Google Business Profile Management for Agencies
Book Cover
  1. Google Business Profile Management for Agencies
    1. How to Scale Your Agency with the GBP Loop
    2. Mike Martin
  2. Copyright © 2026 Mike Martin
  3. A Note from Mike
  4. Contents
  5. Introduction: The Job of Google Business Profile Management
    1. I.1 The Profile Customers See Before They Contact a Business
    2. I.2 A Business Profile Keeps Changing
    3. I.3 Good Management and Better Visibility Are Connected
    4. I.4 Visibility Is Bigger Than One Ranking
    5. I.5 The GBP Loop
    6. I.6 What This Book Will Give You
  6. Part One: How Google Understands and Displays Local Businesses
  7. Chapter 1: What a Google Business Profile Actually Is
    1. 1.1 Google Search and Google Maps
    2. 1.2 Existing, Claimed and Verified Profiles
    3. 1.3 A Business Profile Contains More Than Basic Contact Details
    4. 1.4 The Profile Can Move a Customer Towards Action
    5. 1.5 The Profile Has More Than One Contributor
    6. 1.6 The Profile and the Website Need to Describe the Same Business
    7. 1.7 Why This Becomes an Ongoing Management Job
  8. Chapter 2: Where Google Gets Business Information
    1. 2.1 Information Supplied by the Business
    2. 2.2 The Official Business Website
    3. 2.3 Other Public Information About the Business
    4. 2.4 Licensed Third-Party Data
    5. 2.5 User Contributions
    6. 2.6 Google's Own Interactions With the Business
    7. 2.7 Why Conflicting Information Appears
    8. 2.8 The Foundation of Mirroring
  9. Chapter 3: How Google Determines Local Results
    1. 3.1 Google's Three Main Local Factors
    2. 3.2 Relevance: Does the Business Match the Search?
    3. 3.3 Distance: Where the Search Happens
    4. 3.4 Prominence: How Well Known Is the Business?
    5. 3.5 The Factors Work Together
    6. 3.6 Local Visibility Changes by Search and Location
    7. 3.7 What the Business Can Influence
    8. 3.8 What Matters
    9. 3.9 From Ranking to Bigger Local Visibility
  10. Chapter 4: The GBP Loop
    1. 4.1 From Information to a Management System
    2. 4.2 Profile Completeness and Mirroring
    3. 4.3 Pictures
    4. 4.4 Posts
    5. 4.5 Praise
    6. 4.6 Consistency Is the Multiplier
    7. 4.7 Bigger Local Visibility
    8. 4.8 Manage, Measure, Repeat
    9. 4.9 From a Framework to an Operating System
  11. Part Two: Establishing the Profile Correctly
  12. Chapter 5: Eligibility and Business Types
    1. 5.1 Before You Create or Claim Anything
    2. 5.2 The Business Model Comes First
    3. 5.3 Storefront Businesses
    4. 5.4 Service-Area Businesses
    5. 5.5 Hybrid Businesses
    6. 5.6 Virtual Offices, Coworking Spaces and Borrowed Addresses
    7. 5.7 Individual Practitioners
    8. 5.8 Departments Within Other Businesses
    9. 5.9 Businesses That Are Not Eligible
    10. 5.10 One Business Does Not Become Several Because It Offers Several Services
    11. 5.11 Chains and Multiple Locations
    12. 5.12 Decide the Structure Before You Touch Google
    13. 5.13 The Eligibility Test
  13. Chapter 6: Finding, Adding and Claiming the Correct Profile
    1. 6.1 Search Before You Create
    2. 6.2 Create, Claim or Request Ownership
    3. 6.3 Who Should Control the Profile?
