--- title: "Optimize your Google Business Profile to win calls from local searches" description: "Set up, verify, and maintain a Google Business Profile so a service business appears in local map results and turns profile views into calls." canonical: "https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/google-business-profile-optimization" date: "2026-03-20" modified: "2026-09-25" --- ## Site navigation - [Scale With Search](https://scalewithsearch.com/) - Real estate - Real estate - [Real estate](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate) - Work - Start here - [Send your brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#send-your-brief) - [Prepare your six-question brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#prepare-your-six-question-brief) - Build - [Site build, content library with SEO, signal desk](https://scalewithsearch.com/work) - For your business - Trades and home services - [Auto body and collision shops](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/auto-body-and-collision-shops) - [Foundation and home repair contractors](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/foundation-and-home-repair) - 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A homeowner searches "roof repair" plus the name of your city. Google shows a map with three businesses under it. The homeowner looks at the photos and the star ratings and calls one of the three. Your business is not in the list, so the homeowner never sees your website. Google Business Profile, formerly Google My Business, controls that list. Many service businesses claim the profile once, add one photo, and leave it. This article gives you the full setup, the weekly maintenance, and the measurements that show whether the profile produces calls. ## Understand why the profile matters more than the website Local searches carry immediate intent. A person who searches "plumber near me" or "Italian restaurant open now" wants to call, visit, or get directions. That person reads the profile, not a blog post. Think with Google published research on this in 2016. It found that 76 percent of people who searched on a smartphone for something nearby visited a related business within a day. That figure is ten years old, but the pattern it describes still drives local search design. A typical local search follows four steps: 1. The user searches "roof repair" plus a city name. 2. Google shows the local map results (three businesses) and local organic results. 3. The user opens a profile and checks photos, reviews, hours, and services. 4. The user calls from the search result or asks for directions. ### Know the three ranking factors Google states that it ranks local results on three factors: - Relevance: how well your profile matches the search. Categories and the description control most of this. - Distance: how far your location is from the searcher. You cannot change it, but a correct service area helps. - Prominence: how well known the business is. Reviews, website authority, consistent citations, and engagement feed it. You control relevance and prominence. The rest of this article works on those two factors. The [local SEO guide for marketing managers](/articles/local-seo-marketing-managers) covers the website side of local search. ## Set up and verify the profile ### Claim the profile 1. Go to `business.google.com`. 2. Search for your business name. 3. If the business exists, select `Claim this business`. 4. If it does not exist, select `Add your business`. Google selects the verification method. The options include a postcard with a code (usually 5 to 14 days), a phone call or text, an email, and a video recording. Video verification is common for service-area businesses. You cannot edit the profile or appear in local results until verification is complete. ### Use the real business name Use your business name exactly as it appears on your signs, website, and licenses. Do not add keywords. "Joe's Plumbing" is correct. "Joe's Plumbing - Emergency Plumber 24/7" plus a city name breaks Google's guidelines and can cause a suspension. You can include a descriptive word only when it is part of the legal name. A solo professional who is known as "Jane Smith, Real Estate Agent" can use that name. ### Choose categories with care The primary category is the strongest relevance signal. It controls which searches show your profile. Additional categories add related searches. To choose the primary category: 1. Search your service plus your city, for example "roofing contractor Austin". 2. Open the top three businesses in the map results. 3. Read their categories on the public profile. 4. Use the same primary category as the top competitors, if it describes your business. Pick the most specific category that fits. Use "Roofing contractor", not "Contractor" or "Construction company". Use "Plumber", not "Plumbing supply store". Use "Real estate agent", not "Real estate agency", unless you manage a team. Then add related categories for services you offer. Examples are "Emergency plumber", "Water heater repair service", and "Drain cleaning service". As of September 2026, Google allows one primary category and up to nine additional categories. Do not add unrelated categories; they reduce relevance. Google does not publish a complete category list. Use the suggestions in the category field, or a community list such as Pleper's GBP category list. ### Write the business description You have 750 characters. Say what you do, who you serve, and what makes you different. Add a call to action. Include two or three main service phrases in natural