Business knowledge panel or Google Business Profile? How to tell which your company has

A business knowledge panel and a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) can look almost the same on a results page, but they are different Google products with different rules.¹

A knowledge panel describes your company as an entity, and Google generates it automatically. A Business Profile describes a place that customers visit, or an area the business serves, and the business manages it.^1,10

Google itself says Business Profiles “look similar to knowledge panels.”¹ The overlap in names has a history. In 2020, Google described local businesses managing “special elements in their knowledge panels, such as opening hours” through what was then Google My Business.¹³ On this site, the entity version is called a company knowledge panel.

This page shows how to tell which one your company has, who qualifies for each, and why Google shows one rather than the other, as of November 2026. It covers Google only. For what Microsoft documents about Bing, see Bing knowledge panels for companies.

How to tell a business knowledge panel from a Business Profile in ten seconds

Look for the tells below. One is usually enough. The claim link is the most reliable, because each product uses its own wording.

Where the box sits helps less than you might expect. Google's 2020 explainer says knowledge panels appear to the right of the results on desktop, while on mobile the information may be split into several panels among the results.¹³

What each one is for

Google defines knowledge panels as “information boxes that appear on Google when you search for entities,” and it lists organizations among those entities.¹ The panel is generated automatically from sources across the web, and Google's current policy is not to create or delete panels by hand.^1,4

A Business Profile is about a place. Google says it is specific to businesses that serve customers at a set location or within a designated service area.¹ The owner can update hours, contact details and location, add photos, reply to reviews and post offers.¹⁰

The routes are separate too. Google tells businesses to create, claim and suggest changes to their Business Profile panels through Business Profile itself.²

Observed on 2026-11-09: below a description credited to Wikipedia, the module listed seven facts about the company, from its CEO and founders to its founding date. Headquarters appeared as a fact, “Santa Clara, CA”, not as a street address. The module had no map, reviews or opening hours.

Our interpretation: those absences are the clearest sign of an entity panel. The panel answers “what is this company?”, while a Business Profile answers “where is it, and is it open?”

A third look-alike: store panels for online retailers

Some company searches return a store panel (Google calls it a merchant knowledge panel).¹⁸ It can look like a Business Profile because it carries a star rating, but it describes an online store, not a place.

Google's help draws the line: a Business Profile is for businesses that meet customers face to face, while a brand profile is for businesses that sell products online.¹⁰

Observed on 2026-11-09: Patagonia's panel showed free delivery, returns and payment options, website and Chat buttons, and a description labeled “Summarized from the website”, but no address or opening hours.

Observed on 2026-11-09: Meta's panel for the search “meta platforms” used the same store layout but added a Wikipedia description and executive rows, so the formats can mix. Compare the annotated Patagonia store panel with the Meta hybrid panel, and see store panels, brand profiles and Search profiles for how each one is managed.

Who qualifies for a Business Profile?

Google's rule is short: to be eligible, “a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours.”⁵ It allows a few exceptions, such as ATMs, seasonal businesses that display signage at their location year-round and, under some conditions, delivery-only food services.⁵

Google's examples of ineligible businesses include:⁵

• brands, organizations, artists and other online-only businesses;
• lead-generation agents and companies;
• rental or for-sale properties, such as vacation homes, though sales and leasing offices can qualify;
• businesses whose address is a P.O. box or a mailbox in a remote location.

Two more rules catch many small companies. A virtual office, meaning a rented mailing address where the business doesn't operate, isn't eligible. An office in a co-working space qualifies only if it has clear signage, receives customers during business hours and is staffed by the business.⁷

A business that visits or delivers to customers, such as a plumber, is a service-area business. It gets one profile for its whole area, removes its address if it doesn't serve customers there, and can list up to 20 service areas within about two hours' drive.⁶

A chain can't create more than one profile for each location, and Google asks it to use the same name for every location in a country.⁷

Why online-only companies can't get a Business Profile

Online-only companies fall into the first group listed above.⁵ A software company, an online service or a brand that sells only through its website has no place where customers meet it in person, so it falls outside the product.

That doesn't leave an online-only company with nothing. Three other Google surfaces may apply:

• A company knowledge panel. Google creates one automatically when there is enough information on the open web. There is no application form.^2,4 See how companies get a knowledge panel.
• A brand profile, if the company sells products online. As of November 2026, only select e-commerce retailers can claim one.¹²
• A Search profile, if the company's brand or publication meets Google's follower threshold in a country where Search profiles are offered.¹⁷ See whether a company can get a Search profile.

Don't try to qualify with a borrowed or virtual address. Google reserves the right to suspend access to Business Profiles for businesses that break its guidelines.⁷

Which one your company is likely to get

The steps below apply Google's eligibility rules to your situation. They are our interpretation of the documentation, not a Google tool, and Google's systems decide what actually appears for a search.²

1. Do customers meet you in person during stated hours? If they come to your premises, each location can have a Business Profile.⁵ If you go to them, you get one service-area profile.⁶ If neither, you can't have a Business Profile.⁵ Continue to step 2 either way.
2. Do you sell products to shoppers online? If so, Google may show a store panel built from your website and Merchant Center data, and you may be able to claim it as a brand profile.^11,12
3. Is there enough public information about your company on the web? If so, Google may generate a company knowledge panel. Google publishes no threshold, and whether a panel shows depends on the search.^2,4
4. Does a box already appear for your name? Identify it with the signals table above, then use that product's own tools, listed below.

For nonprofits, universities and other kinds of organization, see knowledge panels by organization type.

When a company has both

Google's documentation doesn't treat a knowledge panel and a Business Profile as alternatives. They are separate products with separate claim routes.^2,3 Google also says a business with a physical store and an e-commerce store is eligible for both a Business Profile and a brand profile.¹⁰

Google says where two of them appear. A Business Profile shows on Search and Maps when someone searches for the brand or a category in a local area. A brand profile shows on Search when someone searches only for the brand name.¹⁰ A knowledge panel appears when its information is highly relevant to the search.²

Why does Google show a Business Profile instead of a company knowledge panel?

Because the two are separate products, and Google's automated systems decide when, where and how a knowledge panel appears for a search.² Claiming a Business Profile is a different process, and no Google page we read links it to getting a knowledge panel.

This is a common forum question, paraphrased here: “We claimed our Business Profile. Why don't we get a panel like big brands?”

Our interpretation: for most local businesses, the location is the most useful answer to a name search, so the Business Profile is what Google shows. Google publishes no threshold or checklist for a knowledge panel.² If your company should have one and doesn't, see why a company knowledge panel may not show.

How to create, claim, change or remove each one

Each product has its own controls. Using the wrong one wastes time: Business Profile isn't among the accounts Google lists for verifying a knowledge panel claim.³

For the knowledge panel route in detail, see claiming a company knowledge panel.

Google My Business is now Google Business Profile

On November 4, 2021, Google announced that Google My Business was being renamed Google Business Profile, and recommended that small businesses manage their profiles directly on Search or Maps.¹⁴ Many people still search for the old name, and both names mean the same product.

Observed on 2026-11-09: two Knowledge Panel Help articles still tell businesses to use “Google My Business” to claim or create a Business Profile.^1,3