Want your business to attract more local customers? Keeping your Google Business Profile (GBP) up to date at all times is a surefire way to do just that!
An essential step in that process is to conduct both a GBP audit of your Google profile and a local SEO audit of your website and online reputation strategies.
Below, I’ll tell you how to audit your Google business page manually and how to use a third-party GMB audit tool that will help you optimize your Google Business Profile.
That way, you’ll achieve maximum visibility on Google Maps and Search, regardless of your business’s size and the locations you manage.
Ready to uncover opportunities to improve your local SEO?
What is a GBP audit?
Any comprehensive evaluation of your Google business listings can be called a GBP audit since it ensures all information is accurate, consistent, and optimized.
‘GBP audit’ definition
A Google Business Profile audit involves reviewing key elements like your business name, address, phone number, categories, reviews, and photos and identifying gaps or inaccuracies that could affect your SEO metrics.
Essentially, a GBP audit is a maintenance check that ensures your profile is optimized for attracting local customers and boosting visibility via Google’s services.
Why is a GBP audit for local SEO important for businesses?
Well, it’s the first step to optimizing your Google Business Profile. Plus, it helps you maintain your local SEO edge and make your local business visible and appealing.
It’s not just about being present online—it’s about ensuring your profile works effectively to drive traffic and conversions. It helps with all of the following:
- Improve local SEO rankings – a well-optimized GBP ensures your business appears higher in local search results. Plus, you may get a knowledge panel for branded Google Searches and be featured in the Google Local Pack;
- Ensure accurate business information – customers rely on up-to-date details like hours, address, and contact info;
- Enhance customer trust and engagement – a complete and professional profile signals credibility and encourages interactions;
- Spot and fix profile inconsistencies – resolve duplicate listings, incorrect data, or missing categories;
- Boost multi-location management – for local businesses with several locations; audits ensure each profile is optimized and aligned.
Remember: conducting regular audits isn’t just a one-time effort—it’s a long-term strategy to keep your business competitive and relevant in your industry.
7-step checklist to perform a Google Business Profile audit
Conducting a thorough GBP audit involves more than just reviewing your profile—it’s about following a few steps to maximize its potential:
1. Keep business information accurate and up-to-date
The first and most important step is to ensure your core business information is accurate at all times, as it helps your customers navigate your business and offerings.
The most basic pieces of data you need to check include your name, address, and number (NAP). Afterward, you should also check your working hours, website URL, and business description.
Read more:
How to Change Business Hours on GBP In One or Multiple Locations?
2. Select relevant business categories and attributes
Then, you must look into your primary and secondary business categories—choosing the correct categories helps Google understand your business and show it to the right audience.
So, you should research what your direct competitors are using and ensure your selections accurately represent your offerings. But, don’t overload your profile with irrelevant categories.
Also, you can add additional critical information in the form of Google Business Profile attributes, which can tell the public everything from your parking availability to the safety measures you follow and whether you have amenities such as WiFi or pet-friendly areas.
3. Upload high-quality images and videos
Everyone (including Google) knows that visual content plays a significant role in attracting and engaging potential customers.
For that reason, you must ensure your GBP features updated photos of your storefront, products, and services. Videos, such as short tours or tutorials, can provide an extra layer of engagement and make your profile stand out.
Pro tip: Implement your branded logo in your visual content, take recent photographs, and use a high-quality camera for high-resolution photographs or videos.
4. Encourage and respond to customer reviews
Embedding Google reviews might be your most important marketing asset as they not only influence potential customers but also impact your local SEO.
For that reason, you should manage your Google reviews for your multi-location business at all times and encourage satisfied customers to leave more reviews.
That’s not all, though! You must also reply to all your Google reviews, both positive and negative, as that shows that you value your customers’ input, which builds trust.
5. Utilize Google Posts to engage your audience
Regularly posting updates, offers, or events through Google Posts keeps your profile active and engaging, as they highlight promotions, share company news, or announce new services. This activity signals to Google that your business is active and relevant.
You can also schedule your Google Posts using a third-party tool to streamline your publishing strategy and even embed Google Posts on your website to keep it fresh.