sentences. Here is an example for a roofing contractor: > ABC Roofing has served Austin homeowners for 15 years. We replace and repair residential roofs and restore storm damage. We are GAF Master Elite certified and give a 10-year labor warranty on all installations. Our team answers emergency calls within 2 hours. Call today for a free inspection. Do not repeat keyword variants ("roof, roofing, roofer, roofing company"). Do not add HTML, special characters, links, or superlatives such as "Best roofing company in Austin". ### Set the service area, hours, and attributes If customers do not visit you, hide your address and list the cities or ZIP codes you serve. Google does not show a service-area business to searchers outside its service area. Set regular hours for every day of the week. Add holiday hours by hand before each holiday, because Google does not adjust them for you. A customer who finds a closed door during listed hours often leaves a negative review. If you offer emergency service, show it in the hours or the description. Select every attribute that applies, for example wheelchair-accessible entrance, free Wi-Fi, online appointments, on-site services, women-led, or veteran-led. Users filter results by attributes, so a missing attribute removes you from a filtered search. ## Add photos that show the real business A searcher looks at your photos before the call. The photos show the real storefront, the team, and finished work. Older photo statistics from Google no longer appear in its current help pages, so do not plan on a specific lift. Start with this minimum set: - 3 exterior photos: storefront, entrance, parking. - 3 interior photos: office, workspace, showroom. - 3 team photos: staff, owner, technicians. - 5 service photos: work in progress and completed projects. Grow to 20 to 30 photos across categories. Add new photos each quarter to show an active business. Upload a square logo on a white or transparent background, and suggest a cover photo in the profile editor. Google can still choose a different cover image. Google accepts JPG and PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB. The recommended resolution is 720 by 720 pixels or more. The [image optimization guide](/articles/image-optimization-ux-seo) covers compression for the same photos on your website. Photos from customers carry weight because they are independent. Ask customers to add photos when they leave a review. ## Earn and answer reviews Review count, rating, and recency are strong prominence signals. A steady flow of two to five new reviews each month is better than a burst followed by silence. ### Ask every customer the same way Google prohibits review gating. Do not ask only happy customers for reviews, and do not offer a reward for a review. Ask every customer for an honest review. To get your review link, open the profile editor and select the option to ask for reviews. Copy the short link. Send it by email, text message, or a printed QR code. Use an email like this one: > Subject: How was your experience with [Business Name]? > > Hi [Customer], thank you for choosing [Business Name] for your [service]. Would you leave an honest review on Google? It helps other customers find us. [Review link]. Thanks again, [Your Name] In person, say: "We would appreciate an honest Google review. This card has the link, and it takes about a minute." Ask within 24 to 48 hours after the job, while the customer remembers the details. ### Respond to every review Respond to positive and negative reviews within 24 to 48 hours. Google recommends replies, and prospective customers read them. Google does not publish response rate as a ranking factor. For a positive review, thank the reviewer by name and mention one detail from the review. For a negative review, use five steps: 1. Thank the reviewer for the feedback. 2. Apologize if the complaint is valid. 3. Explain the cause in one sentence, without excuses. 4. Offer a fix and give a phone number or email address. 5. Move the discussion offline. Do not argue in public. Example: "Thank you for your feedback, Sarah. We are sorry the technician arrived later than scheduled. An emergency call delayed our route that day. We would like to make this right with a discount on your next service. You can reach us at (555) 123-4567." ### Report reviews that break policy To report a review, select the three-dot menu next to it and choose `Report review`. Then choose the reason: spam, fake, conflict of interest, or off-topic. Google removes reviews that break its policies. It does not remove a negative review because you disagree with it. If Google keeps the review, reply with care and earn more recent reviews. Your reply shows prospective customers how you handle a problem. ## Publish posts each week Google Posts appear on your profile. Regular posts show an active business and give searchers a reason to act. As of September 2026, there are three post types: - Update: general news and announcements. - Event: sales, open houses, and workshops. An event post shows until the event ends. - Offer: a discount or promotion with a code or an end date. Add a specific service or product in the `Products` or `Services` section of the profile editor, not as a post. For an event or an offer, keep the title to 58 characters or fewer. The description can hold 1,500 characters, but 100 to 200 words is enough. Add a photo of at least 400 by 300 pixels. Choose one button: `Learn more`, `Call now`, `Book`, `Sign up`, or `Buy`. Example post for a roofing contractor: the title is "Free roof inspections this month". The description