Google Business Profile optimization checklist.

1. Claim and verify the profile

Nothing ranks until the profile is claimed and verified. If a listing already exists from an old owner or an auto-generated entry, claim it rather than creating a duplicate — duplicates split your reviews and confuse Google.

2. Nail your primary category

Your primary category is the strongest relevance signal you control. Choose the most specific category that describes your core service, then add secondary categories for everything else you offer. “Med spa” plus “skin care clinic” beats a single vague category every time.

3. Complete every field

Business name (no keyword stuffing), address or service area, hours including holidays, phone, website, and a full description. Then the fields most owners skip: services with descriptions, attributes (parking, accessibility, service options), opening date, and products with prices. Each completed field is a relevance signal.

4. Add real, current photos

Profiles with fresh photos get more clicks and more profile views. Add exterior, interior, team, and work photos, and keep adding them — recency signals an active business. Skip stock imagery; Google and customers can tell.

5. Post weekly

Google Posts keep the profile active and surface offers, updates, and content directly in your listing. Cadence beats volume — a weekly post signals an engaged business and gives returning searchers a reason to act.

6. Build review velocity and reply to everything

Ask every happy customer for a review, keep the requests steady, and reply to every review — positive and negative. Volume, rating, recency, and reply rate all feed local rank. A profile answering reviews out-ranks one that ignores them.

7. Seed and answer Q&A

The Q&A section is public and owner-answerable. Seed the real questions customers ask, answer them clearly, and monitor for new ones — unanswered or wrong answers cost you leads.

8. Keep citations consistent

Your name, address, and phone must match across Apple, Bing, Yelp, Foursquare, and the aggregators that feed Google. Inconsistent data quietly caps your rank, so sync it and keep it in lockstep.

9. Re-audit monthly

Profiles drift: hours change, competitors improve, Google adds fields. Re-run a profile audit monthly so you catch gaps before they cost you the map pack. The Aaptly audit grades every item on this checklist in about 60 seconds.