A Google Business Profile audit checks whether customers can find accurate details, understand your services, and contact the right location. It should also identify policy or verification issues and connect profile activity to real enquiries. Use this checklist for each eligible business profile rather than copying the same description across every location.
Start with ownership and eligibility
Confirm that the business owns or manages the profile and that the listing represents a real eligible business. Check verification status, duplicate or suspended profiles, and whether the public name follows Google’s real-world naming rules. Do not create a second listing to work around an unresolved verification problem. Record the profile URL, primary location, managers, and last review date.
1. Check core business information
Compare the public profile with the business website and actual operations. Verify the name, address or service-area setup, phone, website, opening hours, holiday hours, and appointment or booking links. A service-area business should not expose a customer-facing address if it does not serve customers there. Check that the map pin and directions lead to the correct entrance when a storefront receives visitors.
2. Review categories, services, and attributes
Choose the primary category that best describes what the business is, then use additional categories only when they genuinely apply. Review services, products, description, and attributes for accuracy. Match the information to useful service and location pages on the site. Avoid stuffing city names or promotional claims into the business name. A category or service edit should describe the real offering, not a hoped-for keyword ranking.
3. Test the customer journey
On mobile and desktop, search for the business and inspect the live profile. Test the website link, call button, directions, booking flow, and any messaging feature the business actually monitors. Check that the destination page loads, states the same location and service, and makes the next step clear. Note broken links, outdated phone numbers, and inconsistent hours with screenshots or dated records.
4. Inspect reviews and media
Read recent reviews for recurring service issues and unanswered questions. Draft useful, respectful responses without disclosing private customer information. Check whether photos reflect the current team, premises, and work, and whether owners can update misleading images through available controls. Ask for reviews through permitted methods; do not buy reviews, gate unhappy customers, or offer incentives in exchange for ratings.
5. Measure activity without overstating it
Open Business Profile Performance and compare equivalent periods. Depending on the profile, available metrics can include views, calls, website clicks, directions, messages, and bookings. A call metric counts clicks on the call button, not completed conversations or sales. Website clicks are also not enquiries. Combine profile metrics with tagged website links, analytics, and the business’s lead records where possible.
How to prioritize the fixes
- Urgent: wrong phone, wrong address or pin, closed hours, broken booking link, verification or policy issue.
- High: incorrect primary category, missing core services, stale website destination, unanswered operational questions.
- Routine: update useful photos, review responses, and performance notes; retest after changes.
Local visibility depends on relevance, distance, and prominence or popularity, according to Google. No audit can guarantee a fixed Maps position, and moving a service-area boundary does not make a business physically closer to a searcher. Keep a dated change log so later performance comparisons have context.
Audit record template
For each profile, capture: profile URL; location or service area; verified status; issue; evidence; customer impact; owner; change made; date; and follow-up result. Use one row per issue. For multi-location brands, audit each location independently and compare the corresponding location page, rather than treating all profiles as identical.
Next step
Read our local SEO and Google Business Profile guide for the broader strategy. If your profile needs a location-by-location audit and implementation plan, see GBP optimization services.
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