WhatsApp Business profile: what to fill in and how your name shows up

Published on October 20, 2026

Your business profile is your company’s info card inside WhatsApp.

It’s what a customer opens when they tap your name or number, often before they send their first message.

According to the official page about the business profile, that’s where they see your business name, description, address, business hours and category, plus the month and year your WhatsApp Business account was created.

A well filled-in profile saves you work.

The official page on editing your business profile says a complete, accurate profile means you get fewer messages asking about things like your business hours.

Where to edit it

On Android, open the Tools tab and tap Profile, as the Android version of the official page on editing your profile shows.

On iPhone the path may be different, so check it on your device.

Every field works the same way: tap it, change what you need and tap Save.

The same screen also holds your catalog, your About message, your phone number and the link to your Facebook Page or Instagram account, according to the official page on editing your profile.

What to put in each field

Your profile photo and cover photo can be seen by anyone on WhatsApp by default, according to the official page on editing your profile.

Use your logo or an image customers already link to your business, like your storefront.

The category field takes up to three options from the app’s list, and you can’t create your own.

If yours isn’t there, the official page on editing your profile suggests picking a more generic one or the Other Business option.

For the address, you can search for it, type it in yourself or, if the business has no physical location, set the area you cover on the map.

There’s also room for location notes and a service area, which tells customers how far you’ll travel, according to the official page on editing your profile.

If you work at the customer’s home, like a manicurist or an air conditioning technician, that’s the option that fits.

Business hours come in three templates: open for selected hours, always open and appointments only, according to the official page on editing your profile.

Some accounts also show a price range and payment and parking options.

The official page on editing your profile notes that some profile updates are still being tested and may not be available to everyone, so don’t worry if a field is missing in your app.

In the description, say in two or three sentences what you do, who it’s for and how to book.

For example: “Physical therapy clinic downtown.

We see patients by appointment, Monday through Saturday.

Send us your question here.”

The business name rules

The official page about creating a business name says the name must represent the business.

For the account to be eligible as an Official business account, the name can’t be in all capital letters (acronyms are the exception), and it can’t have extra spaces between words, unnecessary punctuation, emoji, symbols like ®, special characters or several symbols in a row.

Under the same official page about business names, the name also can’t be only a person’s full name, only a generic term like Fashion, only the name of a place, or too short, and it can’t include any variation of the word WhatsApp.

If your brand already uses a different style outside WhatsApp, with its own punctuation or capitals, the name in the app can follow that style.

Identical names are allowed, since different businesses may have the right to the same name, according to the official page about business names.

If someone is misusing your brand, you can report it through WhatsApp’s intellectual property process.

Why customers sometimes see only your number

This is the part that confuses people most.

Under the official page about business names, with a regular business account, customers see you in their chat list under whatever name they saved your number as.

If they didn’t save it, they see only the number.

Your business name shows in the chat list and the chat without being saved as a contact only on an Official business account, a status Meta grants to some accounts.

So polishing your business name won’t change what shows in the chat list for people who haven’t saved your number.

What helps is asking customers to save your contact and using the same name on your website, social media and business card, so they recognize you when they open your profile.

Changing your name has side effects, too.

The official page about business names warns that on an Official business account, changing the name might make the account lose that status.

And if you subscribe to Meta Verified, Meta’s paid badge, you can update your name and photo, but the change goes through review and approval, according to the official page on editing your profile.

Who can see your profile

The official page about the business profile says your WhatsApp Business account is visible to anyone who has your number saved, including people you’ve blocked.

A blocked person can’t message you or see your last seen, but they can still view your business profile and catalog.

That’s why your profile should only show what you’d put on your shop door.

Your personal phone, your home address and a price you agreed on with one specific customer stay off it.

Open your profile and read it as a customer would: are the name, hours and address right?
Check that the description says what you do, who it’s for and how to book.
Test the website and email on your profile to make sure they open and really belong to the business.
Update your hours before holidays and vacations, not after.
Use the same name on your profile, website and social media.

Where we come in

Your profile answers the basics before the chat starts.

Once the customer writes, someone has to reply.

We set up and run the assistant on your business number: it uses your own business content, covers the questions your profile doesn’t cover, books on the calendar you already use and brings in someone from your team when the topic needs a person.