How to Add Business to Apple Maps in 2026 (Step-by-Step UK Guide)

To add your business to Apple Maps, sign up free at business.apple.com, choose Brands > Locations, select Add, then enter your business name, address, category, phone number and opening hours. Finally, verify your organisation with two methods, such as your Companies House number and a utility bill. Apple says verification can take up to five working days.

One thing most guides on page 1 haven’t caught up with: Apple Business Connect doesn’t exist any more. Since 14 April 2026 it’s all done in a single free platform called Apple Business, and the menus have changed. I’ve rebuilt every step below from Apple’s own UK help pages, then added the bits I’d tell a client over a coffee. Getting a business found on maps is a big part of my local SEO work in London, and Apple Maps is the listing most small businesses forget.

Is Apple Business Connect still available?

No. Apple announced on 24 March 2026 that Apple Business Connect, Apple Business Essentials and Apple Business Manager would be replaced by one platform, Apple Business, from 14 April 2026. According to Apple’s UK newsroom announcement, it’s a free service in the UK and 200+ countries and regions, and existing Business Connect data (claimed locations, place card information, photos and account details) migrates automatically.

That’s why so many tutorials now feel slightly wrong. If a guide tells you to go to businessconnect.apple.com or click “Add New Place”, it was written for the old tool. Here’s what changed:

Why bother getting your business on Apple Maps?

Because your Apple listing reaches iPhone users in far more places than the Maps app. Apple’s guide to location attributes says your place card appears across Apple’s software, “from Maps to Siri to Calendar, Messages and more”. Apple’s Maps user guide points business owners to Apple Business to help customers find them in Apple Maps, Wallet, Siri and more.

If you don’t claim your listing, Apple still shows something, built from whatever data it has. That’s how you end up with old hours, the previous tenant’s name or no phone number. Claiming it puts you in charge of what iPhone users see. It’s the same idea as adding your business to Google Maps, just for Apple’s half of the market.

Which situation are you in?

The steps depend on whether your business already shows up on Apple Maps. Find your row, then jump to the right section.

How do I add my business to Apple Maps, step by step?

Sign up for Apple Business, add your location, then verify. If you have your details to hand, it’s mostly form-filling. Here’s each stage using the exact button names from Apple’s UK help pages.

Stage 1: Sign up for Apple Business

From Apple’s Sign up for Apple Business page:

1. Go to business.apple.com and select Sign up now.
2. Enter your organisation’s name and your website URL. The website is optional, but Apple says providing it can speed up verification.
3. Create your account: a password, your phone number, and whether you want codes by SMS or phone call.
4. Enter the code sent to your email, then the code sent to your phone.
5. Review the Apple Business Terms and Conditions and select Agree.

Two gotchas from Apple’s requirements page. Sign up using a real person’s name (Apple sends back names like “IT Coordinator” to be corrected). And the email can’t already be an Apple Account for anything else, such as your iCloud or App Store login. A public email address like Gmail is allowed.

Stage 2: Add your location

From Apple’s Add a location in Apple Business guide:

1. Choose Brands > Locations, then select the Add button in the top right.
2. Type your business name. If it’s new, select Add a new location with this name. If it’s already on Maps, select it from the results.
3. Enter the address, then drag the map if the marker is over the wrong building. Switching Map Mode to Hybrid or Satellite makes this much easier. Select Next.
4. Fill in the default language, display name, primary category, status (Open or Opening Soon), phone number and website. A Facebook, Instagram or TikTok page can be used if you don’t have a website.
5. Select Next, set your opening hours, then select Next again.
6. Choose your brand from the list or create a new one.
7. If your organisation is already verified, select Done. If this is your first location, you’ll be asked to verify your organisation and send it to Apple for review.

Apple is fussy about the map pin. Its location attributes guide says the coordinates need to sit on top of your building, centred over your location, and not on the footpath, the road or your car park entrance.

How do I verify my business on Apple Maps in the UK?

You verify your organisation with two different methods, and Apple says the review can take up to five working days, longer during busy periods. Go to Settings > Organisation, select Verify Now, choose your first method, repeat with a second, then select Send for Review.

The methods Apple accepts, per its verification instructions:

• Business ID. Apple’s page mentions a D-U-N-S Number or EIN, but its list of accepted Business IDs also includes UK options: your Companies House Registration Number, a Charity Commission number, or an FCA reference number. Most guides miss this, and it saves UK limited companies a lot of hassle.
• Domain Validation. Add a TXT record to your domain’s DNS.
• App Store Connect. Only if your business has its own app.
• An official document: business licence, sales tax permit, food, health or alcohol permit, lease or property agreement, utility bill, or other.

