Apple Business Connect is now Apple Business: how to get your business on Apple Maps (2026 UK guide)

TL;DR: Apple Business Connect, Apple’s free tool for managing how your business appears on Apple Maps, became part of a new free service called Apple Business on 14 April 2026, and existing listings moved across automatically. To get on Apple Maps, sign up at business.apple.com, verify your organisation within 60 days, add your location, then complete the place card with hours, photos, an action button and a showcase. Ads on Maps are not available in the UK.

Key takeaways

• Apple Business Connect, Apple’s free tool for managing your business on Apple Maps, became part of a new service called Apple Business on 14 April 2026. Existing listings moved across automatically.
• Apple Business is free and runs in more than 200 countries and regions. UK businesses get location management and Branded Mail, but not Ads on Maps, which starts in the US and Canada only.
• To add your business to Apple Maps, sign up at business.apple.com, verify your organisation within 60 days, add your location, then complete the place card.
• Apple says claimed businesses get 30% more views, and that action links raise clickthrough by 31%.
• iOS made up just over half of UK mobile web use in October 2026, according to StatCounter, so your Apple Maps business listing is seen by a large share of local customers.
• Showcases, action buttons and insights are free too, and worth setting up once the basic details are right.

When someone opens Maps on their iPhone and searches for a coffee shop, a plumber or a vet, the results come from Apple Maps, not Google. If you have only ever set up a Google Business Profile, your Apple Maps listing may be incomplete or out of date, and you cannot fix it until you claim it.

Apple’s tool for this used to be called Apple Business Connect. In April 2026 Apple folded it into a single free service called Apple Business, so many guides online now describe screens that no longer exist. This guide covers what changed, what UK businesses can use, and how to get onto Apple Maps in seven steps, with the extras that make a place card worth tapping.

What was Apple Business Connect?

Apple Business Connect was Apple’s free tool for claiming and managing how a business appears on Apple Maps. Through it you edited your place card, the panel that opens when someone taps your business in Maps, with your hours, phone number, website, photos and logo.

It does for Apple what Google Business Profile does for Google Search and Google Maps, or what Bing Places for Business does for Bing. Your business can already appear on Apple Maps without anyone claiming it. Claiming it is how you take control of what the place card says, and how you get the extra tools.

What happened to Apple Business Connect?

On 14 April 2026 Apple replaced Apple Business Connect, Apple Business Essentials and Apple Business Manager with one free platform called Apple Business. Apple announced the change in its newsroom on 24 March 2026 and said the three older services would no longer be available once it launched.

If you already used Apple Business Connect, you do not need to start again. Apple says claimed locations, place card information, photos, organisation details and account details moved across automatically. Apple’s sign-up guide also confirms that you can sign in to Apple Business with the personal Apple Account you used as an administrator in Apple Business Connect.

The location tools now sit under Brands, then Locations, alongside newer features such as brand profiles, Branded Mail and device management for businesses that give staff iPhones, iPads or Macs. For a café, a salon or a trades business, the part that matters is the same as before: your listing on Apple Maps.

Why does Apple Maps matter for a UK business?

Apple Maps matters because about half of mobile web use in the UK happens on iPhones, and the Maps app that comes with every iPhone is Apple’s own. If your listing there is empty or wrong, a large share of the people near you see the empty or wrong version.

StatCounter Global Stats recorded iOS at 50.14% of UK mobile web use in October 2026, with Android at 49.85%. StatCounter counts page views rather than people, but the split is close to even, which means an Apple Maps business listing deserves the same care as your Google profile.

Apple’s Maps page says a place card shows the basics, such as address, opening hours, website and phone number, along with details like price range, photo galleries, accepted payment types and even whether you can take your dog. People can filter searches too, for example to restaurants by cuisine or price range, or to places that are open right now. If your hours are missing or wrong, a search for places open now can leave you out.

