Business Information — NAP, Hours, and Attributes

Your GBP won't rank if Google can't trust your data. Six fields here determine whether you show up when someone searches 'emergency plumber' at 10 pm.

Business name: Exact legal or DBA name only — no keyword stuffing. Adding phrases like '24/7 Best Plumber Near Me' to your business name violates Google's Business Profile guidelines and can get your listing suspended.

Primary phone: Your direct business line, matching your website, Yelp, Angi, BBB, and every other directory. Mismatched NAP (name, address, phone) suppresses map pack ranking fast.

Address vs. service area: No public storefront customers visit? Hide your address and set a service area instead. A residential address listed as a business location can trigger removal under Google's guidelines.

Business hours: Set them accurately, then update holiday hours before the holiday hits. Google shows a 'may be closed' warning when your listed hours don't match real behavioral patterns — that warning kills calls.

Business description: 750 characters total, first 250 visible before 'more.' Lead with your service and city: 'Licensed plumber in Denver — 24/7 emergency pipe repair, water heater replacement, drain cleaning.' Don't waste the opening on your founding year.

Attributes: Check every applicable one — emergency service, 24/7 availability, online estimates, veteran-owned, women-led. Unchecked attributes make you invisible in filtered searches.

Business name exact-matches your website and all directories — no keyword stuffing
Primary phone consistent across every directory (Yelp, Angi, BBB, HomeAdvisor)
Address hidden and service area set if you have no public storefront customers visit
Hours accurate, holiday hours updated before each holiday
Business description leads with primary service + city in the first 250 characters
All applicable attributes checked: emergency service, 24/7 availability, online estimates

Categories and Services

Primary category is the single most important field on your profile. Choose the most specific match to your top revenue service — 'Plumber' over 'Contractor,' 'HVAC Contractor' over 'Air Conditioning Service.' Google treats primary category as a core local search ranking signal.

Secondary categories: You can add up to 9. Most contractors pick 1 or 2 and stop. A plumber who also does water heaters should add 'Water Heater Installer.' An HVAC company should add 'Heating Contractor,' 'Air Conditioning Repair Service,' and 'Furnace Repair Service' if applicable. Fill every slot that applies.

Services list: The most underused section in GBP. Add every service individually — 'Emergency Pipe Repair,' 'Tankless Water Heater Installation,' 'Sewer Line Camera Inspection' — with a description for each one. Google indexes the services list independently, creating keyword surface area beyond your business description. A plumber with 15 services listed has 15 more chances to match a specific search query. Most contractors have zero services filled in.

Primary category is the most specific match to your top revenue service
5–9 secondary categories filled (not just 1–2)
Every service listed individually with its own description text — not just a name

Photos and Video

Photos convert profile views into calls. Google notes that businesses with photos on their profiles receive more direction requests and website clicks than those without.

Exterior: Truck, van, or shop exterior — visual confirmation before the tech pulls up.

Team photos: Real technicians in uniform on job sites. Stock photos get scrolled past. Real faces build trust before the call happens.

Job site photos: Before-and-after of actual completed work — replaced water heater, repaired slab leak, new electrical panel. Show the work, not a logo.

Equipment: Van interior, diagnostic tools, specialized gear. Signals you're running a professional operation, not working out of a pickup.

Upload frequency: Add new photos every 2–4 weeks. Consistent recent uploads outperform a one-time bulk drop followed by months of inactivity. Name files descriptively before uploading — 'emergency-plumber-denver-pipe-repair.jpg,' not 'IMG_4823.jpg.'

Video: 30 seconds max. Your crew, your truck, your city. One real video beats zero every time.

Exterior photo of truck or shop
Team photos in uniform on real job sites — no stock images
Before/after job site photos for your top 3 services
Minimum 10 photos total, new uploads every 2–4 weeks
At least one 30-second video

Google Posts — Frequency and Format

Most contractors post nothing. The ones holding map pack positions in competitive markets post at least once a week. Google Posts show up directly on your profile in mobile search results — that's a live conversion slot most contractors leave empty.

Post types: Updates for service announcements and seasonal tips. Offers for limited-time deals. Events for community involvement.

Cadence: Update posts expire after 7 days, so once a week is the floor, not the ceiling. A post section that's blank or expired signals a dormant business to both Google and searchers.

Format: Posts allow up to 1,500 characters, but the preview truncates around 100. Lead with your hook in the first sentence. Add a CTA button — 'Call Now,' 'Book,' or 'Learn More' — every single time. A post without a CTA is a missed conversion.

Bad post: 'Happy Monday! Hope everyone has a great week. Give us a call!'

