Hook

Most business profiles are 40% full. The owner claimed it years ago, typed the name and phone number, and never came back — which is exactly why Google shows the competitor who filled theirs out. Print this page. Every unchecked box is a reason someone else's profile ranks and yours doesn't.

Phase 1 — Claim It or Nothing Else Counts

  • ☐ Profile claimed at google.com/business under a Google account you control (not an ex-employee's, not your web guy's)
  • ☐ Verification completed — postcard, phone, or video, whichever Google offers you
  • ☐ Service-area businesses: street address hidden, service areas set by city/zip (this is the classic suspension trigger — see the not-showing-up diagnosis)

Phase 2 — Core Info (What Google Ranks You On)

  • ☐ Primary category set — this single field is the biggest ranking input; pick what you ARE, not what sounds broad
  • ☐ Every honest secondary category added (a med spa that also does laser hair removal needs both)
  • ☐ Business name exactly as it appears on the sign — no keywords stuffed in ("Joe's Plumbing" not "Joe's Plumbing | Best Plumber Daytona")
  • ☐ Phone number is the one you answer, consistent with your website and every directory listing
  • ☐ Hours correct — and holiday/special hours set before every holiday
  • ☐ Business description filled to ~750 characters: what you do, who it's for, where — plain sentences, no keyword soup
  • ☐ Opening date set
  • ☐ Services or products added with one-line descriptions — each one is a query you can surface for
  • ☐ Website link + appointment/booking link both filled
  • ☐ Attributes checked (women-owned, wheelchair accessible, accepts new customers — whatever is true)

Phase 3 — Trust Signals (What Customers Rank You On)

  • ☐ Logo uploaded
  • ☐ Cover photo uploaded — real, current, yours
  • ☐ At least 10 real photos: exterior, interior, team, work/product. No stock — Google's vision AI and your customers can both tell
  • ☐ Q&A seeded with your 3–5 most-asked questions and your own answers (you're allowed to post these yourself)
  • ☐ Messaging turned on ONLY if someone will respond within an hour during business hours — a dead messaging button is worse than none

Phase 4 — The Review Engine (The Field That Never Finishes)

  • ☐ Review link copied from the profile's "Ask for reviews" card
  • ☐ Link placed where customers actually see it: receipt footer, follow-up text after the job, QR card at the counter
  • ☐ Ask process defined: ask in person at the happy moment, text the link within an hour
  • ☐ Every existing review responded to — owner responses are public proof you run the place
  • ☐ Steady cadence over bursts: one review a week every week beats thirty in a weekend then silence (bursts get filtered anyway)

Phase 5 — The Weekly Five-Minute Habit

  • ☐ Hours still right? (holiday hours set 2 weeks out)
  • ☐ New Q&A answered? Anyone can answer your questions publicly — if you don't, a stranger does
  • ☐ New reviews responded to?
  • ☐ One new photo added? Recency signals life
  • ☐ Calls + direction requests trend glanced at in Performance — that's the profile's paycheck

ROI

The profile is free — the entire cost is about an hour to fill it and five minutes a week to keep it alive. What it buys is eligibility: for a local service business, the map pack is usually the whole ballgame, and an incomplete profile isn't even in the tournament. If your profile is filled out and still not showing up, run the eight-cause diagnosis — it's usually verification, category, or the service-area address trap. Once the listing earns calls, the next leak is answering them: automatic text-back covers that.