A practical checkup for your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile should describe the business a customer will actually find. Start with accuracy before adding more content.

Check the essentials together

Review your business name, category, phone, website, regular hours, and special hours. Compare them with your website. If you visit customers instead of serving them at a storefront, make sure the profile reflects how you operate.

Google describes local ranking in terms of relevance, distance, and prominence. Complete information can help Google understand a business; it does not remove the effect of a searcher’s location or guarantee a position. Read Google’s local ranking guidance.

Make reviews a normal part of service

Invite customers to share an honest account of their experience. Give every customer the same opportunity, rather than screening for positive feedback. Keep replies specific and respectful, and avoid sharing private details about a customer.

Fix one real problem at a time

An outdated phone number matters more than a clever post. Keep a short change log: what was wrong, what you changed, and when you checked the result. After editing, inspect the public profile as well as the management screen.

Look beyond a single search

Record incoming inquiries and whether they became customers. Where connected reports provide search activity, compare similar periods and note missing data. A position from one device in one location is only one observation.