Google Business Profile Checklist: Get Found by Customers Near You

Business info and categories

• Set your primary category to the single most specific match for your core business, not a broad umbrella category.
• Add secondary categories only for services you genuinely and regularly offer -- don't stack irrelevant ones hoping to rank for more searches.
• Keep your business name exactly as it appears on your storefront sign and legal documents -- no keywords or taglines stuffed in.
• Check the map pin sits on your actual entrance, not just that the typed address is correct.
• List a local, answered phone number rather than a national or unmonitored line.
• Link your real website, not just a social profile or a generic landing page.
• Fill in the "opening date" and attributes (wheelchair access, parking, wifi, women-led, etc.) that genuinely apply -- they're used as filters in search.

NAP consistency (Name, Address, Phone)

Inconsistent NAP across the web is one of the most common, and most fixable, reasons a profile underperforms.

• Write down your official Name, Address and Phone exactly as you want them everywhere, then use that same version on your website, social profiles and directories.
• Check your website footer and contact page match Google Business Profile character-for-character (abbreviations like "St." vs "Street" count).
• Search your business name plus city and scan the first two results pages for old addresses or phone numbers on directories you no longer control.
• Fix or request removal of duplicate listings for the same location -- they split your reviews and confuse the algorithm.
• If you've moved or changed number in the last two years, verify every major directory (Facebook, Bing Places, Apple Maps, industry directories) reflects the change too.

Hours, services and products

• Set standard hours for every day of the week, including days you're closed (don't leave them blank).
• Add special hours in advance for holidays and known closures -- an out-of-date "closed" on a day you're open loses the customer instantly.
• List your actual services or product categories with short, plain descriptions -- avoid copy-pasted marketing fluff.
• Add prices or a price range where you're comfortable doing so; profiles with visible pricing tend to get more qualified clicks.
• Remove services you no longer offer so the profile matches what a customer will actually find when they call or walk in.

Photos and visual presence

• Upload a logo and a cover photo sized and cropped properly -- no stretched or pixelated images.
• Add current photos of the storefront/entrance so people recognise it from the street.
• Add interior photos and, if relevant, photos of the team at work -- profiles feel more trustworthy when they show real people and real space.
• Include photos of your actual products, dishes or completed jobs rather than stock imagery.
• Replace or remove any photo older than 2-3 years, especially if the space or branding has changed.
• Check the photos customers have uploaded and flag any that are wrong, offensive or belong to a different business.

Reviews and reputation

• Reply to every new review, positive or negative, within a few days -- a short, specific, human reply, not a copy-pasted template.
• Never offer discounts or incentives in exchange for reviews -- it violates Google's policies and can get reviews removed.
• Ask happy customers for a review at the natural moment (after a delivery, a completed job, checkout) with a direct link, rather than a generic "please review us" request.
• Address negative reviews calmly and factually, and take the conversation offline for anything that needs real resolution.
• Report reviews that are clearly fake, from a competitor, or unrelated to your business, using Google's official flagging process.
• Track your average rating and review count monthly so you notice sudden drops or spam attacks early.

Posts, Q&A and ongoing activity

• Publish a Google Post at least once every couple of weeks -- offers, news, events, or a recent job/product -- profiles that go quiet look abandoned.
• Check the Questions & Answers section for anything unanswered and reply yourself rather than waiting for another user to.
• Seed the Q&A with the 3-5 questions customers actually ask most (parking, appointments needed, deposit required, etc.) and answer them yourself.
• Monitor Q&A monthly -- wrong answers posted by other users can sit there uncorrected for months if nobody checks.

Website link and tracking

• Point the website link on your profile to the most relevant page for a first-time visitor (often the homepage or a location/contact page), not a generic page buried in the site.
• Add UTM parameters to that link (e.g. utm_source=google, utm_medium=organic, utm_campaign=gbp) so it shows up clearly in your analytics instead of blending into "direct" traffic.
• Do the same for the "Book" or "Order" button link if you use one, so you can see how much business actually comes from the profile.
• Check the link isn't broken and doesn't redirect through an old domain or a page that no longer exists.
• Review your analytics quarterly to see whether Google Business Profile traffic is converting, growing or flat, and adjust posts/photos accordingly.