Google Business Profile optimisation checklist

Before you start: eligibility

Google Business Profiles are for businesses that meet customers face to face, either at a location or by travelling to them. Online-only shops without a physical presence customers can visit aren't eligible for the map listing. Google sets this out in its guidelines for representing your business. Read them once, because breaking them is the most common reason profiles get suspended.

You'll also need to verify the profile. Google offers different methods depending on the business, including video verification. Follow what the dashboard offers you.

The checklist

Business name

Use your real-world name as it appears on your signage, stationery and website. Don't add locations, services or slogans. "Hughes & Daughter Electrical" is right. "Hughes Electrical Electrician Cardiff 24hr" isn't, and it's a common cause of suspension.

Categories

Your primary category is one of the strongest signals for which searches you appear in. Pick the most specific one that describes your main business. Add secondary categories only for things you genuinely do.

A useful trick: search for your main service in your town and look at what categories the top listings use. Several free browser extensions show them. Don't copy blindly, but it shows what Google associates with that search.

Address or service area

• If customers come to you, show your address.
• If you go to customers, set your service areas and hide the address.
• If you do both, such as a garage that also does mobile repairs, you can show the address and set service areas.

Don't use a virtual office, a co-working desk you don't staff, or a PO box.

Hours

Set regular hours and special hours for bank holidays and closures. Wrong hours cost you visits and lead to frustrated reviews. If you take calls outside opening hours, say so in the description rather than claiming to be open 24 hours.

Phone number and website

Use a local or mobile number that's answered. Link to the most relevant page on your site: usually the home page for a single-location business, or the branch page for a multi-location one.

Description

You have up to 750 characters. Use them to say what you do, who for, and where. Mention specialisms and accreditations. Don't include links, prices that change often or promotional shouting.

Services and products

Add your main services with short descriptions. Products can be useful for retailers and trades with set packages. Keep both current.

Attributes

Attributes cover things like wheelchair access, women-led, or whether you offer online appointments. Add the ones that apply. They help customers with specific needs and can appear on your listing.

Photos

• Your logo and a cover photo.
• The outside of your premises so people recognise it.
• Inside, if customers visit.
• Your team and real work.

Keep adding photos over time. Avoid stock images and photos with text overlaid.

Reviews

Ask for reviews from every satisfied customer, using the share link in your dashboard. Reply to all of them, briefly and politely. A calm reply to a bad review often reassures future customers more than a stack of five-star ones.

Never offer incentives only for positive reviews, review your own business or ask staff to post reviews. Google's policy on fake engagement prohibits this, and UK law now bans fake reviews outright. The CMA's guidance on fake reviews explains what businesses must do.

Posts, Q&A and messages

Posts are short updates for offers, events or news. They don't appear to be a major ranking factor, but they help people who land on your listing. If you won't keep them current, it's better not to start.

If messaging is available and you switch it on, reply quickly. Slow replies look worse than no messaging at all.

Monthly maintenance

Profiles change without you. Members of the public can suggest edits, and Google sometimes accepts them. Once a month:

1. Check your name, hours, phone number and categories haven't been edited. 2. Reply to new reviews. 3. Add a few new photos. 4. Look at the Performance section for calls, direction requests and website clicks.

A short example

A locksmith in Northampton had a profile listing "Locksmith Northampton 24/7 Emergency Lockout" as the business name and an address that was really a friend's shop. After a competitor reported it, the profile was suspended.

To get it reinstated he changed the name to his trading name, switched to a service-area profile covering the towns he actually serves, and appealed with documents showing his business registration. Once restored, he set a recurring reminder to ask each customer for a review. It took a while, but he ended up with a profile that complied with the rules and wasn't at risk every time a rival complained.

When to ask for help

If your profile is suspended, you're stuck in verification, or duplicate listings keep appearing, use Google's official support routes. Be wary of anyone offering to "guarantee" reinstatement or to remove genuine negative reviews for a fee.