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Google Business Profile checklist: 12 fixes that bring in more calls

Your free Google listing is often the first thing a customer sees. Work through this list once and it keeps paying.

Updated September 13, 2026 2 min read

Your Google Business Profile, which many people still call Google My Business, is the box that appears in Google Search and Maps with your name, reviews, hours and a call button. It is free, and for a lot of local businesses it brings in more calls than the website. Most profiles are half finished. Here is how to finish yours.

The basics

  1. Claim and verify the profile. If you have not, do this first. Nothing else counts until you control it.
  2. Use your real business name. Adding keywords to the name breaks Google’s rules and can get the profile suspended.
  3. Pick the right primary category. It is one of the strongest signals for which searches you appear in. Add secondary categories for other services.
  4. Set your address or service area correctly. If customers do not visit you, hide the address and list the areas you serve.
  5. Keep hours accurate, including holidays. Wrong hours cost you customers and reviews.

Make it convincing

  1. Write a description for customers. Say what you do, who for and where, in plain language.
  2. List every service with a short description, and prices where you can.
  3. Add real photos. Your space, your team, your work. Add new ones regularly.
  4. Add booking and website links, so people can act without hunting.

Keep it alive

  1. Ask every happy customer for a review. Send a direct link by text right after the visit. Never offer anything in return; that breaks Google’s rules.
  2. Reply to every review, good and bad. Future customers read the replies.
  3. Post updates. Offers, news and events show that the business is active.

What moves your map ranking

Google says local results are based mainly on three things: relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how close you are to the searcher) and prominence (how well known you are, including reviews and links). You cannot move your building. You can make your profile more relevant and more prominent.

Check your details elsewhere

Your name, address and phone number should match everywhere they appear: your website, Facebook, Yelp, Apple Maps and industry directories. Mismatches confuse both customers and Google.

Rather have it handled? See our Google Business Profile service, or pair it with local SEO.

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