reads: "Storm season is here. Schedule a free roof inspection to find damage early and avoid larger repairs. We check shingles, flashing, and gutters with no obligation." The photo shows a technician on a roof. The button is `Call now`. Post one or two times each week. ## Manage questions and answers Check whether your profile shows a questions-and-answers section. Google has changed this feature over time. If it is present, anyone can ask a question in public, and anyone can answer, including a competitor. An unanswered question or a wrong answer from a stranger hurts trust. Post the questions your customers ask most often, and answer each one from the business account: - Do you offer emergency service? - What areas do you serve? - Are you licensed and insured? - Do you give free estimates? - What payment methods do you accept? Check the section each week and answer new questions within 24 hours. If someone posts a wrong answer, report it and add a correct answer from the business account. ## Keep your name, address, and phone number identical NAP means name, address, and phone number. It must be identical in four places: your Google Business Profile, your website, local directories, and your social profiles. The main directories are Yelp, Yellow Pages, and the Better Business Bureau. Google compares these citations. Differences reduce trust in your listing. These differences are common: - "ABC Roofing LLC" on the website, but "ABC Roofing" on Google. - "123 Main St" on Google, but "123 Main Street Suite A" on the website. - An office number in one place and a mobile number in another. Audit your citations with Moz Local or BrightLocal. You can also search your business name plus your city and check each result by hand. ## Compete for the top three map results Work on five levers: 1. Reviews: aim for 50 or more reviews with an average of 4.5 stars or higher. A competitor with 200 reviews is hard to pass. You can still compete with a faster flow of new reviews, because recent reviews count more. 2. Proximity: "near me" searches depend on distance. If you are far from the city center, set an accurate service area. Name the suburbs you serve in the description. 3. Citations: list the business on Yelp, Facebook, the Better Business Bureau, and Yellow Pages. Add industry directories. Examples are Angi for home services, Healthgrades for medical practices, Avvo for lawyers, and Zillow for real estate. Avoid spam directories; they hurt more than they help. 4. Local links: sponsor local events or nonprofits, and write for local news sites. Partner with related local businesses, and get into "best of" lists for your city. 5. Engagement: Google tracks website clicks, calls, direction requests, and photo views. Posts, fresh photos, and offers bring more of these actions. ## Avoid five mistakes that cost rankings Wrong hours lead to a closed door, a negative review, and a lower rank. Ignored reviews signal an inactive business. A PO box does not qualify as an address; use a physical address or a service area. A keyword-stuffed name breaks the guidelines and can cause a suspension. Duplicate profiles for one business split your signals; ask Google support to merge them. You can have more than one profile only if you have more than one physical location. A service-area business with one location cannot create a profile for each city it serves. ## Measure the results Google renamed the Insights report to Performance in 2022. Open it from the profile editor and track these numbers each week or each month: - Profile views in Search and Maps. - Interactions: website clicks, calls, and direction requests. - The search terms that showed your profile. - Calls made from the profile. Use these rough starting benchmarks, not Google standards. A small service business in a normal market often sees 500 to 1,000 profile views each month. A business in a competitive market can see 1,000 to 5,000. About 5 to 10 percent of views should turn into a call, a direction request, or a website click. A sudden drop in views usually means a ranking loss or a profile problem. The [GA4 SEO reports guide](/articles/ga4-seo-reports-guide) shows how to follow profile clicks into website conversions. A new profile in a moderately competitive market usually needs three to six months to reach the top three map results. Lawyers, dentists, and real estate agents compete harder and can need 6 to 12 months. A website is not required, but a profile with a website usually ranks better, because Google can confirm the business and read more signals. The [local business SEO guide for restaurants](/articles/seo-restaurants-local-business) shows the same method for a walk-in business. If the profile does not appear at all, check four things. Confirm that verification is complete. Confirm that the name, address, and phone number match the website. Confirm that the categories are correct. Confirm that you searched from inside your service area. ## Related: SEO by role - [Real estate SEO: Brokerage, team, and agent roles.](/articles/seo-real-estate-roles) - [Real estate listing copy: Check AI drafts first.](/articles/ai-memory-for-real-estate) - [Real estate transactions: A deal file AI can track.](/articles/ai-memory-for-real-estate-transactions) ---- ```text .|########||. .|########||. .|########||. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. .#| .#. .#| .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. |#. .#. |#. .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| .||########||. .||########||. .||########||. 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