Apple’s Apple Business page adds two figures of its own: claimed businesses get 30 percent more views, and action links increase clickthrough by 31 percent across website, call and action buttons. Those are Apple’s numbers, not an independent study, but they show where Apple sees the gains: claiming the listing, then giving people a button to press.

Is Apple Business free in the UK?

Yes. Managing your business on Apple Maps through Apple Business is free, as Apple Business Connect was before it. Apple’s feature availability page lists what UK organisations get, including brand and location management, Branded Mail, built-in device management, Tap to Pay on iPhone and Managed Apple Accounts.

Two features are not available in the UK. Ads on Maps, Apple’s new paid advertising in Maps, starts in the US and Canada only, from summer 2026. The new email, calendar and directory tools for staff are US only. Everything else in this guide works in the UK today.

Branded Mail is worth knowing about if you send customers a lot of email. Apple’s Branded Mail guide explains that it adds your brand name and logo to your business emails in the Mail app on Apple devices and in iCloud Mail on the web. It needs your own domain, not a Gmail or Outlook address, and your emails must be signed with DKIM under a DMARC policy. Our guide to setting up a business email address covers those records.

How to add your business to Apple Maps in 7 steps

To add your business to Apple Maps, sign up for Apple Business, verify your organisation, then add your location with its address, category, phone number, website and hours. Apple checks your organisation and reviews some content before it goes live, so allow several working days from sign-up to a finished place card.

1. Sign up for Apple Business

Go to business.apple.com and choose Sign up now. Apple’s sign-up guide asks for your organisation’s name and address, your own name, your country, a password and a phone number, plus your website. The website is optional, but Apple says adding it can speed up verification. You then enter the codes sent to your email and phone, and agree to the terms.

If you used Apple Business Connect before, sign in with the Apple Account you used there instead. Your locations should already be waiting under Brands.

2. Verify your organisation

Apple verifies that your organisation is real before your changes go live. Verification can take several business days, and Apple gives you 60 days to complete it. If your organisation is not verified in that time, Apple deletes the information you entered, so do not sign up and then leave it.

Use the same business name, address and phone number you use everywhere else, including your website and Google Business Profile. Consistent details across every listing are one of the basics on our local SEO checklist.

3. Add your location and place the pin

In Apple Business, choose Brands, then Locations, then Add Location. Type your business name. If Apple Maps already shows your business, select it; if not, add it as a new location. Apple’s guide to adding a single location tells you to drag the map if the marker sits over the wrong building, and suggests switching to Hybrid or Satellite view to find your entrance.

The pin matters more than it looks. Directions in Maps lead to it, so a marker on the wrong side of a shopping parade sends customers to the wrong door.

4. Choose your category, phone number, website and hours

Next, set the default language, check the display name that appears in Maps, and choose a primary category. Apple updates its categories regularly, so check back now and then for a closer match. You can add more categories later.

Then set your status to Open or Opening Soon. A new business can be listed with an opening date up to six months ahead, which helps a restaurant or shop that is still fitting out. Add your phone number with the country code, your website and your opening hours. If you do not have a website yet, Apple accepts a Facebook, Instagram or TikTok page instead.

5. Add photos, your logo and the details customers check

Apple’s Apple Business page lists what a place card can hold: business information and an About section, regular, holiday and seasonal hours, phone, email and website, photos and a logo, and good-to-know details such as payment options, Wi-Fi and parking. Fill in every one that applies to you.

Photos go through Apple’s photo and text standards, and Apple approves them before they appear. Use real photos of your premises, your work and your team. The advice in our guide to Google Business Profile photos applies here too: show people what they will see when they arrive.

6. Add an action button

Actions are buttons on your place card that take customers straight to your website or booking platform, with names such as Order or Tickets. Apple’s guide to actions explains that each category has its own action types. A restaurant, for example, can add Menu, Reserve, Waitlist, Pickup and Delivery.

