Google Business Profile Fixes, Field by Field
Your Google Business Profile is the free listing Google shows for your business in Search and Maps, with your hours, phone number, photos, reviews and a button for directions. You manage it yourself, which means most of what makes it strong or weak is in your hands.
The GBP audit reads your live profile and checks it against your website and major citation sources, then looks at category choice, photos, posts, review replies, services, attributes and questions. This page goes through each part of the profile and links the guide that fixes it.
The parts of a profile the audit reads
A Business Profile is a form with a lot of optional fields, and Google fills gaps on your behalf when you leave them empty. It can take a phone number from a directory, an opening time from a customer's suggested edit, or a photo that a visitor uploaded. Completing and maintaining the profile yourself keeps you in charge of what customers see.
| Profile field | Why it matters | Typical audit finding |
|---|---|---|
| Business name, address, phone | Identifies the business and must agree with your website. | Profile and site show different numbers or address formats. |
| Primary and additional categories | Tell Google which searches the profile is relevant to. | A broad primary category, or services with no matching category. |
| Photos | Show customers what to expect before they visit or call. | Only a logo, or photos years out of date. |
| Posts | Show offers, events and news directly on the profile. | Nothing posted for months. |
| Reviews and replies | Build trust with readers deciding between businesses. | Reviews, especially critical ones, left without a reply. |
| Services and products | List what you actually sell, with descriptions. | Sections left blank. |
| Attributes | Answer practical questions such as accessibility or payment. | Relevant attributes not set. |
| Questions and answers | Public questions about the business, where Google still shows them. | Unanswered or spammy questions. |
This hub stays with the profile itself. For the wider picture of citations and schema on your website see the local SEO fixes hub, and for how the listing behaves inside Maps, including pin placement and special hours, see the Maps audit fixes hub.
Guides for every profile finding
Identity
Fixing NAP inconsistency helps when the name, address or phone number on your profile differs from your website or directories. For the profile, the key rule is that the business name should be your real-world name, without extra keywords or locations added to it.
Relevance
Fixing wrong or missing categories explains how to choose the most specific primary category that is true of your business, add additional categories for your other main services, and look at what well-ranked competitors use. Fixing missing services and products covers filling in the services and product sections with plain descriptions and, where it helps, prices. Fixing missing attributes covers the tick-box facts such as wheelchair access, Wi-Fi, outdoor seating or identity attributes the owner chooses to display.
Activity and presentation
Fixing a weak photo strategy covers what to photograph (outside, inside, team, products, work in progress), keeping images current, and why adding location data to photo files is not a proven help. Fixing missing or stale posts covers the post types, how often to post and which buttons to use.
Conversation
Fixing unanswered reviews covers replying to every review, calmly handling critical ones and asking for reviews within Google's rules. Fixing unanswered Q&A covers answering and moderating public questions on the profile.
By type of business
Three guides apply the fixes to particular situations: restaurants, with menus, food photos and booking links; service-area businesses, which hide their address and set the areas they cover; and multi-location chains, which manage many profiles in groups and bulk-edit them.
Which profile fixes come first
Start with anything that could send a customer to the wrong place or put the profile at risk, then work on the fields that make it more relevant, then on activity.
- Wrong contact details or hours. A profile that sends people to a closed door or an old number loses customers immediately.
- Keyword-stuffed business name. Adding service or town words to the name breaks Google's guidelines, and competitors can report it. Use your real name and let categories do the work.
- Primary category. The single most important relevance choice on the profile. Pick the narrowest category that honestly describes your main business.
- Unanswered reviews. Replies are read by prospective customers, so an unanswered complaint is a public statement in itself.
- Services, products and attributes. Quick to complete and often left blank by competitors.
- Photos and posts. Ongoing work that keeps the profile current rather than a one-off fix.
Replying to reviews without sounding like a template
Review replies are one of the few places you can talk back in public on Google. Most people reading them are not the reviewer but the next customer deciding whether to call you, so write for that reader.
- Use specifics. Mention the job, the product or the visit. A reply that could be pasted under any review reads as automated.
- Keep praise replies short. A sentence of thanks and one detail is enough. Long replies stuffed with service names look like attempts to game rankings.
- Answer criticism once, calmly. Acknowledge the problem, give the facts without arguing, and offer a way to continue the conversation privately. Never share personal details about the customer.
- Do not ask for changes in public. If you resolve a complaint, the customer may update their review of their own accord. Pressuring them to remove it tends to backfire.
- Report reviews that break the rules. Spam, conflicts of interest and offensive content can be flagged through your profile. A review being negative is not a reason Google will remove it.
For the flow of new reviews rather than replies, see the review velocity guide on the local SEO hub. The GBP audit looks at whether replies happen, which is a different question from how many reviews arrive.
