Apple Business Connect: show up in Siri and Apple Maps

Why it matters

When someone with an iPhone looks you up in Apple Maps, or asks Siri where you are and when you open, they see your place card: the panel with your name, address, hours, phone, website, photos and buttons such as "Reserve" or "Menu". Apple says the place card appears across its software, "from Maps to Siri to Calendar, Messages, and more". You can control what it says, for free.

Apple also runs its own web crawler, Applebot, which powers search in Siri, Spotlight and Safari. Guide 02 shows how to make sure your robots.txt lets it in. This guide covers the other half: the business facts Apple holds about you directly.

Available in Luxembourg. Apple's feature availability list includes Luxembourg, with "Brand and Location Management", which is what this guide uses. Paid ads on Apple Maps are not offered in Luxembourg, and you do not need them.

Illustration with a fictional business.

Reference

Words Apple uses

Before you start

Have these ready

• Your fact sheet from Guide 04: exact business name, address, phone, website, opening hours and a short description. Copy every field from it, so Apple says the same as your Google profile and other listings.
• A work email address that you have never used as an Apple Account, for example office@yourcompany.lu. Apple asks for a real, active address, and the name of a real person (not "Office" or "IT").
• The business phone line. Apple sends codes by SMS or call, and may call the number it has on record for your location.
• For verification, one of these: an official document such as a business licence, lease or utility bill, or access to your domain's DNS settings (your web host or developer can help). Apple asks for two methods.
• A logo (square, at least 1024 × 1024 pixels), a wide cover photo (at least 1600 × 1040) and a few recent photos (at least 720 × 960) of the outside, inside, your work and team. JPEG, PNG or HEIF.
• A computer with a recent Safari, Chrome, Edge or Firefox.

Steps

Claim and complete your Apple Maps place card

1. See what Apple Maps shows today

   On an iPhone, open Maps, search for your business name and town, and tap the result. Scroll down the place card and note what is wrong or missing. On a Mac, open Maps, click your business and scroll the place card.

   • You appear: you will claim this place in step 4. On iPhone you can also scroll to the bottom of the card and tap Claim This Place, which takes you to the sign-in.
   • You do not appear: you will add a new location in step 4.
   • You appear twice, or under an old name: write it down. You claim the right one, and keep the other for step 8.

   Apple: get information about places in Maps on iPhone · If Maps isn't working (Claim This Place)

2. Sign up, or sign in with the right account

   Go to business.apple.com.

   New to Apple

   Select Sign up now. Enter your organisation name and address (the website is optional but can speed up verification). Then your legal first and last name, country, phone and a password. Enter the codes sent to your email and phone, select Agree to the terms, and Done. This creates your company's first administrator account, a Managed Apple Account.

   Used Business Connect before

   Sign in with the personal Apple Account you used. Apple then offers two choices. Create an Apple Account for Work gives you a Managed Apple Account with every feature. Continue using your personal account keeps only brand and location management, which is enough for this guide.

   Use a company login

   A Managed Apple Account is owned by your organisation, so the place card does not leave with an employee. Apple asks you not to use the administrator account for the App Store or iCloud. Keep it for Apple Business only.

   Apple: sign up and verify your organisation · requirements · Managed Apple Accounts

3. Verify your organisation

   Go to Settings → Organization and select Verify Now. Choose two methods, complete them, then select Send for Review.

   Method	What you do	Fits a Luxembourg small business?
   Document upload	Upload a business licence, a food, health or alcohol permit, a lease or property agreement, a utility bill or another official document.	Yes, usually the easiest
   Domain Validation	Add a TXT record that Apple gives you to your domain's DNS settings. Developer step: send it to your web host or developer.	Yes, if you have your own domain
   Business ID	A D-U-N-S Number or a US EIN.	Only if you already have a D-U-N-S Number
   App Store Connect	For organisations that publish apps.	Rarely

   • Apple's review takes up to five business days, longer when busy. Allow mail from all apple.com addresses so you do not miss its replies.
   • You have 60 days after sign-up to get verified. If you are not approved by then, Apple deletes the organisation and its data.

   Apple: sign up and verify your organisation

4. Claim your place, or add it

   Choose Brands → Locations, select Add Location, then Add single location and Next.

   • To claim an existing place: type the name, find your business on the map and select it.
   • To add a new one: type the name, select Add a new location with this name, enter the address, and drag the map until the marker sits on your building. Map Mode → Satellite helps you find the entrance.

   Then fill in the default language, the display name, one primary category, the status (Open, or Opening Soon with a date within six months), the phone number with +352, the website and the hours. Choose or create your brand, and finish with Done.

   • Location verification by phone: if the place already existed on Maps, Apple may offer a call. Select Location Verification, then Phone Verification, answer the call and type the four-digit code. The call goes to the number Apple has on record, so an old number will not work; contact Apple Business support if you do not recognise it.
   • "This location is already managed": someone else, perhaps a former agency, controls it. Finish adding it, then request a transfer, with documents such as a business licence or utility bill. Apple says the review can take up to five business days.

