What Google Business Profile is
Google Business Profile (GBP) is the free Google listing that appears for a business in the map pack, the knowledge panel on branded searches, Google Maps, and increasingly the local AI Overview citations. It used to be called Google My Business until the 2021 rebrand. The product is unchanged; only the name and the management interface are different.
GBP is fundamentally a separate database from your website. Your website ranks (or does not) in the standard organic results. The GBP listing ranks in the map pack, which sits above the organic results on most local-intent SERPs. The two databases overlap (your website backs up the Profile's credibility) but they are not the same surface. Optimising GBP is the dedicated work of feeding the local-pack database with accurate, complete, active data.
For the wider context of where GBP sits in the local trust stack, see the Local SEO pillar. For the step-by-step process that includes GBP work in the right order, see the local SEO guide.
Why it matters more than your website for local intent
On a mobile phone, searching a local-intent query like "plumber Fremantle" returns a map pack of three businesses before any organic result. The first organic listing typically sits below the fold on mobile. Position one in the map pack picks up the lion's share of clicks for local intent, while the equivalent position in the organic results below the pack picks up far less.
That asymmetry is why GBP is the highest-impact local SEO asset. A great website can rank ten in the organic results and still earn less local traffic than a mediocre website with a great GBP that sits one in the pack. For most Perth service categories, the GBP is doing 60 to 80 percent of the local SEO work.
GBP also feeds the knowledge panel on branded searches (someone Googles your business name), the Maps app (someone searches inside Google Maps), and AI Overview citations on local-intent prompts. One Profile feeds four different surfaces. The return on a few hours of setup is genuinely outsized. For the broader trust-signal context, see E-E-A-T explained and brand mentions as a ranking signal.
Claiming and verifying
Go to business.google.com, search for the business, and either claim the existing listing or create one. Verification is the gate-keeper that prevents anyone from claiming a business they do not own. Four verification paths:
- Postcard. The default for most categories. Google posts a card to the business address with a five-digit code, usually within two weeks. Enter the code in the dashboard to verify. Make sure the address you enter is exactly the one that receives the postcard.
- Video. Google occasionally requests a live video call with the support team to confirm the business is real. Be ready to show the premises, signage and any equipment that confirms the business operates from the address.
- Phone or email. Available for established Profiles or repeat verifications. Less common for first-time claims.
- Instant. If the business has a verified Google Search Console property tied to the same domain, GBP sometimes grants instant verification. Worth setting up Search Console first if you have not.
Plan for two weeks if the verification is postcard-based. Do not try to optimise the Profile aggressively before it is verified; partial optimisation on an unverified Profile can flag the listing for additional review.
Categories and services
The category fields are the single most important part of GBP optimisation. One primary category and up to nine additional categories.
The primary category
Pick the category that exactly matches the core service the business delivers. A plumber picks "Plumber", not "Bathroom remodeller" or "Home services". A family lawyer picks "Family law attorney", not "Lawyer" or "Legal services". Specificity beats ambition. Google reads category mismatch as a low-trust signal.
The primary category drives most of the map-pack matching. It is what Google uses to decide whether your business is a candidate for "plumber Fremantle". If the primary category is wrong, no amount of secondary category stuffing will rescue the ranking.
Additional categories
Use sparingly. Add categories the business genuinely and actively delivers, not aspirational ones. A plumber who also does gas fitting and hot water systems can add "Gas installation service" and "Hot water system supplier". A plumber who occasionally does some tiling should not add "Tile contractor".
Three to five additional categories is usually enough. Profiles with ten loosely-related categories tend to dilute the primary signal.
Services
Separate from categories, the Services field lets you list specific service items with descriptions and prices. This is where you flesh out what the business does without polluting the categories. List ten to twenty services. Each with a short description (one sentence) and a starting price if relevant. This field feeds the "Services" tab on the Profile and helps match long-tail searches.
Name, address, phone and hours
The NAP details must exactly match what appears on your website footer, contact page and every directory listing. Do not stuff keywords into the business name field; the policy explicitly bans this and Google strips violations. The name should match the legally-trading or commonly-used business name.
Hours include regular hours, special hours for public holidays, and "more hours" for service-specific times (delivery hours, drive-through hours, kitchen hours for restaurants). Keep them accurate. A Profile showing "open now" when the business is closed is a customer-experience failure that Google's review system catches.
The phone number should be the one you actually answer. Avoid tracking numbers that forward to the real number; some tracking numbers fragment the NAP and confuse the local ranking signal. If you must use call tracking, use a system that allows the displayed number to match your real NAP. The NAP consistency chapter covers the tracking number question in detail.
Hours and address changes after the initial setup get reviewed by Google. Sudden changes (especially address changes) can trigger a re-verification step. Plan ahead before moving offices.
Description and attributes
The business description is 750 characters of free-text that appears in the knowledge panel and the Profile. It is not heavily weighted as a ranking signal, but it is read by customers deciding whether to call.
Write it for the customer, not the algorithm. Two paragraphs:
- What the business does, who it serves, and the suburbs or region it covers.
- What makes the business worth choosing: the experience, the certifications, the response time, the speciality.
Skip the keyword stuffing. Google does not weight description keywords heavily and customers find it off-putting.
