Google Business Profile checklist: a six-part audit

Start with ownership, access and verification

The business itself should hold the primary owner role, on a Google Account it controls. Google's help describes two roles, owners and managers. A profile can have several owners, and one of them holds the primary owner designation. Owners have full control, including adding and removing users and deleting the profile. Managers can do almost everything else, like editing business details and replying to reviews, but they can't add or remove users or remove the profile.

That split is why an agency or a staff member should normally sit in the manager role. Google's third-party policies make it a rule: businesses must keep ownership or co-ownership of their profile at all times, and an agency must let a client regain exclusive control within 7 business days of being asked. Anyone who insists on being the only owner is a warning sign.

Next, confirm the profile is verified and note how. Google's verification help lists phone or text, email, live video call and mail as methods, and says the methods are set by Google automatically and can't be changed. So an audit can't promise a particular method; it records whether verification is complete, and flags a profile still waiting on a code. Google says verification reviews take up to 5 business days, occasionally longer.

Work through these checks in Business Profile settings, under People and access.

1. List every user and their role, and write down who each person is.
2. Confirm the primary owner is a Google Account the business controls, not a former employee's personal login or an agency account.
3. Remove anyone who no longer works with the business. Google's own security advice says to remove ex-employees' access.
4. Turn on 2-Step Verification for every owner account, as Google recommends.
5. Don't accept an ownership request from someone you don't know. Google's help says the same.
6. Plan handovers ahead: new owners and managers wait 7 days before they can remove other users or transfer primary ownership.
7. Record whether the profile is verified. If a mailed code is on its way, freeze edits to the name, address and category until it arrives.

Check eligibility, name, address and duplicates

The profile has to describe how the business really operates. Google's guidelines allow a profile for a business with a location customers can visit, or one that travels to customers. They don't allow profiles for rental or for-sale properties, or for lead generation. A virtual office, meaning a mailing address the business rents but doesn't work from, isn't eligible at all. An office in a co-working space can be listed only if it has clear signage, receives customers during business hours and is staffed during business hours by the business's own staff. Google's wording is "your business staff", so a shared reception desk run by the co-working space doesn't count.

The name should match the real-world name on your storefront, website and stationery. Google's guidelines rule out taglines, phone numbers, web addresses, and service or location details added to the name. Say a plumber in Caloundra trades as Harbour Plumbing (a made-up business). "Harbour Plumbing" is right. "Harbour Plumbing, Emergency Plumber Caloundra" breaks the rules, and an audit should flag it.

Then match the address setting to how you serve customers, using the table below. Once the profile is right, the same details need to appear everywhere else, which the listing accuracy guide covers.

Duplicates are the next check. Google's guidelines say there should only be one profile per business, and its duplicates help says a profile treated as a duplicate won't show on Google Search or Maps. Search Maps for the business name, any old trading names, old phone numbers and past addresses. If you created a spare profile by mistake, Google's help says you can remove it without affecting the verified one. If a second profile is owned by someone else, request access; the current owner gets 3 days to respond. Google's help also says to suggest a merge through Maps, and to contact support to appeal if a profile was wrongly marked as a duplicate.

Competitor spam belongs in the audit too, as data clean-up. Google Maps help lets anyone choose Suggest an edit, then Place is closed or not here, then Offensive, harmful, or misleading, and points to the Business Redressal Complaint form for names, numbers or websites that look fraudulent. If your own profile is suspended, the suspension guide covers the appeal path.

Audit categories, services, hours and the description

Your primary category should name the core business, as specifically as Google's list allows. Google's help gives the example of choosing "Nail salon" over "Salon". Its guidelines suggest a test: the category should finish the sentence "This business IS a", not "This business HAS a". They also ask for the fewest categories needed to describe the core business, rather than one per service. You can't create your own category, so if the exact one isn't listed, pick the closest general one. Google gathers information from user reports and licensed content and may update your profile, so check the profile editor for Google updates you didn't make.

