Google Business Profile setup checklist: the 25 fields that decide whether people find and choose you

A field-by-field checklist for a local business profile on Google, in the order that matters: category, services, hours, photos, description, attributes, posts, Q&A. With the common mistakes that quietly cost visibility.

Most Google Business Profiles are half empty. The owner claimed it years ago, added a phone number and a few photos, and never came back. Meanwhile the profile is the first thing every new customer sees, before the website and before the door. This checklist goes through what to fill in, in order of impact.

1. Identity

[ ] Business name exactly as on the sign. No keywords added ("Mario's Pizza Best Pizza Lisbon" gets suspended), no city unless it is part of the real name.
[ ] Primary category: the most specific that fits. "Italian restaurant", not "Restaurant". "Dental clinic", not "Doctor". Check what the top three competitors use.
[ ] Secondary categories: two to four that you can defend. "Pizza restaurant" and "Wine bar" for a trattoria with a bar; not "Event venue" because you once hosted a birthday.
[ ] Address matching the one on your website and on other directories, character for character. Mismatches cost trust in Google's eyes.
[ ] Service area, if you deliver or visit customers. Set it, and hide the address only if customers do not visit you.

2. Contact

[ ] Phone: the local number, not a call-tracking number that changes.
[ ] Website: to the page for this location, not the group homepage, if you have several.
[ ] Booking / order link: Google shows a button for it; use it.
[ ] Menu link for restaurants, a real menu page, not a PDF.

3. Hours

[ ] Regular hours correct.
[ ] Special hours for every public holiday in the next three months. Google shows "hours might differ" warnings on profiles that skip this, and users report wrong hours, which hurts.
[ ] More hours: delivery, takeaway, happy hour, senior hours, if they differ.

4. Description

[ ] 750 characters maximum; the first 250 appear without "more". Say what you do, for whom, where, and one thing that makes you different. Plain sentences, no slogans, no links, no "best".

5. Services and products

[ ] Every service listed as its own item with a one-line description and, where possible, a price or "from" price. This is the field that makes you appear for "invisible braces", "balayage", "gluten-free pizza". Most profiles leave it empty.
[ ] Products for shops and salons: photos, names, prices. They show as a carousel on mobile.

6. Attributes

[ ] Accessibility (step-free entrance, accessible toilet).
[ ] Amenities (Wi-Fi, outdoor seating, parking).
[ ] Payments (cards, contactless, cash only).
[ ] Crowd and planning (reservations required, good for groups, kid-friendly).
[ ] Identity attributes if relevant and true.

These feed Maps filters. "Outdoor seating" unticked means you are invisible to everyone who filters for it in July.

7. Photos and video

[ ] Logo and cover set, cover a real photo of the place, not a logo.
[ ] At least 30 photos of your own: exterior from the street (people use it to find the door), interior, team, products, at work. Replace the stock photos.
[ ] New photos every two weeks. Profiles with regular photo activity get more clicks and calls, and it is the easiest signal to keep up.
[ ] One or two short videos (under 30 seconds). Rare among competitors, so it stands out.

8. Reviews

[ ] Reply to every review, positive and negative, within a day or two. Google has said it improves visibility; readers see a profile that is alive. See our reply guide.
[ ] Report reviews that break the rules instead of arguing with them. See our removal guide.
[ ] A system to ask every customer: card, QR, message. See how to get more reviews legally.

9. Posts

[ ] One post every one to two weeks: an offer, an event, a new dish, a seasonal note. 100 to 300 words, one photo, one button. Posts expire from the main view after a week, so consistency matters more than quality.

10. Q&A

[ ] Ask and answer the five questions every customer has: parking, reservations, prices, allergens or insurance, opening on holidays. Owners can post questions themselves; it is allowed and it is how you fill this section before strangers do.
[ ] Answer every question users post within a day. Unanswered questions get answered by random people, often wrongly.

11. Housekeeping

[ ] Duplicate profiles: search for your business name and address; if two listings exist, request a merge. Duplicates split reviews and confuse ranking.
[ ] Old profiles of a previous business at your address marked "permanently closed".
[ ] Manager access granted to whoever handles reviews, with the owner account kept by the owner. Never give away the primary ownership.
[ ] Notifications on for new reviews and questions.
[ ] Chains: all of the above, per location, with location-specific website links and photos. A chain profile set to the head-office address with no locations is a common and expensive mistake.

The ones that matter most

If you only do five things: primary category, services, hours with holidays, thirty photos, and a reply to every review. Those five decide most of what Google and the customer see.

Our free audit checks each of these against the three businesses closest to you and tells you where you lose. It is also where every Renomy plan starts.