Google Business Profile: the 2026 optimisation checklist

Updated September 2026 · Applies to UK businesses · About 1,100 words

Your Google Business Profile (the listing that appears in Google Maps and the map pack) is the single most important thing in local search. Most profiles we audit are perhaps half complete, and the half that's missing is usually the half that affects ranking. Work through this list top to bottom. The order matters: the items near the top carry the most weight.

1. Ownership and access

Before anything else, make sure the profile is owned by a Google account the business controls, not a former employee, a web designer or an agency. Go to your profile, open Business Profile settings, then People and access. There should be one Owner (you), and anyone else should be a Manager. If you can't get in at all, request ownership through Google and, if there's no response in a week, the claim transfers to you automatically.

2. Business name

Your name must be your real-world trading name as it appears on your sign, your van and your website. Adding keywords ("Smith Plumbing – Emergency Plumber Burnley") is against Google's rules and is now the commonest reason for suspension. If competitors are doing it, report them rather than copying them; the suspensions usually catch up.

3. Primary category

This is the single biggest ranking setting on the profile. Search for your main service in your town, look at the three businesses in the map pack, and note their primary category (it's shown under the name). Use the most specific category that describes what you mainly do: "Emergency plumber" rather than "Plumber" if that's the work you want, "Dental clinic" versus "Dentist" and so on. Add secondary categories for other services you genuinely offer, but keep the list honest. Ten categories looks like spam.

4. Address and service area

If customers visit you, show the address. If you go to customers (most trades, cleaners, mobile services) you are a service-area business: hide the address and set the areas you cover. Setting up a service-area business with a visible home address, or listing a virtual office, are both suspension risks. Service areas should be the towns you actually work in, and the whole area shouldn't be much more than about two hours across.

5. Phone, website and links

Use one main phone number, formatted the same way everywhere (profile, website, directories). Link to your homepage or, better, the page on your site that matches the profile's location. Add booking, appointment or quote links where they exist. If you use a call-tracking number, put it as an additional number and keep the main one primary.

6. Hours

Set your real opening hours, including special hours for bank holidays. If you're a 24-hour emergency service, set 24 hours, but only if someone really answers at 3am. "Open now" is a ranking filter for many searches, and wrong hours are one of the top reasons for bad reviews.

7. Services and products

Under Services, add every service you offer with a short description. Google matches these against searches, so "boiler repair", "boiler installation" and "boiler servicing" should each be listed rather than one entry for "boilers". Shops and restaurants should use Products or Menu instead. Prices are optional but help conversion.

8. Description and attributes

The description is 750 characters. It doesn't affect ranking directly, but it's read by people deciding whether to call. Say what you do, where, for whom and for how long, in the first two sentences. Then complete every attribute Google offers (accessibility, payment types, identifies as, amenities). Attributes appear as filters in search.

9. Photos

Profiles with regular, real photos get more calls and direction requests; Google has said so. Upload your logo and a cover photo, then at least ten photos of your work, premises, team and vehicles. Name the files sensibly before uploading and add a few new ones every month. Don't use stock images: Google can tell, and so can customers.

10. Reviews

Review count, rating, recency and whether you reply all feed the ranking. Set up a review link (Google gives you one under "Ask for reviews"), turn it into a QR code, and build asking for a review into the end of every job. Reply to every review, good or bad, within a couple of days. Never buy reviews or ask staff or family to leave them; the penalties are real and the reviews are usually removed anyway.

11. Posts and Q&A

Posts are small updates that appear on the profile. They don't change ranking much, but they show the business is active and they let you put offers and seasonal services in front of people. One a week is plenty. Under Questions and answers, add and answer the five questions customers always ask (do you charge a call-out fee, do you work weekends, are you insured), because if you don't, someone else will answer them for you.

12. Messaging and calls

Turn on messaging only if you'll reply within an hour or so during the day; Google turns it off for slow responders. Check the profile's call and direction statistics monthly in the Performance section. They're the only free, honest measure of whether all this is working.

13. Duplicates

Search Maps for your business name and your address. If there are two listings, or an old one at a previous address, mark the old one as closed or moved and request a merge. Duplicates split your reviews and confuse Google about which listing to rank.

14. Consistency

Finally, check that the name, address and phone on the profile are exactly the same as on your website footer, Companies House, and the main directories. Not similar: the same. Inconsistency is the quiet killer of map-pack rankings and the reason citation cleanup exists as a service.