A Google Business Profile audit is a structured check of everything Google shows about your business — and everything it quietly uses to rank you. Most owners set their profile up once, then never look at it again. Meanwhile categories drift, hours go stale, services never get added, and reviews pile up unanswered. An audit fixes that. It takes about 30 minutes, costs nothing, and it is the same starting point whether you run one shop or manage profiles for clients.
This checklist walks through a complete Google Business Profile audit in the order I would run it: the signals that affect ranking first, then the details that turn viewers into callers.
The short answer
A Google Business Profile audit is a structured check of everything Google shows about your business and quietly uses to rank it — name, address and phone, primary category, services, profile status, reviews, photos, hours and links. It takes about 30 minutes, costs nothing, and most profiles fail on just two steps: the category and the services list.
Step 1: Check your business name, address and phone
Your name, address and phone number (often called NAP) should match exactly everywhere: your profile, your website, and your directory listings. “Smith & Co Plumbing” in one place and “Smith and Co. Plumbers” in another sends mixed signals, and mixed signals cost trust.
Check three things:
- The business name is your real trading name — no added keywords, no town name stuffed in.
- The phone number is the one customers should actually call, and it is answered during opening hours.
- The address is shown only if customers visit you there. If you travel to customers, hide the address and set service areas instead.
Step 2: Audit your primary category
Your primary category is the strongest ranking signal on the profile. A Google Business Profile audit always starts here. Google can only rank you for searches your category describes, so a vague or wrong category makes everything else harder.
Compare your primary category with the top three competitors who appear above you in the map results. If theirs is more specific, that is likely a real gap. Then review your secondary categories: add every category that genuinely describes work you do, and remove any that you no longer offer.
Step 3: Review your services list
The services section matches you to specific “near me” searches. An empty or thin services list is one of the most common findings in any Google Business Profile audit.
For each service you offer, add:
- A clear service name a customer would actually search for.
- A short, plain description of what the service includes.
- A price or price range where you can — it reduces tyre-kicker enquiries.
Work through your real job list, not a generic template. If you fitted it, repaired it or installed it this month, it probably belongs on the list.
Step 4: Check profile status and duplicates
Open the dashboard and confirm the profile is verified and live. A suspended or unverified profile cannot rank, no matter how good the rest of the audit looks.
Then search your own business name on Google Maps. Duplicate listings — often created years ago by a directory or a former employee — split your reviews and ranking strength between two profiles. If you find a duplicate, work through Google’s process to remove or merge it rather than leaving both to compete.
Step 5: Audit your reviews and replies
Reviews are both a ranking input and the first thing most customers read. During your audit, look at four things:
- Count. A thin review count makes even a good business look unproven next to competitors.
- Recency. A steady flow of recent reviews is healthier than a burst from two years ago.
- Rating pattern. Read the recent one- and two-star reviews for repeated complaints — parking, phone manner, waiting times. Patterns are fixable problems, not bad luck.
- Replies. Every review, positive or negative, should have a calm, specific reply. Unanswered reviews tell a story too, and it is not a good one.
Note the last review date. If it is months old, asking happy customers for reviews needs to become a routine, not a one-off effort.
Step 6: Check photos, hours and attributes
Profiles with real photos look alive. Audit yours honestly: are the photos recent, well-lit and actually of your business, your team and your work? Replace stock-looking images with genuine ones, and add new photos regularly rather than all at once.
Then check your hours, including holiday hours. Google displays “Open now” in search results, so wrong hours lose customers at the exact moment they are ready to call. Finally, review your attributes — things like wheelchair access, parking, or “women-led” — and your opening date. Small details, but they all feed the completeness Google rewards.
Step 7: Test the customer journey
Finish the audit by acting like a customer. Search your main service and town on a phone. Does your profile appear? Click the website link — does the page load, and does it match the profile’s details? Tap the call button — does it ring the right number? Follow the directions link — does the pin sit in the right place? This five-minute test catches broken links and wrong pins that no dashboard will ever flag.
How often should you run this audit?
Run the full checklist once, fix everything you find, then repeat a lighter version monthly: new photos, fresh review replies, hours checked, services updated. Profiles are not set-and-forget assets. The businesses that stay visible are the ones whose profiles stay current.
Questions owners ask next
How long does a Google Business Profile audit take?
About 30 minutes for the full checklist the first time, working in ranking order: details, category, services, status, reviews, photos and hours, then the customer-journey test. After the first pass, the monthly lighter version — fresh photos, review replies, hours checked, services updated — takes far less, because you are maintaining rather than rescuing.
What is the single most important check in the audit?
Your primary category. It is the strongest ranking signal on the profile, and Google can only rank you for searches your category describes. Compare yours against the top three competitors appearing above you in the map results: if theirs is more specific than yours, that gap alone can explain why they show and you do not.
How often should I run this audit?
Once in full, fixing everything you find, then a lighter repeat monthly. Profiles are not set-and-forget assets: categories drift, hours go stale, services change and reviews pile up unanswered. The businesses that stay visible are the ones whose profiles stay current, and a short monthly pass is what keeps them that way.
My audit found a duplicate listing — what do I do?
Do not leave both profiles live. Duplicates split your reviews and ranking strength between two listings, so customers and Google both see a weaker business. Work through Google’s process to remove or merge the duplicate, keeping the profile with your real details and review history as the one that survives.
What to do next
Start at Step 1 and work down — most profiles fail on the category and services steps, and those two fixes alone can change what you rank for. If you manage profiles for several clients, the audit is also the hard part to repeat every month, which is why I use a system to keep the routine in one place: you can see how it works on my Local Alchemist AI page.
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