Google Business Profile checklist: what to do once, weekly, monthly and yearly

Most businesses set up their Google Business Profile once and forget it. Then the hours change, a holiday goes unmarked, photos get old and reviews pile up without replies. Customers notice, and so does anyone comparing you with the business down the road.

Google says local results are mainly based on three things: relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how far you are from the person searching) and prominence (how well known your business is). Its own tips are to verify your business, keep your information complete and up to date, respond to reviews, and add photos and videos. That's a routine, not a one-off job. This checklist breaks it into what to do once, weekly, monthly and yearly, and links to our step-by-step guides for each task.

Source: Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, checked 15 October 2026

Work through this list once, in this order. If you haven't created or verified your profile yet, start with our Google Business Profile setup guide.

Spend the most care on the details customers act on: hours, phone, address or service area, and the booking or website link. A beautiful profile with the wrong closing time sends people to a locked door, and they're unlikely to give you a second chance. Photos come next, because they're what people judge you on before they read anything.

Google's guidelines for representing your business are the line between a good profile and a suspended one. A few rules catch small businesses out more than others.

• Your name should reflect your real-world business name; marketing taglines, store codes, hours, phone numbers, URLs and location details don't belong in it
• Choose as few categories as possible to describe your core business, and don't use categories as keywords
• Use a precise, real address; P.O. boxes and remote mailboxes aren't acceptable
• Service-area businesses should generally hide their street address, and Google says the area shouldn't usually extend farther than about two hours' drive from the base
• Use a phone number under your direct control that reaches your location
• Don't put links in your business description

Source: Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google, checked 15 October 2026

Fifteen to twenty minutes a week keeps a profile active. Pick the same day each week so it becomes a habit, and put it in the diary like any other appointment.

A good weekly post is short and specific: what's new, why it matters to a customer and what to do next. 'Fresh sourdough every Saturday from 8am, reserve by message' beats a vague 'Come and see us'. If you post on social media that week, adapt the best post for Google rather than writing something new.

1. Reply to every new review, good or bad, in a short, polite and specific way.
2. Publish one post: an update, an offer with its dates or an event with its dates and times.
3. Add one or two new photos of recent work, products, food or the team.
4. Check for unanswered messages if you've turned on chat.
5. Look for suggested edits or changes Google has applied, and correct anything wrong.

Google Business Profile has three post types. Updates share news and can carry a button. Offers need a title, dates and times. Events need a title and start and end dates and times; if you leave out the times, the event shows as lasting 24 hours on the event dates. Posts older than six months are archived unless a date range is set, and a post that includes a phone number Google can't connect to your business might be rejected.

For reviews, Google says you can ask customers with a link or QR code, but you can't offer incentives such as discounts or free goods for leaving, changing or removing a review. Its Maps content policy also says businesses must not discourage negative reviews or selectively ask only happy customers. Reply in a short, professional, non-promotional way, and never share a reviewer's private information. Our Google reviews guide and review response templates help.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Create and manage posts on your Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Tips to get more reviews, checked 15 October 2026; Maps User Generated Content Policy Help: Prohibited and restricted content, checked 15 October 2026

Once a month, look at the profile as a customer would, on your phone, and check that every detail is still true. Search for your business by name and by your main service plus your area, and see what a stranger would see. Once a quarter, do the bigger checks in the list below.

Once a year, go through the whole one-time setup list again, using the numbered steps below. Businesses change more than owners expect: a new service, a refit, a different booking system, a new manager. The yearly audit catches the details that slipped, and it's a good moment to refresh the photos that set first impressions.

1. Re-read the setup table above and check every item against the live profile.
2. Rewrite the description if your offer or audience has changed.
3. Replace the cover photo and the oldest photos with current ones.
4. Check categories still describe your core business, without adding extras as keywords.
5. Make sure the same name, address, phone and hours appear on your website and every social profile.
6. Turn on two-step verification for every Google Account with access to the profile.

• Monthly: check hours, phone, website and booking links still work
• Monthly: add special hours for any holidays or closures coming up
• Monthly: read the performance report for calls, direction requests and website clicks
• Monthly: remove or replace photos that no longer show the business as it is
• Quarterly: review services, products and prices, and update anything that's changed
• Quarterly: check who has owner and manager access, and remove anyone who's left
• Quarterly: compare your profile with two nearby competitors for gaps in photos, services or attributes

Your Google Business Profile and your social accounts serve the same customers at different moments. Someone sees a reel, searches your name, reads your reviews and taps for directions. Make sure each step backs up the last.

Reuse your best social photos and videos on the profile, turn your weekly social news into a Google update, and add your social profiles to it. When you share a review on social media, ask the reviewer's permission first. Our Google Business Profile post planner template keeps the weekly posts organised.

• Use the same business name, address, phone and hours on Google, your website and every social profile
• Put a link to your Google reviews in your Instagram or Facebook link in bio when you're asking for reviews
• Mention your Google profile in stories after a busy weekend: 'Visited us recently? Tell others on Google'
• When you change hours, update Google first, then post the change on social media

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