Sole trader without a company number? Pair Domain Validation (if you own your website’s domain) with a utility bill or lease in the business name. Watch the clock too: Apple gives you 60 days after sign-up to verify, and if you’re not approved in that window your organisation and its data are deleted. Apple also asks you to make sure email filters allow mail from apple.com domains, so check your spam folder while you wait.

How do I claim a business that’s already on Apple Maps?

Add it as an existing location, then verify with a phone call. In Apple’s add a location guide, you search for your business in Brands > Locations, select it, check the pin and details, then choose to verify your organisation or verify with a phone call.

1. Select Location Verification, select Next, add an extension if you need one, and choose the phone option.
2. Answer Apple’s call and enter the four-digit verification code.
3. Select Done.

The catch: Apple calls the number it has on record for that location, not the one you type in. If it’s an old number you no longer use, Apple says to contact Apple Business support.

If you see “This location is already managed”, someone else has claimed it, often a previous owner or an old marketing agency. Carry on and add it, then in Brands > Locations find it and select Request Transfer under Status. Explain why, attach proof such as a business licence or utility bill, and select Send for Review. Apple says this review can take up to five working days.

Can I add a business to Apple Maps before it opens?

Yes. When you add the location, set the status to Opening Soon and pick your opening date. Apple’s only rule is that the date can’t be more than six months away. I’d do this as soon as you have the keys and a phone number, so verification is out of the way before launch day rather than during it.

How do I make my Apple Maps listing stand out?

Once you’re verified, select Get Started on your location and fill in the place card properly. Apple’s location attributes guide lists what you can add:

• Logo and cover photo for the place card header.
• An “about” description: what you’re known for, your specialities, your history.
• Categories: one primary category, as specific as possible, plus up to four more.
• Normal and special hours, including bank holiday openings and closures.
• “Good to Know” attributes such as contactless payments, parking or accessible parking.
• Showcases: time-limited promotions with a call to action, for example a 30-day offer.

What I’d do: copy your details from your Google Business Profile word for word, so your name, address, phone and hours match everywhere. Apple itself says the address should be the one officially listed on your website, and hours should match your website whenever possible. Then add a reminder to your calendar before every bank holiday to update special hours on Google and Apple on the same day. If you need a refresher on keeping the Google side tidy, my guide to managing your Google Business Profile covers it.

Why can’t I add my business to Apple Maps?

It’s usually one of a handful of things. Run through this checklist before contacting Apple:

• You’re on an old guide or link. Business Connect is gone. Start at business.apple.com.
• Your email is already an Apple Account. The first admin account can’t use an email linked to iCloud or the App Store.
• You used a role instead of a name. Apple needs a real first and last name on sign-up.
• Verification is stuck. You need two methods, not one. Check your Companies House number, and whitelist apple.com emails.
• “This location is already managed”. Use Request Transfer with proof of ownership.
• The phone verification call goes to an old number. Apple uses the number it has on record. Contact Apple Business support.
• Your opening date is too far off. “Opening Soon” only works up to six months ahead.
• The pin is wrong. Re-centre it over your building, not the road outside.

If you’re a customer who just wants to tell Apple about a missing shop, the owner isn’t needed. Apple’s iPhone guide says to touch and hold the map until a pin appears, scroll to the bottom of the card and tap Report Something Missing. Owners should still claim the listing through Apple Business to control it.

Can you do it yourself, or is it worth getting help?

Honestly, most small businesses can do this themselves in an afternoon. If you have a Companies House number or a website domain you control, and your business phone is the one Apple has on file, it’s mostly form-filling. Where people get stuck is DNS records, a listing locked by an old agency, or juggling Apple, Google and Bing so they all say the same thing. And if your Google listing isn’t showing either, start with my guide on why a business doesn’t show on Google Maps.

Apple Maps business listing FAQs

Want to be found on every map, not just Apple’s?

Now you know how to add business to Apple Maps, the next step is making sure customers actually pick you once they find you. That’s what I do. I’m a freelance web designer and SEO in Clapham, London, and I’ll tell you straight whether it’s a job you can handle yourself or worth handing over.

Book a free consultation, or call or WhatsApp me on 07404 145722. No jargon, no long contracts to decode, just a clear plan to get more local customers choosing you.