Features that come and go
Google changes the Business Profile often. Features have been added, renamed and withdrawn over the years, including the retirement of the old chat and messaging feature and the move of profile management into Search and Maps themselves. Some features also differ between countries or business categories.
That affects how to read the audit and these guides:
- Questions and answers. Google has been scaling back the public Q&A section and showing AI-generated answers in some places instead, drawing on the profile, website and reviews. If Q&A still appears on your listing, answer and moderate it. If it does not, the same work goes into making sure your profile description, services and website answer the common questions clearly.
- Posts. Post types and how long they stay visible have changed over time. Treat posting as a way to keep the profile fresh rather than relying on a fixed expiry rule.
- Attributes. The list available depends on your category and country, so you will not see every attribute mentioned in the guides.
- Suggested edits. Google may accept changes proposed by the public. Check the profile regularly for updates you did not make.
If the audit flags something you cannot find in your profile manager, check Google's Business Profile help pages for the current state of that feature in the UK before spending time on it.
A sensible order of work
- Run the audit. The GBP audit reads your live profile and gives you a list of findings to work through. Save or print it so you can compare later.
- Confirm ownership and access. Make sure the profile is verified, that you are an owner rather than only a manager, and that former staff or agencies no longer have access they should not.
- Correct the basics. Name, address or service area, phone number, website link and regular hours, all matching your website.
- Set categories. Choose the primary category, then additional categories only for services you genuinely offer.
- Fill services, products and attributes. Write descriptions in the words customers use.
- Refresh photos. Replace out-of-date images and add a small set covering the outside, inside, team and work.
- Reply to the review backlog. Oldest unanswered critical reviews first, then the rest.
- Set a posting and reply routine. A short weekly slot is enough for most small businesses.
- Re-run the audit. After a few weeks, check which findings have cleared and whether any suggested edits have crept in.
1. How do I choose the right primary category on Google Business Profile?
Pick the most specific category that describes your main business as a whole, not just one service. A dental practice should choose Dentist rather than Health, and a business that mostly fixes boilers might choose Heating contractor or Boiler supplier depending on its work. Search the category list in your profile manager, look at what the best-ranked competitors near you use, and add additional categories only for services you actually provide.
2. Can I add keywords or my town to my business name on Google?
No. Google's guidelines say the business name should match the name you use in the real world, on your signs, stationery and website. Adding service words or locations, such as Smith Plumbing Emergency Plumber Chesterfield, breaks those guidelines. Competitors and members of the public can suggest edits or report it, and profiles can be suspended. Use accurate categories, services and a clear description to show what you do and where instead.
3. Should I reply to every Google review, including five-star ones?
It is good practice to reply to every review. Replies to positive reviews show future customers that the business is active and appreciates its customers, and a short personal thanks is enough. Replies to negative reviews matter even more, because they show how you handle problems. Keep replies specific, calm and polite, avoid sharing any personal details about the customer, and do not stuff replies with keywords, since readers find that off-putting.
4. How often should I post on my Google Business Profile?
There is no official requirement. Posts help keep the profile looking active and give customers current offers, events or news, so a regular rhythm is more useful than a burst of posts followed by months of nothing. For most small businesses, something every week or two is manageable. Focus on posts that give customers a reason to act, such as a seasonal offer or an event date, and use a button that leads somewhere relevant.
5. Do geotagged photos help my Google Business Profile rank?
There is no good evidence that adding location data to a photo file improves rankings, and Google has not said that it uses it. What does help customers is having clear, recent, genuine photos of your premises, team, products and work, so they know what to expect. Upload new photos when things change, remove images that are badly out of date, and check photos uploaded by the public in case any are misleading.
6. Why has Google changed my Business Profile without asking me?
Google accepts suggested edits from the public and also updates profiles using information from other sources, such as your website or directories. If those sources disagree with your profile, Google may change your hours, phone number or category. Check the profile regularly, correct anything wrong from your profile manager, and make sure your website and main directory listings carry the same details so there is less conflicting information for Google to pick up.
7. Can I have a Google Business Profile without a shop or office?
Yes. Businesses that visit customers, such as plumbers, cleaners or mobile hairdressers, can set up a service-area profile. You still verify with a real address, but you can hide it from the public and set the towns or areas you serve. Virtual offices, mailbox addresses and co-working spaces where you do not staff the premises are not allowed as addresses. The service-area guide above explains the setup and the common mistakes.
The GBP audit pulls your live Google Business Profile, compares your details with your website and major citation sources, and checks categories, photo count and recency, post cadence, review replies, services, attributes and Q&A activity, linking each finding to the guide above.
Run the GBP Audit →