Attributes are the structured tick-boxes that appear in the Profile: wheelchair-accessible entrance, free parking, online appointments, women-owned, LGBTQ-friendly, accepts cards. Tick every attribute that genuinely applies. Attributes feed filtered searches ("wheelchair accessible plumbers") and increasingly the AI Overview citations for filtered local-intent queries.
Photos and videos
Photos do two things: they raise click-through from the map pack, and they signal an active business to the GBP algorithm. Profiles with steady photo additions tend to hold map-pack position better than Profiles that stopped adding photos a year ago.
The photo types that matter:
- Logo. One clean logo image, square format, with a transparent or simple background.
- Cover. One wide hero image that represents the business well, ideally a real shopfront or team photo rather than stock imagery.
- Exterior. Three to five shots of the storefront, signage, or office building. Helps customers find the place.
- Interior. Three to five shots of the inside (if customer-facing). Helpful for retail, hospitality and healthcare.
- Team. Three to five photos of the actual team. Real faces build more trust than stock.
- Job or product photos. Ongoing, fortnightly. Photos from real jobs in real suburbs, with the suburb mentioned in the caption where possible.
- Videos. Optional but useful. 30 to 60 second clips of jobs, team intros, or product walk-throughs.
Aim for one new photo every fortnight after the initial setup. The cumulative photo library becomes a real asset. For broader image SEO best practice, see the image SEO chapter.
Posts and the fortnightly rhythm
Posts appear inside the Profile as small content cards. Four post types: Update, Offer, Event, Product.
The data on Posts is mixed: direct click-through is modest, but the consistency signal correlates with map-pack stability. Profiles that post weekly or fortnightly tend to hold position better than dormant Profiles, even when the post content is unspectacular.
The fortnightly rhythm we recommend:
- Week 1: Photo update from a recent job. Caption mentions the suburb and the type of work.
- Week 3: Offer, event, or service highlight. Something the business is actively running this month.
Two posts a month. Five minutes each. That alone keeps the Profile in the active bucket.
Reviews and Q&A
Reviews are a major ranking signal (count, average, velocity, recency, text content) and a major conversion signal (a 4.7-star Profile gets called more than a 4.1-star Profile). The getting reviews chapter covers the request system in detail.
Two GBP-specific responsibilities for reviews:
- Respond to every review. Positive or negative. Two sentences. Acknowledge what they said, thank them or apologise as appropriate, and move on. Response rate is itself a small ranking signal.
- Do not flag reviews unless they are policy violations. A bad review is not a policy violation. Real complaints handled gracefully outperform a manufactured five-star average. Flag fake or off-topic reviews; do not flag genuine criticism.
Q&A is the often-ignored section where anyone can post a question. Seed three to five common questions and answer them yourself as the business owner. Monitor weekly for new questions. An unanswered question or a wrong third-party answer costs you customers who were considering calling.
Products and bookings
Products is a separate field from Services, and it is most relevant for retail and product-led businesses. Add the top ten to twenty products with photos, descriptions and prices. Products appear in the Profile and can be linked to a category page on the website. The internal linking chapter covers how to wire this back to your site.
Bookings is the integration with appointment-booking software (Booksy, Vagaro, HotDoc, MyDeal and others depending on the category). If the business takes appointments, enabling Bookings adds a "Book online" button to the Profile, which lifts conversion meaningfully. Worth the setup time for any appointment-based business.
Common mistakes
- Picking one accurate primary category that exactly matches the core service.
- Completing every available field, not just the obvious ones.
- Adding a real photo every fortnight, with the suburb tagged in the caption.
- Responding to every review within 48 hours, in two sentences.
- Posting a fortnightly Update or Offer to keep the active-business signal alive.
- Seeding the Q&A section with three to five answers from the business owner.
- Stuffing keywords into the business name field. Google strips violations and may suspend the listing.
- Picking eight loosely-related primary categories. The category-stuffing pattern demotes the listing.
- Using stock photos for the cover and team images. Real photos build more trust and signal a real business.
- Ignoring negative reviews or arguing with reviewers in public. Calm acknowledgement always beats defensiveness.
- Treating the Profile as set-and-forget. Inactive Profiles slip down the pack within months.
- Posting irregularly or batching three posts in one week then nothing for two months.
Perth and WA context
Three Perth-specific things worth knowing about GBP optimisation.
First, the categories Google offers in Australia sometimes differ from the US equivalents. A business looking for "General contractor" will find "Contractor" instead, and "HVAC contractor" maps to "Air conditioning contractor". Always search the live category picker rather than assuming the US name applies.
Second, the regional cities (Bunbury, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Port Hedland, Esperance) reward GBP optimisation disproportionately because the local-pack competition is thinner. A regional Profile that is fully completed often jumps into position one within weeks of verification. See SEO Bunbury, SEO Kalgoorlie, SEO Karratha and SEO Port Hedland for the regional service pages.
Third, Perth metro businesses serving inside-the-river suburbs (Subiaco, Nedlands, Cottesloe, Fremantle) face higher competition for the same map-pack positions, which puts more weight on review velocity and photo cadence as differentiators. See SEO Fremantle and Services Perth for the inside-the-river service patterns, and SEO Joondalup, SEO Cockburn, SEO Mandurah and SEO Rockingham for the outer metro context.
For the local service we run for clients, see Local SEO Perth. For industry-specific GBP nuances, the trades SEO, healthcare SEO and legal SEO guides have category-specific advice.