Google Business Profile checklist for contractors

A contractor's Google Business Profile is complete when the primary category matches the main trade, every service you sell is listed with a description, attributes and hours are accurate, the photos are your own, posts and Q&A are current, reviews are answered, and competitor spam is being reported. Work through the sections below in order. Most take under an hour; the review and posting habits take about ten minutes a week.

Why does the profile matter more than the website for many contractors?

For "near me" and "[service] in [city]" searches, Google shows the map pack above the organic results. Those three listings are Google Business Profiles, not websites. A homeowner can call you from the pack without ever visiting your site. The profile also feeds Google Maps, Gemini and the business panel that appears when someone searches your name. If it is incomplete, inaccurate or dormant, you lose calls to the contractor whose profile is not.

1. Categories: does Google know what trade you are in?

Primary category

Pick the single category that describes most of your revenue: Roofing contractor, Plumber, HVAC contractor, Electrician, Landscaper, General contractor, Remodeler, Deck builder, Concrete contractor. The primary category has the largest effect on which searches you appear for. Do not pick a broader category hoping to show up for more things; it usually does the opposite.

Secondary categories

Add only categories for work you actually perform and want to be called about. A roofer who installs gutters adds Gutter service. A remodeler who does not do plumbing should not add Plumber, even though plumbing happens on their jobs.

2. Services: is every service listed and described?

Under the Services section, Google suggests services for your categories and lets you add custom ones. List each one you sell and write one or two sentences describing what it includes. Use the words customers use ("roof leak repair," not "moisture intrusion remediation"). Skip prices unless you have a fixed price; a range you cannot honor invites arguments.

3. Business information: is it exact and consistent?

• Name. Your legal or trade name as it appears on your trucks and license. No added keywords or city names; that violates Google's guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
• Address or service area. If customers do not visit your office, hide the address and set a service area by city or county. Keep the service area realistic; a two-hour radius does not help you rank in far-away towns.
• Phone. A number you answer. Use the same number on your website and in directories.
• Website. Link to your homepage, or to a location page if you have multiple profiles.
• Hours. Real hours, with holiday hours set in advance. If you offer emergency service, use the additional hours options rather than claiming 24/7 when nobody answers at 3 a.m.
• Description. Up to 750 characters covering what you do, where, and what distinguishes you. Plain language, no keyword lists.

4. Attributes: have you set the ones that apply?

Attributes vary by category and change over time. Common ones for contractors include veteran-owned or women-owned identification, online estimates, onsite services and languages spoken. Set the ones that are true. Leave the rest blank; an attribute you cannot back up is a complaint waiting to happen.

5. Photos and video: do they show real work?

• A logo and cover photo that match your website branding.
• Exterior and interior of the office or shop, if customers visit.
• Crew, trucks and equipment with your branding visible.
• Before-and-after job photos, uploaded regularly.
• Short videos of work in progress if you have them.

Avoid stock photos entirely. Homeowners can tell, and Google's systems increasingly can too. Add a few new photos every month so the profile looks active.

6. Posts: are you showing recent activity?

Google Posts appear on your profile and signal that the business is operating. Useful post types for contractors:

• A completed project with a photo and the town.
• Seasonal reminders (gutter cleaning before fall, an AC check before summer).
• A change in service area or a new service.
• Financing or promotion details, with honest terms.

One post every week or two is plenty. Older posts drop out of the main view, so consistency matters more than volume.

7. Q&A: have you asked and answered the obvious questions?

Anyone can ask a question on your profile, and anyone can answer, including competitors and confused customers. Get ahead of it:

• Post the five to ten questions you answer most often on the phone and answer them yourself from the business account.
• Check weekly for new questions and answer them promptly.
• Report questions that are spam or abusive.

Typical questions: Do you offer free estimates? Are you licensed and insured? Do you handle insurance claims? What areas do you serve? How soon can you come out?

8. Reviews: is there a steady flow, and are you responding?

• Ask every customer at the end of the job. Send a direct link to the review form by text or email.
• Do not offer incentives, do not ask only happy customers, and do not use a tool that filters negative reviews before they reach Google. All three violate policy.
• Respond to every review within a few days. Thank positive reviewers specifically. For negative reviews, state the facts briefly, offer to resolve it offline and keep your tone even. Future customers read your responses as closely as the reviews.
• Flag reviews that violate Google's policies (fake, off-topic, from someone who was never a customer). Flagging is a request, not a guarantee of removal.

9. Messaging and booking: can people reach you the way they want?

If you enable messaging, someone has to answer it within a few hours or Google may turn it off. If you use a booking or quote-request tool, connect it so the button on your profile works. If you cannot staff a channel, turn it off rather than leave it unanswered.

10. Spam: are you reporting competitors who break the rules?

Fake listings, keyword-stuffed names and virtual offices crowd real contractors out of the map pack. You can report them:

• Use "Suggest an edit" on the listing for name and address problems.
• Use Google's Business Redressal Complaint Form for persistent or multiple violations.
• Keep notes of what you reported and when.

This is tedious, but in competitive trades it is one of the few things that directly removes competition from the pack.

11. Measurement: are you reading the numbers?

The Performance section in your profile shows calls, direction requests, website clicks, messages and the search terms people used to find you. Check it monthly:

• Are calls and direction requests trending up compared with the same month last year?
• Which search terms bring you up? Do they match the services you want to sell?
• Are people finding you by name (branded) or by category (discovery)? Discovery growth usually means the profile and website work is paying off.

Pair this with call tracking that keeps your main number as the primary profile number, and with GA4 on your website to see what those profile clicks do.

12. Multiple locations and service areas

If you have more than one real office with staff during business hours, each can have its own profile. If you simply serve several towns from one office, you get one profile with a service area; do not create extra profiles with virtual addresses. That is the fastest way to get every profile suspended.

What to do each week

• Add one or two photos.
• Publish one post.
• Answer new questions and reviews.
• Check for suspicious edits to your information.

What to do each month

• Review the Performance report.
• Update services, hours and attributes for anything that changed.
• Report new spam listings.
• Request reviews from any completed jobs you missed.

A complete, active, honest profile is the highest-leverage local marketing asset most contractors have, and it costs nothing but attention.