6. Audit and optimize your Q&A section
Another indicator of whether a business is active and helpful to the community is the GBP Q&A Section, which allows owners to answer the public’s questions.
For that reason, you should regularly review this section to ensure questions are answered accurately and professionally.
You can also proactively add common questions yourself and then answer them to provide clarity and improve customer experience.
7. Monitor and remove duplicate or outdated listings
Duplicate or outdated local business listings can confuse customers and hurt your local SEO. For that reason, you must ensure there are no duplicate listings.
You should regularly look for, identify, and delete a duplicate Google business listing and ensure that only accurate and active profiles represent your business.
Use a third-party GBP audit tool for the best results!
EmbedSocial’s Google Business Profile health check tool simplifies the process extensively, as you find everything you need in one unified dashboard:
As you can see, you just select (or enter) your Google Maps location, and then our direct API connection with Google will pull all public information available for any business location listed on Google Maps, before compiling it like the above.
Even if you haven’t created an EmbedSocial account, you will be able to check your locations’ GBP score just by visiting our web-based GBP audit tool.
Once we pull your location, we apply our proprietary scoring formula to give you an overall health score and also calculate your average review rating.
Plus, you will immediately see everything that you can improve to boost your score and complete your profile.
7 best GBP audit practices
There are a few best practices you should keep in mind to ensure you complete your GMB audit checklist as thoroughly and efficiently as possible:
- Perform regular audits to maintain relevance -GBP profiles can become outdated quickly due to changes in operating hours, contact details, or seasonal offers, so you must schedule periodic audits to ensure your information is always current.
- Analyze competitor profiles for inspiration – study top-ranking competitors in your niche to uncover category ideas, attributes, and posting strategies you might be missing, which helps you benchmark and refine your profile for better results.
- Leverage Google Analytics and Insights -use the built-in GBP insights dashboard to monitor views, clicks, and engagement trends. Then, combine this data with Google Analytics to identify updates or strategies that drive the best results.
- Optimize for mobile users – most customers access your GBP via mobile devices. For that reason, you must ensure your images, descriptions, and CTAs are mobile-friendly and load quickly to improve the user experience.
- Proactively manage user-generated content – monitor photos, reviews, and questions submitted by users. Also, collect more UGC to keep your content fresh and flag inappropriate content that does not align with your message.
- Track changes and updates systematically -Google occasionally modifies GBP features or algorithms. That said, you should stay informed about updates and ensure your profile is adjusted accordingly to maintain visibility.
- Integrate third-party tools for efficiency – use GBP audit tools or software like EmbedSocial to automate audits, manage multi-location profiles, and generate actionable insights quickly and efficiently.
By incorporating these best practices into your GBP audit process, you can create a profile that consistently attracts customers and outperforms competitors.
Conclusion: Conduct frequent GBP audits for a relevant local business profile!
Want to have an impactful and fresh Google business account that will launch you to the top of the search engine pages, especially for local results?
The best way to do that is via regular GBP audits and then make the necessary changes to keep your profile accurate, engaging, and optimized for new business.
Whether you manage a single or multi-location business, following the steps and best practices outlined here will help you stay competitive and visible online.
Remember, a local SEO tool like EmbedSocial simplifies the process and gives you the insights you need to manage your GBP more effectively.
Start your GBP audit today if you want to have a comprehensive Google business profile that will help you outscore and outearn your local competitors.
FAQs about GBP audits
What is a GBP audit?
GBP audits are detailed reviews of your Google Business Profile to ensure it is accurate, complete, and optimized for local SEO. They involve checking business information, categories, reviews, photos, and other key elements, with the ultimate goal of improving visibility on Google Maps and Search while enhancing customer trust and engagement.
How to do a GBP audit?
To conduct a GBP audit, start by reviewing your profile’s accuracy, including your business name, address, phone number, and operating hours. Then, check and update categories, add fresh photos, respond to reviews, and review analytics for performance insights. Tools like EmbedSocial or checklists can simplify the process, especially for multi-location businesses.
How to check GBP ranking?
You can check your GBP ranking by performing local keyword searches on Google and noting where your business appears in the results. You can also use tools like local rank trackers to monitor your profile’s performance for specific keywords. Remember: consistent optimization and regular audits help improve your rankings over time.