Your first action becomes your Primary Action, the button that sits next to your website button. Apple approves each action, which can take up to three business days, and customers need iOS 17.4 or later to see them. If you take bookings online, point the Reserve action at the page where people actually book, not at your homepage.

7. Publish a showcase and check your insights

A showcase is a promotional panel on your place card with a headline, a short description, a photo and a button. Use it for a seasonal menu, an offer or an event. Then open Insights to see how people found you and what they tapped. Both are covered in more detail below.

What if someone else has already claimed your business?

If another organisation already manages your location, Apple Business shows the message This location is already managed when you try to add it. Apple’s advice is to carry on, add the location anyway, and then request a transfer of management from inside Apple Business.

It can mean a previous owner, a head office or a former agency claimed the listing in the past. If you know who it is, ask them to release it. If you do not, use the transfer request, and make sure the details you give match your website and Google profile.

How do you make an Apple Maps place card stand out?

A strong Apple Maps place card is complete, accurate and current: every field filled, real photos, an action button that works, and a showcase that changes with the seasons. Each extra gives a customer one more reason to tap your business rather than the next result in the list.

Start with the details customers act on. Hours affect whether you show up when someone filters for places open now. Your phone number and website give people a way to get in touch straight from the card. Photos show what the place is like before anyone visits. Payment, Wi-Fi and parking details answer questions that might otherwise send a customer elsewhere.

Then add the parts most listings leave empty. An action button that opens your booking page, and a showcase that is always current, make a place card look looked after. That matters to customers deciding between two similar businesses on the same street.

Apple Maps showcase: what to post and the rules

Showcases are Apple’s version of Google Business Profile posts: a short promotion on your place card with a button. Apple’s guide to creating your first showcase sets the limits:

• A headline of up to 38 characters.
• Body text of up to 100 characters.
• One photo, with alt text of up to 100 characters.
• A call to action button.
• A run of up to 365 days, with 90 days as the default.

Apple reviews every showcase, which can take up to three calendar days, so submit at least three days before you want it live. Editing a showcase while it is in review can delay it. If you write a showcase in more than one language and Apple rejects one version, the whole showcase is rejected. Apple suggests planning ahead so customers see something new each month.

Good Apple Maps showcase ideas are specific: a café’s winter menu, a salon’s Christmas party bookings, a gym’s January joining offer, a shop’s late opening in December, or a takeaway’s new delivery area. Keep the headline concrete, such as Christmas menu from 1 December, and give the button one job. The ideas in our guide to Google Business Profile posts work here too, cut down to 38 characters.

What do Apple Business insights show?

Insights show how people found your location on Apple Maps and what they did next. Apple’s guide to insights for a single location splits them into two parts: search, and the place card.

• Search: how many times people tapped your location in search results, and what they searched for first. Apple sorts searches into name or brand searches, category searches for a product, service or category you offer, and other searches, such as an address or a city.
• Place card: how many people viewed your place card, and what they did next. That covers directions, website taps, calls, shares, photo views, showcase taps and taps on your actions.

There are also heat maps showing where people were when they tapped your listing, and where they asked for directions from. A Similar Locations view compares you with similar businesses, matched on category, market segment, products and services, price point and proximity.

Data starts to appear within an hour of verification, and you can view it by day, week or month or download it as a CSV file. Apple can also send a monthly recap. One catch for small businesses: Apple shows numbers below a privacy threshold as zero, so a quiet week can look empty. Use the monthly view, where totals are more likely to clear the threshold.

The category search figure is the one to watch. Those are people who searched for what you do rather than your name, so it shows whether Apple Maps is bringing you customers who did not already know you.

How do you keep your Apple Maps business listing accurate?

Keep your Apple Maps business listing accurate by updating your hours before every holiday, checking the listing after any change, and acting on Apple’s emails. Customers can report problems from your place card, for example if it says you are open and they find you closed, and Apple’s Maps page says people can submit updated information about a business directly from the place card.

