Google Business Profile Checklist for Local Businesses

For many local and service-area businesses, the Google Business Profile is the first impression a customer gets, often before they ever see the website. Google uses the information in it to decide when to show your business, so an incomplete profile quietly costs visibility.

1. Get the basics exactly right

• Business name: use your real-world business name, as it appears on your signage and documents. Adding keywords or locations to the name goes against Google’s guidelines.
• Address or service area: show your address if customers visit you. If you serve customers at their location, set a service area and hide the address.
• Phone and website: use a phone number that reaches your business and link to the most relevant page of your site, usually the homepage or a location page.
• Hours: keep regular hours accurate and add special hours for holidays.

2. Choose categories carefully

Your primary category has a strong influence on which searches you appear for. Pick the one that best describes your core business, then add secondary categories only for services you genuinely offer. Look at which categories competitors who rank well are using, but do not copy categories that do not fit you.

3. Add services, products and attributes

List the services or products you offer with short, plain descriptions. Attributes such as accessibility features or service options help customers and give Google more context.

4. Write a useful description

The business description has a 750-character limit. Use it to explain what you do, who you serve and what makes you different, in natural language. Avoid links, promotional claims and keyword lists.

5. Show real photos

Add clear photos of your premises, team, work and products, and keep adding new ones. Real images build trust in a way stock photography cannot.

6. Build a sustainable review routine

• Ask real customers for reviews after a good experience, using a short link.
• Respond to reviews, positive and negative, politely and promptly.
• Never buy reviews, create fake ones or offer incentives in exchange for them. It violates Google’s policies and can lead to reviews being removed.

7. Keep the profile active

Use posts to share updates, offers or events, update photos and check your profile monthly for suggested edits from Google or the public, which can change your details without you noticing.

8. Make your website agree with your profile

Your website should show the same name, address, phone number and hours. Location or service-area pages with genuine local information reinforce what your profile says.

Where to go next

A complete profile is the start. Rankings in the local pack also depend on relevance, distance and prominence, which includes reviews, citations and your website’s overall strength. Our Local SEO service covers all of it.