A 30-minute monthly Google Business Profile routine

What should I check each month?

Use this sequence so administrative problems come before customer-facing content and measurement. The 30-minute split is an operating routine, not a cadence Google prescribes. If a holiday, staff change, move, or service change is coming up, use the relevant section first.

Keep the date, the change made, and the status shown by Google in the monthly record.

How do I check the business information?

Sign in to the Google Account linked to the profile. Google's Edit your Business Profile help says to open the Business Profile in Google Search, select Edit profile, make an accurate correction, and select Save. In the Maps app, use Business → Edit profile → Save. Check the business name, address, phone number, website, and attributes.¹

The name must match the business's real-world signage.¹

Changing a verified business name may require verification again.¹

Moving the business to a new address after verification requires verification again.¹

Adding or editing an existing category might require verification again.²

Make those changes only when they reflect the current business.

Open Edit profile → Collected info when it is available. Review information Google gathered through automated calls, texts, or WhatsApp messages to the profile's verified phone number. The screen shows the source and collection date. This feature is available only for select regions, languages, and business categories.¹

Check Edit services or Edit products, when those options appear, against what the business sells today. These features are available only to eligible businesses, so skip a control that is not shown and continue with the fields the profile provides.³⁴

Keep the displayed information aligned with the real business. This first check catches changes to the details customers use before the rest of the monthly sequence.

How do I check who can access the profile?

In Google Search, open the Business Profile and select More → Business Profile settings → People and access. Compare every listed Google Account with the people who currently need to work on the profile. For the role choices, see adding owners and managers to a Google Business Profile. Google allows multiple owners but only one primary owner. Owners can add or remove users. Managers cannot add or remove users or remove the profile. Owners and managers can edit profile information, respond to reviews, and manage posts. Each person should use their own Google Account rather than a shared password.⁵

If someone joined or changed roles during the month, note the date. Google says a new owner or manager may need to wait 7 days before deleting or undeleting a profile, removing other users, or transferring primary ownership. That waiting period applies to those administrative actions, not to every profile edit.⁵

How do I check the category?

Open Edit profile, inspect the category field, and save a correction if the profile no longer describes the business accurately. For the full selection process, use choosing the right categories for a Google Business Profile. Google says to choose one specific primary category that best describes the business. A profile can have up to 9 additional categories, but Google recommends only a few relevant categories and does not allow a custom category.¹²

Use this decision table during the check:

Choose categories for the business as it exists today, not for every product or service it offers. Keep only the small set that accurately describes the business. If you are weighing the phrase category dilution, use the source rule as the test: a category belongs when it describes the business, not when it is merely related.¹²

How do I check the hours?

Open Edit profile and review three kinds of hours against the business's actual schedule:

• Main hours: the normal opening schedule.
• Special hours: holidays or temporary periods.
• More hours: different features the business offers, such as a service with its own schedule.

For a closure of 7 days or less, use Special hours. For a closure longer than 7 days, for the off-season, or indefinitely, select Edit profile → Hours → Edit next to Hours → Temporarily closed, then Save. Use More hours for a feature with its own schedule. For a holiday-by-holiday check, use the Google Business Profile holiday hours checklist. Save the field that matches the business's actual hours.¹⁶

How do I check photos and videos?

Open Google Search or Google Maps, search for the business name and city, and select Photos → Add photos when you need to upload new media. Review the newest items first. Google labels uploaded media Pending, Not approved, or Live. Pending and Not approved media do not show to customers.⁷

Google says Pending can also mean that your profile is currently not verified. Check the profile's verification state before treating a Pending upload as a media problem.⁷

Use these limits before uploading:

Google says photos and videos can take up to 24–48 hours to appear. Record the upload date and status so a recent Pending item is not mistaken for a failed upload. Use the status to choose the next action, such as waiting, replacing the file, or recording a rejection.⁷

How do I check and publish a Business Profile post?

Review the existing posts, then publish only a current customer-facing update. Google's Create & manage posts on your Business Profile help lists Update for business information, Offer for a promotion, and Event for an event. An Update can include a description, photo, video, and action button; an Offer needs a title and dates; an Event needs a title and start and end dates.⁸

1. Open the Business Profile and select Posts → Add post.
2. Choose Update, Offer, or Event.
3. Add the current details, a relevant photo or video, and an action link when it helps customers complete the next step.
4. Select Post, then check whether the post is Live, Pending, or Not approved.

Google archives posts older than 6 months unless a date range is set. Use this monthly check to update a post whose details changed, delete one that is no longer useful, or publish a new item that replaces stale information. Pending posts do not show on Search or Maps and can mean that the profile is unverified; Not approved posts also do not show.⁸

How do I check and reply to reviews?

After verification, open Business Profile → Read reviews. Reply next to each review that still needs an answer, write the response, and select Reply. Use the Google review reply templates for response structures, then make each reply specific to the customer's experience. Google reviews the response for policy compliance before posting it. Google says review replies usually take up to 10 minutes to review, but some can take up to 30 days.⁹

Keep the monthly review check factual and specific. Address the customer's experience without promising a particular outcome. Reviews and other user contributions must reflect a genuine experience. Google prohibits offering free or discounted goods or services in exchange for posting, changing, or removing a review.¹⁰

How do I check Business Profile performance?

Performance is available for verified profiles. Sign in with the Google Account associated with the profile. In Search, open Business Profile → Performance, choose a time period, and select Apply. In the Maps app, open Business → Performance → See more, choose a time period, and select Apply. Google shows only metrics that apply to that business.¹¹

Record the date range with the numbers. In Google's report, Searches means the terms people used to find the business. Google says this metric updates at the start of each month and can take up to 5 days to appear. Views count unique visitors, a user can be counted a limited number of times across devices and platforms, and a person can be counted only once a day.¹¹

Performance data can include views, searches, and actions from both organic Search results and Google Ads. Do not label a combined report as organic-only. Do not treat a missing metric as zero, because Google shows only applicable metrics.¹¹

For field context, use the Google Business Profile hub. For metric definitions, see understanding Google Business Profile performance metrics. If you prefer a tick-box document, use the Google Business Profile audit checklist.

What should I do when a change is not visible?

First identify which queue the change belongs to:

Keep the pending item in your monthly record and set the next check date. A saved edit may still be under review before it appears publicly, so report the state the profile currently shows.¹

Does this routine improve local ranking?

Keeping the Google Business Profile complete and accurate makes it more likely to appear in relevant local results. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity, and businesses cannot request or pay for a better local ranking.¹²

Use this routine as an accuracy and follow-up check, not a ranking position report. Record what changed, what Google approved, and what customers can currently see, then use that record to choose next month's first check.