Categories and services do different jobs. A category says what the business is; a service says what it does. Google's services help says the suggested services depend on the business type, giving the example that a plumbing business might be offered "Install faucet" or "Repair toilet", and that you can add a custom service when nothing fits. Custom service names that break policy are rejected automatically, and Google lists prices and phone numbers among the things to keep out of the name. Services that don't justify a category belong in this list and on a matching page of your website.

Hours are a common miss. Google's guidelines ask for regular customer-facing hours, allow current seasonal hours as the regular hours, and point to special hours for holidays, temporary closures and other events. Its local ranking help lists business hours, including special hours, among the details to keep current. Set special hours a few weeks before each public holiday.

The description is read by people deciding whether to call. Google's editing help says not to exceed 750 characters, not to include URLs or HTML, and to focus on the business rather than promotions, prices or sales. Attributes are the small facts shown on the profile. Google's attributes help separates the ones an owner can set from ones filled in from customer input, and says some are only available in certain countries or categories. Set only the attributes that are true today.

Test every link, phone number and landing page

Every link on the profile should reach a working page for your business, and every number should reach you. Google's guidelines ask for a website that represents your individual location and say not to use URLs or phone numbers that redirect or refer people to anything other than the actual business, including social media pages. For a business with several locations, Google's business links policies say action links must go to a site for the specific location.

Booking, appointment and ordering links have extra rules. They must lead to a dedicated page for your business and let the customer finish the action, so an appointment link has to reach a page where they can book. Social media sites, messaging links, app store links and link shorteners aren't accepted as action links. The page also has to load for Google: no blocked bots, no error codes such as 404 or 500, and no geoblocking. Third-party partners can add links to a profile automatically, so look for any you didn't add.

The linked page should carry on the conversation the profile started. If the primary category is plumber, the linked page should be about plumbing, show the same business name, address and phone number as the profile, and put the phone number and an enquiry form within easy reach on a phone screen. The website conversion checklist covers the page itself, and the guide on local landing pages covers when a location page earns its place.

1. Tap the website link on a phone. It should land on the right page with no chain of redirects.
2. Open each booking or appointment link and go through the steps up to the final confirm.
3. Call every listed number. Google allows a primary number plus up to 2 more, each under the business's direct control, with no premium numbers, and prefers a local number to a central call centre.
4. Check the phone number and address on the profile match your website exactly.
5. Read the linked page's main heading. It should match the primary category and the place you serve.
6. Look for links you didn't add, such as booking links from a past software provider, and remove or replace them.

Review photos, posts and reviews

Photos show customers what they'll find, so check them against Google's rules first. Google's photo help asks for JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, recommends 720 by 720 pixels with a minimum of 250 by 250, and says images should be in focus, well lit and free of significant alterations or heavy filters. Videos can be up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB and 720p or higher. New photos and videos can take 24 to 48 hours to appear.

You can set a logo and a cover photo, but Google's help says that doesn't always make the cover show first, and a cover that looks low quality may be replaced by customer photos. You can request removal of customer-added photos that break policy. Posts come in three types, updates, offers and events, and Google's posts help says posts older than 6 months are archived unless a date range is set. It also warns that a post with a phone number in the text may be rejected if the number can't be verified as the business's, so use the call button instead.

Then look past the star rating to the process that produces the reviews. Google's Maps content policy bans offering any incentive, such as payment, discounts or free services, in exchange for a review or for changing or removing a negative one. It also bans discouraging negative reviews, asking only happy customers (often called review gating), pressuring people to review while they're on the premises, and asking for specific wording. Reviews shaped by a conflict of interest, such as current or former employment, aren't allowed either.

Australian law adds its own layer. The ACCC says it's against the law for a business to create fake or misleading reviews or arrange for others to do so, and that suppressing or removing genuine negative reviews can mislead customers. The ACCC says any incentive must apply whether the review is positive or negative and be clearly disclosed. Google is stricter and bans incentives for Google reviews outright, so follow Google's rule on your profile. After fake engagement, Google's help says it can pause new reviews, unpublish existing ones or warn customers that fake reviews were removed.

