- What it shows: the inside of your business as a spherical image people can spin around.
- How to get one: hire a Google-trusted photographer, use a Matterport Pro2, or shoot it yourself with a 360 camera.
- What it costs: $100–$300 for a one-shot from a Google-trusted local photographer.
- Different from: a walkable 3D tour — most operators ship both.
Table of contents
The plain-English definition
A Google Business Profile 360 photo is a 360-degree spherical image attached to a verified Google Business Profile listing, displayed under "Street View & 360 photo" so users can look around the inside of the business from Google Maps and Search.
Google launched the program as an extension of Street View — the original outdoor 360 imagery — and gradually opened it to indoor business spaces in the 2010s. Today it is the most discoverable way to put interior imagery in front of a customer scrolling Maps.
What the badge actually does for you
Most decisions made on Google Maps happen in under four seconds. The Street View & 360 section sits above your photo gallery in the listing, and it carries a small interactive "spin to look around" affordance. That affordance is what gets clicked.
For categories where the interior matters — dental practices, salons, medspa rooms, restaurants, boutique fitness — the badge is the most efficient way to convert a Maps scroller into a walk-in. It signals "this is a real business with a real space" before any reviews are read.
Three publishing paths
1. Hire a Google-trusted photographer
The "Street View Trusted" program certifies independent photographers who can publish 360 imagery directly to your verified listing. Typical cost is $100–$300 for one location. The shortest path to a live badge for most owners.
2. Use Matterport
A Matterport Pro2 capture automatically publishes 360 stills to your Google Business Profile via their built-in integration. This is the path multi-location chains use. It bundles the Google Business Profile badge with a walkable Matterport tour but locks you into the subscription. See our vendor comparison hub for the tradeoffs.
3. DIY with a 360 camera
A Ricoh Theta or Insta360 ONE captures a single spherical photo. Upload through the Google Maps app on your verified listing or via the Street View Publish API. Quality has to clear Google's threshold or the photo can be removed.
"The badge signals 'this is a real business with a real space' before any reviews are read."
Google Business Profile 360 photo vs walkable 3D tour
A Google Business Profile 360 lives inside your Google listing. A walkable 3D tour lives on your website, your social bios, and your booking emails. They solve different surfaces of the same customer journey.
The honest answer most operators arrive at: do both. Publish a 360 for the Google badge. Ship a walkable 3D tour for everything else. See the 3D virtual tour vs 360 panorama breakdown for the full mechanics.
The honest math
Cheapest path: a Google-trusted local photographer, $100–$300 once.
Bundled path: Matterport capture session ($300–$1,500) plus monthly subscription ($99–$309), which auto-publishes the 360.
For the website / social side: ship a walkable 3D tour from TourReady for $99 once, hosted free permanently. Pair it with the Google-trusted-photographer 360 and you cover both surfaces for under $400 total — no recurring cost.