Your Google Business Profile Checklist

A Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business on Google Maps and in local search results. For a contractor, it is often the first thing a customer sees, before they ever open your website. A complete, current profile brings in calls. A thin one sends them to the next listing.

This checklist covers what to fill in, what to keep up, and how the profile and your website work together.

What should a Google Business Profile include?

Start with the basics, and make them match your website exactly:

• Your business name, written the same way everywhere.
• Address and phone number, identical to your website and other listings.
• The most specific primary category Google offers. “Roofing contractor” tells Google more than “Contractor”.
• Your service area, by county or town: Forsyth, Cherokee, Cobb, wherever you work.
• Hours, including holiday hours and whether you take emergency calls.
• A link to your website, ideally to the page for that service or area.

Consistency matters more than it looks. Your name, address and phone number may differ between Google, your website and directories. Then search engines and AI assistants have to guess which one is right.

What do most contractors leave out?

The basics get filled in once. These are the parts that usually go stale:

• Photos of your own completed jobs. Stock photos hurt trust. A before-and-after of a roof you replaced last month does the opposite.
• Regular posts. A short update about storm season or a recent job shows the business is active, and posts can appear in search results.
• Replies to reviews, good and bad. The next customer reads how you answer a complaint.
• Your full list of services, named the way customers say them.

How should you answer reviews?

Reply to every review, and keep it short and specific. Thank happy customers by name and mention the job. For a bad review, acknowledge it, skip the argument, and offer to talk by phone.

Never include private details in a reply, such as an insurance claim or a balance owed. Your reply is public and stays there.

Is a Google Business Profile enough without a website?

No. The profile gets you seen on Maps, but AI answers lean on websites. In BrightLocal's 2026 study, a tracked business showed up in 66% of Google Maps searches but only 32% to 38% of AI answers. Business websites were 93% of the sites those AI tools used as sources.

So the two work as a pair. The profile gets the call from someone already looking at a map. The website gives Google and AI assistants the detail they need to recommend you, and gives a careful customer a reason to pick you. We explain the AI side in why being found in AI answers matters.

If you help with insurance claims, should you say so?

Yes. If you help homeowners document storm damage for a claim, say it plainly in your description and on your website. Homeowners dealing with storm damage want to know before they call.

Keep it to a description of the service. Never ask for a claim number or policy number in a message or a web form. Those details belong in a phone call or your customer's insurance portal.

Common questions

How GoVisible Web does it differently

Your website and your Google profile should say the same thing, so we set them up together. Our Professional and Premium plans include Google Business Profile setup, so you can show up on Google Maps, along with local search setup. Every plan, Starter included, carries your business name, type, address, phone and the towns you serve. It is in a format search engines and AI assistants read directly.

• You see your own site free in 48 hours, before you pay. No card and no obligation.
• We study five of your local competitors in your trade before we write a word.
• Every site is set up so Google, Bing and AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Grok can read your business details.
• Every page, fact and phone number is checked before you see it.
• Prices are published, from $1,497 to $5,497. Every plan includes 6 months of Site Care, then $89 a month.
• You own your domain, your words and your code. If you ever leave, every file is yours within 5 business days.

Free previews are available now, and full builds start in January 2027. See what each plan includes, or ask for your free preview.