online reviews, with a $5 million penalty |
General information, not legal advice. For businesses serving customers beyond one city, see adult SEO in Canada.
Not on our list
- Written, bought or swapped reviews
- Listings at addresses with no staffed premises
- Prices in posts that customers cannot actually pay
- Any listing for escort or sexual services
Toronto-specific work is on adult SEO in Toronto.
Asking for reviews the right way
The Competition Bureau treats fake and misleading reviews as deceptive marketing, and the FlightHub settlement showed that review practices can be part of an enforcement case. Ask every customer in the same way, through a card at the counter, a line on the receipt or a sign by the door; never reward reviews, write them for customers, or post them from staff accounts. Reply to every review within a few days, thank people without naming what they bought, and answer complaints with facts and an offer to talk privately. Discretion in replies matters as much as speed for an adult business.
Pictures, bilingual posts and suspensions
Google reviews the pictures on an adult store's profile more strictly than most, so choose ones that show the business as a passer-by sees it: the front, the counter, the layout of the floor, a staff member ready to help. Keep products in their boxes in any picture. Posts work best when they announce something with a date, such as a workshop, a new brand or changed hours, and in Quebec or for a bilingual clientele they should appear in French too.
Suspensions happen most often right after a change: a new address, a renamed business, a fresh batch of pictures. If it happens, file a single reinstatement request with your business licence, a utility bill or lease for the address, and a picture of the signage, then leave the profile untouched until Google replies.
Several locations
Businesses with stores in more than one city need one profile per location and one page per location on the website, each with its own address, hours, directions, nearest transit and what that store offers. Writing the same text with only the city name changed helps nobody; describe what is genuinely different. Give one person at each location the job of reporting changes, so profiles and pages stay accurate when hours or staff change.
The month at a glance
| Week | Task |
|---|---|
| First | Compare the profile with the website and licence; undo any wrong public edits |
| Second | Post an update with a date; answer questions left on the profile |
| Third | Upload a handful of new pictures; check holiday hours for the coming month |
| Fourth | Reply to the month's reviews; note calls, route requests and site clicks |
Statutory holidays differ by province, so stores in more than one province set holiday hours separately. The Toronto version of this calendar is in our guide to Toronto adult local search.
A profile in two languages
Google Business Profiles hold one set of details, but descriptions, posts and answers can be written to serve both English and French speakers. For stores in Quebec, or in bilingual areas such as Ottawa-Gatineau, write the description so its first line works in French, publish posts in both languages, and make sure the French page on your website matches the profile. Quebec's language law also expects French on signage and commercial documents, so the store itself, the profile and the site should tell the same story in French.
Venues and events
For licensed venues, events are the main reason people search. List every event on your own site with its date, start time, entry rules and price, in plain text rather than only in an image, and post it to the profile a week or two ahead. Keep past events visible for a while with a note that they have ended, then archive them. A steady, accurate events page gives searchers a reason to choose you this week and gives search engines a reason to keep visiting. How the wider site supports local pages is covered on technical SEO, and the city-or-country question in our guide to city vs national SEO.
Beyond Google
Apple Maps, Bing Places and Yelp all hold listings that some Canadians use first, especially on iPhones. Claim each one, copy the same name, address, phone number and hours, and check them every quarter, since data from one directory often spreads to others. Directories run by local business associations and Pride organizations can also bring both visitors and credibility, if their listings are accurate and appropriate for your business.
The page behind the profile
A profile sends visitors to one page on your site, so make it the right one: the page for that store, not the home page. It should answer what a nervous first-time visitor wants to know: what the store sells, whether staff can advise, accessibility, transit and parking, hours, and whether there is a quiet time to visit. Keep it safe for work, in French as well where needed, and consistent with the profile in every detail. More on the wider site is on adult SEO in Toronto.
Reading the results
The profile's own statistics show how many people found it and what they did next. We set those beside what you see at the counter: new faces, bookings, the questions customers ask. Rankings are checked from a handful of fixed points in your trading area, since a store can rank first two streets away and fifth across the city. Over three months the picture becomes clear enough to decide what to change next. Plans are listed under pricing.
Questions
Can we ask customers for reviews?
Yes, ask every customer the same way. Writing, buying or filtering reviews to mislead can be deceptive marketing under the Competition Act, and it breaks Google policy.
Do our listings need French?
For premises in Quebec, generally yes: the business name, description and posts should work in French. Elsewhere, French is optional but can help in bilingual areas.
Why do prices in listings matter?
Since June 2022 the Competition Act treats drip pricing, where mandatory fees appear late, as deceptive. Any price in a listing or post should be one customers can actually pay.
Can a store with no walk-in customers use a Business Profile?
Only as a service-area business if you genuinely serve customers where they are. An online-only shop is better served by national SEO.
Can we offer a discount in exchange for a review?
Avoid it. The Competition Bureau treats misleading reviews as deceptive marketing. Ask every customer the same way, without rewards, and never write or post reviews yourself.
Free site review
Start with a clear look at your site
We check how search engines and people in Canada reach your site, what your age checks and French pages mean for search, and send back the first fixes, in writing.
Request a free site review