Google Business Profile Optimization Checklist
Score your Google Business Profile in 10 quick points and see what to improve first.
Score yourself 1 point for each
- Verified profile access
- Correct real-world business name
- Working phone and website
- Current hours
- Correct primary category
- Realistic service area
- Clear business description
- Services match the jobs you want
- Recent real photos
- Simple, compliant review request system
What your score means
- 0 to 3: likely costing you calls
- 4 to 6: fixable trust gaps
- 7 to 8: solid base, improve photos and reviews
- 9 to 10: maintain monthly
1. Claim and verify your profile
- Make sure the listing is claimed by you, not an old employee or past marketer.
- Complete verification so your edits actually go live.
- Remove or merge any duplicate listings for the same business.
2. Fix the basics customers read first
- Business name matches your signage and website exactly, with no extra keywords.
- Phone number rings a phone you answer.
- Website link goes to a working page, not a dead link or social profile.
- Hours are current, including holidays.
3. Rewrite the business description
- Say what you do, who you help, and where you work in the first sentence.
- Skip slogans. Use the words customers use.
- Mention the jobs you actually want more of.
4. List your services
- Add one entry for each service you want to be called about.
- Write a short, plain description for each one.
- Delete services you no longer offer.
5. Set your service area
- List the towns and neighborhoods you really drive to.
- Do not stretch it across the whole state. It makes you look less local.
- If you have a shop customers visit, keep the address visible.
6. Add the right photos
- Exterior or vehicle photo so people recognize you when you show up.
- Five to ten recent job photos, ideally before and after.
- A photo of you or your crew. Faces build confidence.
- Logo and a simple cover photo.
- Add new photos every month or two so the profile looks active.
7. Set up a review request system
- Get your direct Google review link and save it in your phone.
- Print a QR code review card to hand out after the job.
- Save a short text message template and send it the same day you finish.
- Reply to every review, good or bad, in a calm and specific way.
8. Check yourself against three competitors
- Search the way a customer would and look at the three businesses above you.
- Compare review count, recent photos, and how clearly they describe their services.
- Fix the biggest gap first. It is usually photos or reviews.
Want someone to do this for you?
Local Visibility Tune-Up — $450 one-time. I review your Google Business Profile, website, reviews, and nearby competitors, then fix the highest-priority issues.