The Google Business Profile Audit Checklist

Your Google Business Profile is one of your most valuable marketing assets. It is free, it shows up above your website in many local searches, and it is what appears in the map pack. And yet many profiles have clear, fixable issues: a vague category, old photos, unanswered reviews.

This checklist has 38 points, grouped into seven categories. Work through it once and you will likely surface a handful of quick wins.

Category 1: identity and core fields

Start here because everything else builds on it.

• Business name exactly matches your legal or operating name. No keyword stuffing (Google will suspend you).
• Primary category is the most specific match for your service. "Plumber" beats "Contractor." Specificity matters.
• Secondary categories cover all real services, up to nine allowed.
• Phone number matches the one on your website, invoices, and citations.
• Website URL uses HTTPS and resolves without a redirect chain.
• Hours are accurate, including special holiday hours.
• Service area (or physical address) is defined correctly. Never set both if you are a service-area business.
• Business description makes good use of the 750 characters allowed, names your real services, and avoids promotional language.

Category 2: media

Photos help searchers see what you actually do. Recent, real photos of your work matter more than artistry.

• Cover photo is on-brand, high resolution, and shows the work you actually do.
• Logo is square, high contrast, and readable at small sizes.
• At least 20 interior/work-in-progress/team/vehicle photos.
• At least one video (a 30-second tour or project highlight).
• New photos uploaded in the last 30 days.
• Geo-tagged photos where appropriate (shot on location with location services on).

Category 3: services and products

• Every service you offer is listed as a distinct service entry.
• Each service has a 2-3 sentence description using natural language (not keyword-stuffed).
• Prices are included where feasible. Even a "starting at" figure answers a common question.
• Service menu is grouped logically so browsers can find what they need.

Category 4: reviews

• Review count is trending up month over month.
• Star rating is 4.5 or higher.
• Every review from the last 90 days has a response.
• Responses personalize with reviewer name and service context.
• No policy violations (incentivized, gated, or employee-authored reviews).
• Review keywords map to your target service phrases.

Category 5: posts and updates

GBP posts are one of the most under-used features. They appear on your Business Profile in Search and Maps, and a recent post shows searchers you are active.

• At least one post per week for the last 8 weeks.
• Posts include a relevant image and a clear call to action.
• Post content varies (offers, updates, service highlights, seasonal reminders).
• Offer posts have start and end dates that are current.

Category 6: questions and answers

• Every public question has a business-authored answer.
• You have proactively seeded 3-5 common questions with answers yourself.
• Spam questions are flagged.
• Your answers mention your service type and location naturally.

Category 7: technical and verification

• Business is verified (green check or equivalent).
• No duplicate listings for the same location.
• Ownership is in a Google account you control (not a former agency).
• Two-factor auth is on the owning account.
• Manager access given to staff instead of sharing the owner login.
• Menu, booking, and messaging integrations are set up if supported for your category.

How to use this checklist

Score your profile against all 38 items. For every miss, write down the specific fix and the owner. Batch the quick wins (media, services, Q&A) in one session. Save the ongoing items (posts, reviews, responses) for a weekly recurring block.

Then check your Business Profile performance numbers (views, calls, direction requests) each month to see what changed.

The quick version: our free audit tool

This full checklist is worth doing by hand once. If you want a faster first pass, our free GBP audit tool asks 10 yes-or-no questions about the most important items, scores your answers, and gives you a prioritized fix list. It does not connect to or scan your profile; it works from what you tick.

What to fix first

If you can only do five things this week, do these:

1. Set the correct primary category.
2. Upload 10 fresh photos of real work.
3. Respond to every review from the last 90 days.
4. Publish one GBP post with a clear call to action.
5. Seed three common questions in the Q&A section.

That is one to two hours of work, and it fixes the most common gaps.

Related tools

• Local Rank Checker - See where you show up in Google's local results for one keyword in your city.
• GBP Post Generator - Drafts one Google Business Profile post per run, ready to paste.
• NAP Citation Checker - Checks the phone on your Google listing and links you to your other directory listings to check by hand.