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Everything a local business needs to be found on Google Maps and in AI answers, in the order to do it. Practical steps, with the reason for each.
Your Google Business Profile is what shows in the map pack and on Google Maps. Most of what decides where you rank starts here.
Claim and verify the profile
Search your business on Google Maps and choose "Claim this business" (or create it at business.google.com). Until it is verified you cannot manage it, and someone else can.
Choose the primary category carefully
The primary category is one of the strongest signals for which searches you show up for. Pick the one that says what you mostly are ("Plumber", not "Home services"), and look at what the top three competitors in your area chose.
Use your real business name
Exactly what is on your sign, invoices and website. Adding keywords or a city ("Joe's Plumbing - Best Plumber Austin") breaks Google's guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
Enter the address the way you write it everywhere
Same street, suite number and abbreviations as on your website. If customers never visit you (you travel to them), hide the address and set your service areas instead. You can add up to 20.
Add a local phone number as the primary number
A number with a local area code, answered by a person. A call-tracking number can go in as an additional number, never as the main one.
Link to the page that fits
A single-location business links to its homepage. With several locations, link each profile to its own location page, not one shared page.
Set your hours, and your special hours
Regular hours, then holidays and one-off closures. Wrong hours cost you customers and calls, and unlike a ranking factor you can fix them in a minute.
Write the description
Up to 750 characters, and only the first ~250 show before "more". Say what you do, who for and where, in plain words. No links, no offers, no capital letters for emphasis.
A complete profile gives Google more to match against a search, and gives customers a reason to choose you.
Add additional categories
You can have up to nine besides the primary one. Add each real service line ("Emergency plumber", "Water heater installation service") and nothing you do not offer.
List your services, with a short description of each
Services (and products) in the profile are read as keywords for the searches you can show up for, and customers see them before they call.
Tick the attributes that apply
Wheelchair access, online appointments, Wi-Fi, women-led, and so on. They appear as filters, and some searches ("open now, outdoor seating") use them.
Upload real photos, regularly
Logo, a cover photo, outside (so people recognise the place), inside, your team and your work. Photos you take yourself beat stock. Add a few every month; profiles with recent photos get noticeably more clicks.
Add a booking, menu or quote link
If you take appointments, orders or quote requests, put the link in the profile so Google can show the button.
Post updates now and then
Offers, news and projects, with a photo and a button. They do not move you up much on their own, but they show the profile is alive and give people something to click.
Turn on messages or calls you can answer
Only if you will reply the same day. A slow reply hurts more than not offering chat.
In the full checklist
46 practical steps in all, with the reason for each, plus the best directories for the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany, and a PDF to print.
How it works
The first two sections cover claiming, categories and everything Google asks for. Read them here.
Add your email for the rest: matching listings, directories by country, reviews, your website, AI assistants and a monthly routine.
Download the checklist as a PDF and work through it at your own pace.
Questions
Local SEO is getting your business found when people search near them: in the Google Maps results, in Google's "map pack", and increasingly in AI assistants. It runs on your Google Business Profile, consistent listings, reviews and your website.
Fixing a profile (categories, services, photos, hours) can change results within weeks. Reviews and links build over months. Check your ranking before and after so you can see what worked.
No. The checklist is free; we ask for an email to send you the full version and the PDF.
It is for businesses with a place or a service area: shops, restaurants, clinics, trades, agencies with an office. The steps are the same for one location or fifty.
No. You get the checklist now. Only if you tick the separate box for tips and news will we send more, and you can stop it any time.
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