When someone searches "lunch near me" or "plumber Long Beach WA," Google shows them a map and a few business profiles before any website. If your profile is incomplete, outdated, or wrong, customers don't see a small mistake — they see a closed door, and they tap the next listing.
Open google.com/maps, search for your own business the way a stranger would, and walk through this list.
The 10-point check
- Can you find yourself at all? Search your business type plus your town ("bakery Ocean Park"), not your business name. If you don't appear in the first handful of results, customers who don't already know you won't find you.
- Are your hours right — including holiday hours? Wrong hours are the fastest way to earn an angry one-star review from someone who drove out to a locked door. Seasonal businesses: this matters double in shoulder season.
- Is your phone number correct, and does someone answer it? Tap it on your own phone. If it rings to an old line or a full voicemail box, that's a lead leaving.
- Do your photos look like your business today? Profiles with recent, real photos get more clicks than profiles with three blurry pictures from years ago. A phone camera on a sunny day is all you need.
- Is your primary category right? A "café" categorized as a "restaurant" loses coffee searches. Check the category line under your business name.
- Does the description say what you actually do? Plain words, the services people search for, and your town's name. No slogans needed.
- Are you answering reviews — including the bad ones? A calm, human reply to a critical review builds more trust than ten unanswered five-star ones. Customers read your answers, not just the stars.
- Is the website link working — and pointing somewhere useful? It should land on a page with your hours, location, and an obvious way to call or book. Not a dead link, not a Facebook page from 2019.
- Are the "services" and "products" sections filled in? These show up in searches. Empty sections are free visibility left on the table.
- Is anyone else editing your profile? Google lets users "suggest edits," and those edits sometimes go live. If you've never claimed your profile, claim it today — it's free and takes a few minutes.
How to score it
Count your "yes" answers:
- 9–10: Your profile is working for you. Keep photos and posts fresh and stay on top of reviews.
- 6–8: You're losing some customers at the margins. An afternoon of cleanup will likely pay for itself the first week.
- 5 or fewer: Your profile is actively costing you business — fixing it is almost certainly the highest-return digital work you can do this month.
Most of this is fixable in an afternoon by anyone with the patience to do it. If you'd rather not be that person, profile cleanup is part of every package we offer — and the free audit will tell you exactly which of these ten points need attention.
Where this leads: profile cleanup is the heart of our Local Visibility service, and it's included in the Bronze package along with the website basics.