   Apple: add a single location

5. Fill in the place card from your fact sheet

   Open Brands → Locations, select your location, then Info. Go through each field:

   • Display name. Your name only, as on your door. Apple does not allow descriptions or symbols such as ® or ©. You can add an alternate name for another language.
   • About. A short description of what you offer. Apple lets you add one per language, so you can add French, German and English versions from your fact sheet.
   • Address and pin. The official address, and the pin on top of your building.
   • Hours. Normal hours, or appointment only. Use Temporary hours, with a start and end date, for holidays and closures, such as the days around Christmas.
   • Phone. With the country code. Apple does not support extensions.
   • Website. Your own website. A Facebook, Instagram or TikTok page is allowed if you have no site; a third-party site, such as a directory or booking platform, is not.
   • Primary category, exactly one, plus optional extra categories. Pick the most specific one: "Café" rather than "Restaurant".
   • Good to Know. Facts customers ask about: parking, payment methods, wheelchair access.

   Apple: configure location attributes

6. Add your logo, cover photo and photos

   In Info, use the image icon in the circle for the logo and the "Upload cover photo" field for the cover photo. For other pictures, select Photos in the sidebar, then Add Photos, and give each one a caption and alt text (100 characters each). Apple reviews every photo; it shows "In Review" until approved, which can take up to three business days.

   Apple rejects photos that are text-heavy or screenshots, stock photos, collages, AI-generated images, photos with added text, borders or QR codes, and photos of people who have not agreed. Use real, well-lit photos of your own premises and work. Up to 100 per location.

   Apple: add photos · photo and text standards

7. Add action buttons, and a showcase if you want one

   Actions are the buttons on your place card. Which ones you get depends on your category; for a restaurant Apple lists Menu, Reserve, Waitlist, Pickup and Delivery. The Call, Website and Directions buttons come from the fields you filled in step 5.

   In your location, select the icon next to Actions, then Add. Pick the action from the menu, paste the address of the matching page on your website (for example cafe-ribeiro.example/menu), select Add, then Save. Use Change Primary Action to choose the main button. Check the place card preview on the right. Apple approves actions before they appear, which can take up to three business days.

   • One action per type, and each must point to a page on your own website.
   • You may add UTM tags (source, medium, campaign, term, content) to see these visits in your analytics. Apple does not allow login tokens or Google Ads click IDs in the link.

   Example action link with UTM tags (fictional)Copy

   https://cafe-ribeiro.example/menu?utm_source=apple_maps&utm_medium=place_card&utm_campaign=menu

   Showcase (optional). Select Showcases → Create, add a square photo, a heading (38 characters), a body (100 characters), an action, and start and end dates (up to 365 days), then Send. Submit at least three days before you want it live.

   Apple: about Actions · manage Actions · Action URL guidelines · create a showcase

8. Keep it right when customers report changes

   Customers can report problems from your place card, for example "closed" when you are open. Apple reviews these reports and can change your name, status or hours, then emails your administrators. Your location then shows Updates Available.

   • Apple's change is right: open the location, check the alert and select Looks Good.
   • It is wrong: open the changed field, select View Details, then Edit, enter the correct information and save. For a name change, add supporting documents and select Send for Review; Apple says this takes up to five business days.
   • A duplicate or wrong place you noted in step 1: in Maps on iPhone, tap your picture or initials, then Reports → Report a New Issue. On a Mac, scroll down the place card and click Report an Issue.

   Every time your hours or phone change, change them here on the same day as on your website and Google profile.

   Apple: maintain location information accuracy · report an issue on iPhone · on Mac

Check it worked

Confirm what iPhone users now see

After Apple's approval email, open Maps on an iPhone (yours or a colleague's), search for your business and town, and scroll through the place card. Compare name, address, hours, phone, website and buttons with your fact sheet. On a Mac, do the same in the Maps app.

In Apple Business, select your location, then Insights. It shows how often people found you in search, viewed your place card and tapped Directions, Website, Call or your actions. Data starts up to an hour after verification; low numbers show as zero, so look at a month rather than a day.

Apple: use insights for a single location

Common mistakes

What usually goes wrong

• Signing up with an email that is already an Apple Account. Apple asks for a work address never used as an Apple Account. Use a fresh company address.
• Missing the 60-day deadline. Sign-up is quick, but verification is not optional. Have your document ready before you start.
• Adding a new location when Maps already shows you. You end up with two places. Claim the existing one.
• Extra words in the display name. "Café Ribeiro, best pastries Luxembourg" breaks Apple's rules and no longer matches your other listings.
• Linking to a directory or booking platform as your website. Apple allows only your own site, or your Facebook, Instagram or TikTok page.
• Forgetting holiday closures. Use temporary hours, or a customer may report you as closed and Apple may change your hours.
• Blocking Applebot. A complete place card, and a website Apple's crawler cannot read, give Siri and Spotlight less to work with.