Apple’s guide to maintaining location accuracy explains that Apple reviews these reports and may change your location name, status or hours. When it does, Apple Business emails your administrators and the location shows Updates Available. You can accept the change with Looks Good, or edit it to the right value. If you contest a name change, Apple reviews it, which can take up to five business days.

The practical point: if you do not keep your place card right, other people’s reports will shape it instead. Set a reminder before bank holidays, Christmas and any seasonal change to your hours, and update Google, Apple and Bing on the same day.

Apple Business Connect vs Google Business Profile

Apple Business Connect, now Apple Business, does for Apple Maps what Google Business Profile does for Google Search and Google Maps. Most local businesses need both, because they reach people in different apps.

Feature	Apple Business	Google Business Profile
Cost	Free	Free
Where it shows	Apple Maps, plus place cards in Safari and Spotlight	Google Search and Google Maps
Promotions	Showcases, running for up to 365 days	Posts on your profile
Buttons	Actions such as Menu, Reserve and Order	Links such as Book and Order
Paid ads in the UK	Not available	Available through Google Ads

If you have not set up Google yet, start with our guide to setting up a Google Business Profile, then come back to Apple. Most of what you write for one can be reused for the other, as long as the name, address, phone number and hours match exactly. For the AI side of local search, see how to get your business on ChatGPT.

Common mistakes to avoid on Apple Maps

These mistakes leave a listing half finished or wrong:

• Starting sign-up but never finishing verification, so Apple deletes the data after 60 days.
• Leaving the pin on the wrong building, so directions lead to the wrong door.
• Using a different business name or phone number from your Google profile and website.
• Forgetting holiday hours, then letting customer reports change them for you.
• Pointing the action button at your homepage instead of the booking or order page.
• Letting the showcase expire, so the place card goes back to plain details.
• Keeping one person as the only administrator. Add a second, so the business keeps access when someone leaves.

Should you get someone to manage it for you?

Apple Business is free, and most small businesses can set it up themselves with the steps above. Apple also lets approved third-party partners and agencies manage locations for their clients, which helps if you would rather not keep on top of showcases, hours and insights yourself.

Our local SEO service keeps your Google, Apple and Bing listings complete and matching, with current photos, offers and booking links and a plain report of what changed. It runs for a fixed monthly fee agreed in writing after a 30-minute call, with no long contract. Not sure where you stand? Start with a free website check.

Frequently asked questions

Is Apple Business Connect still available?

Not under that name. Since 14 April 2026, Apple Business Connect has been part of Apple Business, Apple’s free platform for businesses. Its tools for your Apple Maps place card sit under Brands and Locations, and Apple moved existing locations, photos and account details across automatically.

Is Apple Business free?

Yes. Managing your business on Apple Maps through Apple Business is free. In the UK it includes brand and location management and Branded Mail. Ads on Maps, Apple’s paid advertising, starts in the US and Canada only.

How long does Apple Business verification take?

Verification of your organisation can take several business days. Apple gives you 60 days to complete it and deletes your information if it is not approved in that time. Actions take up to three business days to approve, and showcases up to three calendar days.

Can I add my business to Apple Maps without a website?

Yes. The website field is optional when you add a location, and Apple accepts a Facebook, Instagram or TikTok page in its place. A website still helps: Apple says adding one at sign-up can speed up verification, and it gives customers somewhere to book or buy.

How do I change my opening hours on Apple Maps?

Sign in to Apple Business, choose Brands, then Locations, select the location and update its hours. You can add holiday and seasonal hours as well as your regular ones. Do it before each bank holiday, because customers can report you as closed and Apple may change the hours itself.

Can I advertise on Apple Maps in the UK?

Not yet. Apple’s Ads on Maps launches in the US and Canada from summer 2026, and Apple’s UK feature list does not include it. For now, a complete place card with actions and a current showcase is the way to stand out on Apple Maps in the UK.