Flag a review that breaks Google's policies, but not one you simply disagree with, which Google's help also rules out. For asking well in the first place, see the review strategy guide.

• Check the logo matches your signage and the cover photo shows real work, premises or the team.
• Replace stock images and outdated shots, such as an old van wrap or a previous address.
• Read customer photos and request removal of any that break policy, such as photos of the wrong business.
• Make sure offer and event posts carry dates, and nothing live describes a past promotion.
• Read every review request: SMS, email, invoice footers and QR cards. Each should go to every customer, with no filter for happy ones.
• Check replies are short, polite and free of offers. Google's tips say to protect privacy, so a public reply should never confirm details of a customer's job, treatment or legal matter.
• Look for reviews from staff, family or suppliers, and stop asking them.

Know what the numbers measure, and set an audit schedule

Profile numbers count actions on Google, and those aren't the same as enquiries. Google's help defines calls as the number of times someone clicked the call button, website clicks as clicks on your website link, and directions as requests for directions to your business. Views count unique visitors, with one person counted once a day. The searches report updates at the start of each month and can run up to 5 days late.

A tapped call button doesn't mean an answered call. Google switched off chat and call history in Business Profile on 31 July 2024, so the profile can't show which calls connected. Match the call count against your phone records, as set out in the call tracking and conversion reconciliation guide.

For website visits, tag the profile's website link so Google Analytics can separate profile clicks from other Google traffic. Google Analytics help says to always include utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign. A website link tagged with?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=business-profile keeps those visits in the Organic Search channel, because GA4's default rules put medium "organic" there, while the campaign name marks them as profile clicks. Give booking links their own utm_content value so the two can be told apart.

Google Analytics can also link to Business Profile directly. Its help says you need Editor or Administrator access to the Analytics property and Owner or Manager access to the profile. Those reports cover only the last 6 months, and when several profiles are linked the figures are added together with no way to split them by location. Download the profile's performance data monthly to keep a longer record.

Businesses with several locations need extra checks. In Google's business groups, anyone added to a group as an owner or manager can reach every current and future profile in it, so audit group membership as closely as single-profile access. Each location also needs a unique store code that never changes, which Google's bulk upload help says keeps spreadsheet edits on the right location.

Worked example: a one-page audit for a Caloundra plumber

Harbour Plumbing is a made-up business in Caloundra that travels to customers, and every finding below is illustrative, not drawn from a real profile.

Step one is access. The audit finds the primary owner is a former office manager's personal Gmail account and a previous agency is still listed as an owner. The fix is to ask the former manager to transfer primary ownership to an account the business controls, remove the agency, and turn on 2-Step Verification. The 7-day wait for new owners means the handover is planned first.

Step two is the listing itself. The name reads "Harbour Plumbing, Emergency Plumber Caloundra", and the street address of the owner's home shows publicly even though customers never visit. The name goes back to "Harbour Plumbing" and the address is hidden, with service areas added for the suburbs the vans really cover. Maps also shows an old duplicate under a past number, so it's removed.

Step three is the fields customers read. The primary category is narrower than the main work, and no holiday hours are set. Recheck the category and add special hours before the next holiday.

Step three also includes a competitor benchmark. Search "plumber Caloundra" on a phone; note the top three profiles' primary category, review count and website link. Google's ranking help names relevance, distance and prominence, and says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking, so use the benchmark to spot fixable gaps, such as a narrow category or fewer reviews.

Step four is links and phone numbers. The website link runs through three redirects and the booking link goes to a retired tool. Link straight to the right page; drop the old booking link.

Step five is photos, posts and reviews. The cover is a stock photo, and the review QR card only goes to customers the plumber thinks are happy. Use a real job photo and ask every customer the same way.

Step six is tracking. The website link has no tags and nobody exports performance numbers, so add UTM tags and export monthly. The table summarises every finding.