The Complete Google Business Profile Checklist for UK Businesses (2026)

Most UK local businesses set their Google Business Profile up once, claim the listing, and never touch it again. In 2026 that's no longer good enough. The Map Pack is more competitive, Google rewards activity, and a half-finished profile leaks customers daily.

This is the exact checklist we run on every new client — the same one we use inside our £197 GBP Fix & Foundation package. Work through it in order: each step compounds on the last.

1. Primary category

The single biggest ranking lever. Pick the category that matches your core service exactly — not your business type. An MOT centre is 'MOT testing service', not 'Auto repair shop'. A dental clinic offering implants is 'Dental implants periodontist' if implants is the lead service.

Common mistake: setting 'Restaurant' instead of 'Indian restaurant', or 'Beauty salon' instead of 'Hair removal service'. Cuisine-specific or treatment-specific almost always outranks generic. If you change one thing this week, change this.

2. Secondary categories

Up to 9 more. Don't stuff — pick categories you genuinely offer. Each one expands the queries you can rank for, but irrelevant categories dilute relevance. Aim for 3–5 high-quality secondaries that map to services you actively want enquiries for.

3. Services list

Every service you offer, listed individually with a 1–2 sentence description and a price (or 'from £X'). Google reads these as ranking signals and prospects read them when deciding whether to call. Profiles with structured services convert ~30% better in our audits.

4. Photos

Minimum 30. Geotagged where possible. Mix of exterior, interior, team, work-in-progress, finished work, and the inside of your front entrance. Update at least monthly — Google measurably rewards profiles with recent photo activity.

Photo upload cadence

• Week 1: 10 photos (exterior, interior wide shots, team)
• Week 2: 10 photos (signature products/services, close-ups)
• Week 3: 5 before/afters or work-in-progress
• Week 4: 5 customer-facing moments (table, chair, completed job)
• Ongoing: 2–4 fresh photos every month, indefinitely

5. Q&A

Seed the top 5 questions you actually get asked, with answers. Don't wait for strangers to ask — strangers ask about parking, not about your service quality. Pre-populate questions about pricing, turnaround time, areas covered, payment options and what makes you different.

6. Hours (including special hours)

Bank holidays, Christmas, Boxing Day, Easter, summer bank holidays. UK searchers actively filter by 'open now' on holidays. Wrong hours kill trust instantly and tank your bounce rate, which Google notices.

7. Attributes

Wheelchair accessible, women-led, free Wi-Fi, dog-friendly, contactless payment, free parking, identifies as LGBTQ+-friendly — whichever apply. These are ranking signals AND filter terms in the Maps UI. Many owners leave 8–10 relevant attributes unset.

8. Posts

One post per week minimum. Offers, news, before/afters, seasonal reminders, events. Google measurably rewards active profiles. Posts also appear in your knowledge panel for branded searches, giving you free real estate above competitors.

9. Review request system

A repeatable way of asking happy customers for a review — SMS, WhatsApp, or QR code on the receipt. The agencies who say 'we don't ask' are the ones with 9 reviews stuck in 2022. Target 30% conversion from satisfied customer → live Google review.

Where to ask for reviews

• SMS or WhatsApp 1–24 hours after the job ends
• QR code on the printed receipt or invoice
• Email follow-up at the natural 'success' moment (e.g. after a meal is delivered)
• In-person ask at the table or at checkout — the highest-converting method

10. Monthly audit

Re-check the profile every month. Google quietly drops categories, hides services, resets attributes, and merges duplicate listings without warning. A monthly 10-minute check protects everything above.

Bonus: connect website + GBP properly

Make sure your website's homepage and key service pages use the exact same business name, address and phone number as your GBP. Add LocalBusiness schema markup. Link the GBP to your website's 'contact' page directly, not just the homepage.

Bonus: messaging & booking

Turn on Google Messaging and reply within 24 hours — Google demotes profiles with slow message responses. If you take bookings, add a Bookings URL (OpenTable, Setmore, Calendly) so customers can book in two taps from Maps.

What to do next

If you do this checklist yourself, expect 4–8 weeks before Map Pack movement and 2–3 weeks before review velocity changes the rating. If you want it done in days, our free audit will tell you exactly what to fix first.