Good post: 'AC stopped working? Same-day slots open in Denver today — call now, 3 spots left.'

Minimum 1 post per week (Update posts expire every 7 days)
Every post has a CTA button selected
Real job photo attached — no stock images
First sentence names your service and city

Reviews — Volume, Velocity, and Response Rate

Your review profile is a local ranking signal. Count, recency, average rating, and response rate all feed into map pack placement.

Competitive benchmark: Search 'plumber [your city]' right now. Count the reviews on the top 3 results. If they average 150 reviews and you have 30, that gap is part of why you're outside the pack.

Review velocity: 10 reviews from 2021 is not the same as 10 reviews from last month. Google weights recency. A competitor adding 5 reviews per month while you add 1 will pull ahead on recency signals within 90 days — even if you started with more total reviews.

Response rate: Respond to every review, positive and negative. A business with 60 unanswered reviews looks like no one is minding the store. Google recommends responding to all reviews as a best practice for managing your profile.

Rating floor: Below 4.0 you're losing trust before the phone rings. Target 4.5 or above. One 1-star review with no response does more damage than three 5-star reviews can repair.

Total review count benchmarked against top 3 map pack competitors — count the gap
Response rate calculated — how many reviews have zero reply?
Average rating at or above 4.5

Q&A Section and Service Area

Q&A section: Look at your GBP right now. If it's blank, anyone can post a question and anyone can answer it — including your competitors. Populate it yourself with the questions you hear every week: 'Do you offer emergency service?' 'What areas do you cover?' 'Are you licensed and insured?' 'Do you offer free estimates?'

Answer each in plain English. Google indexes the Q&A section and surfaces it in search results. Almost no contractor does this — which makes it free, uncontested ranking real estate you can claim in 20 minutes.

Service area: Use a city list over a radius — list every city and town you actively serve. Don't over-claim. Google's guidelines require your service area to match your actual coverage. Claiming 50 cities when you realistically cover 10 triggers spam filters that suppress your listing across all of them.

5–8 Q&As self-populated with your own accurate answers
Service area set as city list matching actual coverage — no over-claiming

What to Do After You Run the Checklist

You've found the gaps. Here's your choice.

Fix it yourself: Budget 6–10 hours for initial cleanup — NAP audit across 20+ directories, category research, photo uploads and file naming, services list buildout, full Q&A population. Then 3–5 hours per week ongoing: posts, review responses, new photos, holiday hours updates. That's real time pulled out of running jobs.

Have it done for you: Every missed map pack slot is a $500–$2,000 job that went to whoever ranked above you. If your time is worth more than the hours of setup plus weekly maintenance, the faster path is done-for-you GBP optimization — skip the 10-hour DIY fix — full profile setup, weekly posts, review responses, and photo rotation, all configured for your trade.

The four gaps that show up in nearly every contractor audit: wrong primary category, zero services listed, blank Q&A, and review response rate under 20%. Fix those four first — they're the highest-leverage items on this checklist.

Frequently asked

What is the most important field on a Google Business Profile for a contractor?

The primary category is the single most important field. Google uses it as a core signal for local search ranking. Choose the most specific category matching your main service — 'Plumber' not 'Contractor,' 'HVAC Contractor' not 'Heating and Cooling Company.' Getting this wrong suppresses your ranking for your highest-value search terms no matter how well the rest of your profile is optimized.

How often should a contractor post on Google Business Profile?

At minimum, once per week. Update posts expire after 7 days, so weekly is the floor. Post more often during busy seasons or when you have open calendar slots to fill. A profile with no posts in the last 30 days signals inactivity to Google and to potential customers who check your profile before deciding whether to call.

How many photos should a contractor have on their Google Business Profile?

Start with at least 10 photos: your truck or shop exterior, technicians on job sites, before/after work photos, and equipment. Add new photos every 2–4 weeks — consistent uploads outperform a one-time batch upload. Include at least one 30-second video of your team or finished work. Real job photos build significantly more trust than stock images.

Does responding to Google reviews help local search ranking?

Yes — both directly and indirectly. Google notices low response rates as a signal of low profile activity. Responding also adds keyword-rich text to your profile and builds trust with potential customers who read your replies before calling. Google recommends responding to all reviews as a best practice for managing your Business Profile.

What is the difference between a service area and an address on Google Business Profile?

If customers don't come to your physical location, hide your address and set a service area instead. A service area tells Google and searchers where you operate. Use a city list — specific cities and towns you actively serve — rather than a radius. Your service area must match your actual coverage area; over-claiming triggers spam filters that can suppress your listing across your entire market.

The 23-Point GBP Checklist Every Contractor Should Run Today