--- name: "google_business_profile" description: "Manage a Google Business Profile for local search: pick the right categories, run weekly Google Posts, seed and answer Q&A, build steady review velocity, and use the GBP APIs to manage reviews, locations, and metrics at scale. Use when optimizing a business's Google listing, handling reviews, running local SEO, or building tooling against the Business Profile APIs." --- # Google Business Profile ## Purpose Keep a Google Business Profile complete, active, and trusted by both searchers and Google's local ranking. This covers the three ranking pillars (relevance, distance, prominence) and the day-to-day operations: categories, posts, Q&A, photos, reviews, and, for multi-location work, the GBP APIs. ## Workflow ### 1. Audit the profile first Check every core field before anything else: claimed and verified, name (no keyword stuffing, that is a suspension trigger), address, phone, website, hours including upcoming holiday hours, and a correct map pin. NAP (name, address, phone) must match the business website exactly. ### 2. Set categories and services - Choose the most specific **primary category** that matches what the business primarily sells. This is the single biggest on-profile lever for appearing in the Local Pack. - Add up to 10 **secondary categories**, every one that honestly applies. Never add categories for services the business does not offer. - Use Google's **predefined services** list rather than free-text-only entries. The services factor is one of the largest movers in recent local-pack surveys. - For service-area businesses (no storefront), configure service areas carefully instead of showing an address. Know that hiding the address trades away a ranking factor. ### 3. Complete the information layer Write a business description (up to 750 characters) with the keywords customers actually use, no stuffing. Fill every applicable **attribute** (outdoor seating, Wi-Fi, wheelchair access, LGBTQ-friendly, etc.). List services and, where relevant, products. ### 4. Publish weekly Google Posts Posts signal an active profile and keep it ranking. Publish 1 to 2 posts per week: short updates, offers, events, or news, each with a photo and a clear call to action. Stale profiles lose to active ones with fewer reviews. ### 5. Seed and run Q&A Before customers ask, post and answer the 3 to 5 most common questions yourself (hours, parking, booking, price range, wheelchair access). Answer real customer questions within 24 hours. Q&A reduces bounce and builds the trust that turns a listing view into a visit. ### 6. Add real photos and video regularly Upload 15 to 20 original photos across interior, exterior, staff, and product categories, plus one 30-second video. Never stock imagery. Add fresh photos monthly; recency and count are prominence signals. ### 7. Build review velocity, then never stop - **Ask every happy customer.** Put the review link on receipts, texts, emails, and follow-up messages. One short ask at the right moment beats any review campaign. - **Respond to every review within 48 hours**, positive and negative. Negative reviews get a calm, specific reply: acknowledge, take it offline, never argue. Never ignore a review. - **Steady matters more than bursts.** Review rating, review count, reviews with text, recency, and steady growth over time all count. Twenty reviews that arrived over the past year beat forty from years ago. - **Never** buy reviews, offer incentives for positive reviews, or post fake reviews. Google removes them and can suspend the profile. ### 8. For multi-location or API work: request access first, then automate The GBP APIs (reviews, local posts, media, business information, performance metrics) require an approved Google Cloud project **before any call works**. Unapproved projects get 0 QPM and every call returns 403. See `references/api_access.md` for the eligibility rules, the application form, and the 300-QPM approval signal. See `references/endpoints.md` for the federated API surfaces and review endpoints, including the Pub/Sub pattern for new-review notifications and the read-back pattern for verifying edits went live. ## Output Contract A profile optimization deliverable includes: - Audit summary: field-by-field status (verified, NAP match, hours, pin, categories, photos, posts, Q&A, reviews). - Action list in priority order: verification and categories first, information layer second, media third, engagement (posts, Q&A, reviews) ongoing. - For API builds: a credentialed request plan (project number, owner email, OAuth scope `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/business.manage`), plus a quota-aware fetch plan (Pub/Sub or batched polling with exponential backoff, never tight polling). ## Operating Rules 1. Categories before cosmetics. No amount of posting fixes a wrong primary category. 2. Never keyword-stuff the business name. It is a policy violation that can suspend the listing. 3. Accuracy over cleverness: hours must be right at the time of search, the pin must sit on the actual door, NAP must match the website. 4. Reviews are a system, not a campaign: ask every happy customer, respond within 48 hours, track velocity over rolling 90-day windows. 5. Q&A is pre-answered FAQs plus a 24-hour response promise. 6. Google's view of the profile can differ from what was submitted (user suggestions, Google edits). For API-managed locations, read back and diff after every change; alert a human on anything not live. 7. API access is gated by Google approval, not by OAuth alone. If calls return 403 with 0 QPM, the fix is the Basic Access application, not a token retry.