How to audit your Google Business Profile: 10 checks
A practical checklist you can run in under 30 minutes. Do it monthly — small profile problems compound into ranking losses if you ignore them.
An audit is just a structured look at what is right, what is missing, and what is wrong. Run these 10 checks in order, fix what you find, and repeat monthly. You need nothing but your profile manager and your website.
- Primary and secondary categories. Is the primary category the most specific match for your core service? Add up to 9 secondary categories for the rest. Check competitors who outrank you — their categories are public and worth mirroring.
- Business name. Real name only, no keywords stuffed in. A name like "Smith Plumbing Co" is fine; "Smith Plumbing Co Best Plumber Dallas" is a guideline violation waiting to happen.
- Name, address, phone (NAP) consistency. Compare your profile against your website contact page and your top directories. Every difference — Suite vs Ste, abbreviations, old numbers — weakens Google's trust.
- Hours, including holiday hours. Regular hours correct? Special hours set for upcoming holidays? Nothing loses calls faster than Google telling a customer you are open when you are not.
- Services and products. Every service you offer should be listed with a plain-language description. Empty services sections are one of the most common gaps I find.
- Photos and videos. Count them. Are there real photos of the business, team, and work — or stock images and an empty gallery? Aim to add new real photos every month.
- Reviews: count, rating, velocity, responses. How many reviews in the last 90 days? Average rating vs competitors? Are you replying to every review, including the negative ones, within a few days?
- Q and A section. Read the questions customers actually asked. Answer the unanswered ones yourself (you are allowed to ask and answer your own), and make sure no wrong answer from the public is sitting there unchallenged.
- Attributes and description. Attributes filled (women-led, veteran-led, wheelchair accessible, etc.)? Business description written in your own words, describing what you do and where?
- Posts and offers. Any posts in the last 30 days? Stale posts with expired offers sitting on the profile look abandoned. Either post monthly or remove old ones.
What to do with the results
Fix the quick wins the same day — categories, hours, Q and A answers, attribute checkboxes. Photos and reviews are ongoing systems, not one-time fixes: schedule them monthly. If the audit surfaces a possible suspension risk (fake address, keyword-stuffed name, duplicate listing), fix it before you do anything else — ranking tactics on a non-compliant profile are wasted effort.
How often should you audit?
Monthly for the 10 checks above, and immediately after any business change: new services, new hours, new location, rebrand. Competitors edit their profiles constantly — a monthly audit is how you stay ahead instead of catching up.