Google Business Profile Photos
The logo, cover photo and pictures on your Business Profile, added by you and by your customers.
What it means
Your Business Profile can show a logo, a cover photo, and any number of other photos: your shopfront, your team, your work, your menu. You add these as the owner. Customers can add photos too, alongside their reviews or on their own, and Google shows those on your profile with yours.
Google also decides which photo to show first in search results, and it isn't always the cover photo you picked.
Why it matters
Photos are often what a customer looks at after the star rating. They show what the place looks like before a first visit, whether the work is any good, and that the business is still open and active. A profile with only an old exterior shot, or only customer photos you never chose, says less than it could.
Google doesn't say photos help a business rank. Treat them as something that helps the customer choose you once they've found you, rather than a way to be found.
ask datanephew
Can datanephew tell me whether new photos got me more calls?
It can show you the numbers to compare. datanephew reads your Business Profile performance for free: profile views, calls, website clicks and direction requests, by day. Look at the weeks before and after you added a batch of photos, keeping in mind that season and everything else you changed move those numbers too.
Where do I add or remove photos?
In your Business Profile, under Photos. You can remove your own photos there. To remove a customer's photo you have to report it to Google, which takes it down only if it breaks Google's content rules.