Google Business Profile audit: a field-by-field check against Google's own rules, and where your keywords are allowed to go

A Google Business Profile audit checks every field of your profile against two things: Google's own guidelines, and what a customer actually sees on Search and Maps. Work in this order: who has access, whether the business is eligible and the address is right, the name, the categories, the hours, services and description, photos, reviews, and finally the Performance report. The three findings that matter most are a name stuffed with keywords, the wrong primary category, and hours that no longer match the door. Every rule below comes from Google's Business Profile help pages, read on 22 October 2026.

Step 1: check who controls the profile

Open the profile settings and list every person with access. Google's help page on owners and managers says a profile can have several owners but only one primary owner. Owners can add and remove users and delete the profile. Managers can do almost everything else, including editing information, replying to reviews and publishing posts.

• The primary owner should be a Google Account the business controls, not an agency's or a former employee's. Remove anyone who has left.
• If an agency manages the profile, Google calls it an "authorized representative". It must never claim a profile without the owner's express consent, and must work with the owner on verification.

Google also lists reasons ownership can be revoked, and the first one is simple: "You haven't signed in to your account recently." Sign in on a schedule. Our page on who should own a Business Profile and what you pay someone to run it covers the ownership decision in more depth.

Step 2: eligibility, address and service area

To qualify, Google says a business "must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours." Online-only businesses, lead generation companies, and rental or for-sale properties are on Google's ineligible list. Check these points:

• Real address. P.O. boxes and remote mailboxes are not accepted, and a virtual office is not eligible. A co-working office counts only if it has clear signage, receives customers and is staffed during business hours.
• Signage. A business that shows its address should keep permanent signage with its name at that address.
• Service-area businesses. If customers do not come to you, hide the address. You can set up to 20 service areas by city, postal code or other area. Google does not let you set a radius, and says the overall area should not extend more than about 2 hours of driving time from your base.
• Duplicates. Google allows one profile per location. Search Maps for your name and phone number, and deal with any second listing you find.

Step 3: the business name

The name must match the real-world name on your sign, website and stationery. Google's guidelines list what must not be added: marketing taglines, store codes, hours, phone numbers or URLs, service or product information, location information, and legal terms like LLC unless your real-world branding uses them. Google says unnecessary information in the name "could result in the suspension of your Business Profile."

Check this field first. "Smith Plumbing" is fine. "Smith Plumbing 24/7 Emergency Plumber Austin" is a suspension risk, however good it looks in the results today.

Step 4: categories

Google's help page says the categories you pick "affect your local ranking on Google." Its rules:

• Choose the primary category that best describes the business, as specific as the list allows. Google's own example: choose "Nail salon" rather than "Salon".
• Complete the sentence "This business IS a", not "this business HAS a". A motel with a pool is a Motel, not a Swimming Pool.
• Use as few categories as possible, and never use them "solely as keywords".
• Do not add categories for a separate business inside yours, like a cafe run by someone else in your gym.

Before you change a category, note Google's warning: editing it may ask you to verify the business again. Make the change on a quiet week.

Where Google Business Profile keywords are allowed to go

People search "Google My Business keywords" to learn where the words customers type should go. The rules are clear:

Field	Keywords allowed?	What Google's guidelines say
Business name	No	Real-world name only; extra words risk suspension
Address lines	No	Do not include URLs or keywords
Categories	Only as categories	Not to be used solely as keywords
Description	Yes, as plain description	Services, products, mission and history; no links, no sale prices or promotions
Services	Yes	Pick suggested services or add custom ones; no prices or phone numbers in custom service names
Review replies and posts	Naturally	Content must follow the prohibited and restricted content policy

For the keyword list itself, use the Performance report. Its "Searches" metric shows "the search terms people used to find your business". Google updates it at the start of each month, and it can take up to 5 days to appear. Those terms, in the customer's own words, are what the services list and description should cover.

Step 5: hours, services and description

Post your regular customer-facing hours, and add special hours for holidays. Some businesses should not post hours at all: Google names hotels and motels, schools and universities, movie theaters, transport services and airports, and event venues.

For services, check that every service you sell is listed, grouped under the right category, and described in a sentence. Google says custom services that break policy are "automatically rejected".

Read the description out loud. If it contains a sale, a price claim, a link or a string of town names, rewrite it as a plain account of what you do and for whom.

Step 6: photos and videos

Google's photo specifications: JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, recommended 720 by 720 pixels, minimum 250 by 250. Videos can be up to 30 seconds and 75 MB, at 720p or higher. Photos should be in focus, well lit and free of heavy filters. Media appears only after the profile is verified, and Google says it can take 24 to 48 hours to show. Check for a current exterior photo and for any upload stuck as "Not approved".

Step 7: reviews and replies

Read the last 20 reviews and check that each one has a reply. Google reviews every reply against its content policies, usually within 10 minutes but sometimes up to 30 days. Then check how you ask for reviews. Google's Maps content policy does not allow:

• Offering payment, discounts or free goods in exchange for a review, or for changing or removing a negative one.
• Discouraging negative reviews, or "selectively" asking only happy customers.
• Reviews based on a conflict of interest, such as current or former employees or family.

Google does allow you to ask genuine customers for reviews, and it provides a review link and QR code for exactly that.

Step 8: the Performance report

Performance data is available only for verified profiles. It counts interactions, searches, views, direction requests, calls, website clicks, messages and, where they apply, bookings and menu clicks. Two details matter when you compare months. Views count unique visitors, and a person is counted only once a day. The data also includes views and actions from Google Ads, so a month with ads running is not comparable with one without.

Finish the audit with Google's own statement on ranking. Local results are "mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity", and "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." A complete, accurate profile and a steady flow of genuine reviews are the parts you control.

What an assistant says when someone asks for your kind of business nearby

A growing share of "who should I call" questions now go to ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI Mode instead of the map. The answer they give can use the same facts you just audited: your category, hours, service list and reviews, alongside what other sites say about you. A profile that says "Emergency plumber" in the name and "Plumbing supply store" in the category confuses an assistant as much as it confuses Google. AI Knows Us asks those assistants the questions your customers ask, records which local businesses they name and what they say about each one, and traces the sources behind a wrong hour or a missing service. It is worth adding as the last line of a quarterly profile audit.

Questions about auditing a Google Business Profile

How often should I audit my Google Business Profile?

Run the full audit every quarter and a quick check every month: hours, new reviews without replies, and the Searches list in Performance. Run it again after any move, rebrand or change of services.

Can I put keywords in my Business Profile name?

No. Google's guidelines say the name must be your real-world name, and that adding service, location or marketing words could lead to suspension. Put keywords in the description and services instead.

Will changing my category hurt my profile?

It can change which searches you appear for, which is the point of fixing a wrong one. Google warns that editing a category may ask you to verify the business again, so plan the change.

Is a Google My Business audit the same thing?

Yes. Google My Business is the older name, and people still search for it. Google's help centre now calls the product Google Business Profile, and the audit above covers the same fields.