Which email address should you use on your Google Business Profile?
The best email address for customers who find you through Google is one your business checks, understands and can keep using when the team changes.
That does not mean every Google Business Profile has a dedicated public email field. Google's profile options can change and may differ between Search, Maps, device, region and business category. Sign in to the account linked to your profile, open Edit profile, and confirm the contact options available before changing anything.
If your profile points customers to your website, booking page or another contact path, the same decision still matters: which email address should those customers see when they take the next step?
Start with the job the address needs to handle
A public email should tell a customer where their message is going. For a small trade or field-service business, that may be:
quotes@...for plans, photos and new-job enquiriesbookings@...for appointments and access detailshello@...for mixed general enquiries- a person's name when customers genuinely need that person
A role address is often easier to keep stable than sam@... when work moves between an owner, office manager and estimator. It can also make the next action clearer. Our guide to professional email address formats for small business compares role, name and team formats.
Do not add several public addresses just because they exist. One well-owned route is usually more useful than making a customer guess between enquiries, office, admin and sales.
Choose the inbox owner before publishing the address
An address is not ready merely because a test message arrives once. Decide who owns it during the working day, who covers leave and what happens when the first reader cannot answer.
For fictional Coastal Spark Electrical, quotes@coastalspark.example might go to Mia, who handles estimates. If Mia is away, the office coordinator needs an agreed handover rather than a password scribbled in a notebook.
Forwarding to one existing inbox may suit a sole trader. A growing team may need shared access, assignment or mailbox features instead. Shared mailbox versus email forwarding explains that choice.
Keep the customer path consistent
A customer may discover the business on Google, tap through to the website, download a quote and later reply to an invoice. Seeing a different unexplained email address at every step creates doubt and sends work to the wrong person.
Check the whole public trail:
- Google Business Profile contact options and linked website
- website header, footer, contact page and forms
- quote and invoice templates
- email signatures and automated replies
- business cards, vehicle graphics and other signage
- directories or booking tools reached from the website
The addresses do not all need to be identical. Accounts can remain separate from new enquiries. The important part is that each address has a clear purpose and the main public enquiry route stays recognisable.
If you are replacing an old address, use a staged business email change checklist rather than updating Google and forgetting the rest.
Test the complete route from outside the business
Test as a customer would, not from the same inbox that receives the message.
Use an unrelated external account. Follow the website or contact path shown on the profile, send a realistic enquiry with an attachment, and confirm it reaches the intended inbox. Check mobile notifications, spam handling and who can see it.
Then reply from the device the team actually uses. Inspect the visible From and Reply-To addresses, and send another response back to confirm the conversation still reaches the right place. Forwarding incoming mail does not automatically let the team send or reply from the public address; that depends on the provider and setup.
Repeat the test after any website, profile, routing or staff change. The quotes and invoices email guide covers the later customer-document path.
Where a shorter forwarding address may fit
If the clearest public address is awkward to say or print, a shorter .au address may be able to forward incoming messages to an inbox you already monitor.
A Short Mail option is subject to business fit, address availability, eligibility, setup requirements, provider compatibility and manual confirmation. It is forwarding-focused rather than full mailbox hosting, and sending or replying from the shorter address is not automatic.
Check whether a shorter forwarding address may fit your business before updating your website, profile contact path or printed material.