7 Google Business Profile mistakes that cost you calls.
Your Google Business Profile is the first thing most customers see, before your website and your front door. Most businesses set it up once and forget it, like opening a shop and never turning the lights on. Here are the seven things I fix first on every client profile, with a checklist to score your own.
By Muhammad Zohaib Ameer, SEO specialist · Updated November 14, 2026 · 7 min read- Biggest one: the wrong primary category. It decides which searches you can appear for at all.
- Quickest one: hours, especially holidays. Two minutes, and it stops customers driving to a closed door.
- Rule: keep the profile alive. Fresh photos, posts and replies tell Google the business is active.
- Cost: all seven are free to fix yourself. My local SEO plan does them for you from $799 a month.
Google Business Profile
Google Search ConsoleScore your own profile in one minute.
Open your profile in another tab and be honest.
Tick what is true today. Most profiles I see start at four or five out of ten.
Have me check it →Wrong or missing categories.
Your primary category tells Google what your business is. Pick the wrong one and you will not show up for the right searches no matter how good the rest of the profile is. A roofer should be Roofing contractor, not General contractor. A clinic should be the specific kind of clinic, not Medical center, unless it really is one.
Check what the top three competitors in your area use. Search your main service from your phone, open each of the three profiles in the map, and look at the category shown under the name. If all three use the same primary category and you use a different one, you have found your first fix. Add the extra categories that genuinely apply, and nothing else.
No services listed.
Every service you offer is a search someone types. Roof repair, roof replacement and emergency roof leak are three different searches, and a profile with an empty services list is missing all three. Add each one with a short, plain description of what it is and who it is for.
Keep the names close to what customers say, not what your trade calls it. If people search for a blocked drain, call the service blocked drains, not drainage remediation. The list also shows customers that you do what they need before they call.
Old photos, or stock ones.
Profiles with real photos of real work get more calls than profiles with a logo and a stock image of a handshake. Customers want to see your team, your vans, your finished jobs, your waiting room. Google also notices a profile that keeps getting new photos, because it is a sign the business is active.
Make it a habit: one or two photos a week from the phone of whoever is on site. Finished work, before and after, the team at a job. A dozen honest photos beat one professional shoot from five years ago.
No posts.
Google Posts are free space on your own profile, and most businesses leave it empty. One post a week is enough: a finished job, a seasonal tip, an offer, a change in hours. Each post keeps the profile moving and gives a customer one more reason to pick you.
Write them like a text to a customer, not like an advert. One photo, two or three sentences, a button that goes somewhere useful. Consistency matters more than volume. If you want to see the rest of the local work around posts, my local SEO page lays it out.
Ignored Q&A.
Anyone can ask a question on your profile, and anyone can answer it. If you do not answer, a stranger or a competitor might, and their answer will sit there under your name. Check the Q&A section monthly, answer anything open, and report anything false.
Better still, fill it yourself. Add the five questions customers ask you on the phone every week, with your own answers: do you offer free quotes, do you work weekends, do you take card, how fast can you come out. You are allowed to, and it answers the customer before they call.
No review replies.
Reply to every review, good or bad. It shows the next customer that someone is paying attention, and it shows Google that the business is active. A short, human reply that mentions what the job was beats a template that thanks them for their valued feedback.
For bad reviews, stay calm and short. Thank them, say you want to put it right, and move it to a phone call. Future customers read your reply more closely than the complaint. If you run a clinic, never confirm that the reviewer was a patient. I wrote a separate guide on how to get Google reviews without begging, which is the other half of this.
Wrong hours, especially holidays.
Nothing kills trust faster than driving to a shop that Google said was open and finding it closed. Customers notice the difference between Open now and Hours may differ.
Set your regular hours correctly, then set special hours for every holiday as soon as you know them. It takes two minutes a season. While you are there, check that your phone number and address match your website exactly, because mismatches there cost you in a different way. My guide to fixing your NAP in 30 minutes covers that.
Google Business Profile FAQ.
How many categories should a Google Business Profile have?
How often should I post on my Google Business Profile?
Can I add keywords or my city to my business name?
Does replying to reviews help my ranking?
I do the work myselfOne specialist. No hand-offs.
I'm Muhammad Zohaib Ameer. I have worked in SEO since 2022 for businesses in the US, UK, Canada and the UAE. The profile is where I start with every local client, because it is the fastest thing to fix and the first thing a customer sees.
“If you do one thing today, search your main service from your phone in your own car park and look at the three profiles above yours. Whatever they have that you do not is your to-do list.”
Muhammad Zohaib Ameer · OvaVerseWant me to check your profile for you?
Send your business name and city. Within 48 hours you get a short recorded video audit of your profile against the top three near you, with the fixes in order.
- Personal to your site, never shared
- No sales call needed
- Reply within 24 hours
The photo on this page is a custom AI-generated illustration, not a real client or event. Diagrams and sample numbers are labelled illustrations; case study screenshots are real.