    4. 6.4 When the Existing Setup Is a Mess
  14. Chapter 7: Ownership, Access and Control
    1. 7.1 Ownership and Access Control
    2. 7.2 Keep the Structure Simple
    3. 7.3 Agencies Should Manage Access, Not Passwords
    4. 7.4 Access Changes as the Business Changes
  15. Chapter 8: Verification
    1. 8.1 What Verification Actually Means
    2. 8.2 Prepare Before You Press the Button
    3. 8.3 Video Verification
    4. 8.4 Other Verification Methods
    5. 8.5 Reverification
    6. 8.6 Multiple Locations and Bulk Verification
    7. 8.7 Verification Is Evidence
  16. Chapter 9: Representing the Business Without Breaking Policy
    1. 9.1 The Profile Has to Represent the Real Business
    2. 9.2 Business Names Are Not Keyword Fields
    3. 9.3 Addresses Are Not Ranking Tokens
    4. 9.4 Service Areas Do Not Create Locations
    5. 9.5 Categories and Services Should Describe the Business
    6. 9.6 Competitors Breaking the Rules
    7. 9.7 Keep Policy Enforcement and Management Separate
    8. 9.8 Verification and Compliance
    9. 9.9 Build Visibility on Something You Can Defend
    10. 9.10 Policy Is Part of the Management System
  17. Part Three: The GBP Loop in Practice
  18. Chapter 10: Profile Completeness and Mirroring
    1. 10.1 Complete the Profile Properly
    2. 10.2 This Is Why We Created GBP Expert
    3. 10.3 Create One Source of Truth
    4. 10.4 Mirroring Keeps the Facts Aligned
    5. 10.5 Start With the Website
    6. 10.6 Then Look Beyond the Website
    7. 10.7 Keep the Profile Correct
    8. 10.8 Scale Turns Repetition Into Administration
    9. 10.9 Audit Before You Optimise
    10. 10.10 Completeness Is a State We Maintain
  19. Chapter 11: Pictures
    1. 11.1 Start With What Is Missing
    2. 11.2 Real Beats Perfect
    3. 11.3 Logo and Cover Photograph
    4. 11.4 Build a Useful Picture Library
    5. 11.5 Pictures Become an Operational Problem
    6. 11.6 Keep the Visual Record Current
    7. 11.7 Customers Contribute to the Picture Too
    8. 11.8 Pictures Change Because Businesses Change
  20. Chapter 12: Posts
    1. 12.1 Start With the Business
    2. 12.2 Use the Post Type That Fits
    3. 12.3 Write for the Customer
    4. 12.4 Build a Consistent Posting Process
    5. 12.5 Build a Content Bank
    6. 12.6 AI Changes the Work, Not the Standard
    7. 12.7 Keep Approval Moving
    8. 12.8 Create Once, Schedule Ahead
    9. 12.9 Keep Local Content Local
    10. 12.10 Posts Still Have Rules
    11. 12.11 Publishing Is Not the End of the Job
    12. 12.12 The Post Process
  21. Chapter 13: Praise
    1. 13.1 Asking Is Part of the Job
    2. 13.2 Ask Real Customers About Real Experiences
    3. 13.3 Ask at the Right Point
    4. 13.4 Remove Friction
    5. 13.5 Build the Request Into the System
    6. 13.6 Learn From the Reviews
    7. 13.7 Replying Is Part of Praise Too
    8. 13.8 When a Review Should Be Reported
    9. 13.9 Reviews Can Be Delayed or Disappear
    10. 13.10 Measure the Process You Can Control
    11. 13.11 Praise Should Become Boring
  22. Chapter 14: Consistency
    1. 14.1 The Work Simply Stopped
    2. 14.2 We Are Managing a Moving Business
    3. 14.3 Consistency Follows the Business
    4. 14.4 Different Parts of the Loop Move at Different Speeds
    5. 14.5 The First Loop Should Be the Hardest
    6. 14.6 Memory Is Not a Management System
    7. 14.7 The Client Is Part of the Loop
    8. 14.8 Put Repetition Into the System
    9. 14.9 Consistency Makes the Work Visible
    10. 14.10 Consistency Turns Four Jobs Into a System
  23. Chapter 15: Measuring Bigger Local Visibility
    1. 15.1 Measure Local Visibility
    2. 15.2 Think in Areas, Not Pins
    3. 15.3 Measure the Searches That Matter
    4. 15.4 Establish a Baseline Before You Claim Improvement
    5. 15.5 Rank Tracker Shows the Pattern
    6. 15.6 Rank Replay Turns Snapshots Into History
    7. 15.7 Google’s Performance Data Shows a Different Part of the Story
    8. 15.8 Report Interactions Accurately
    9. 15.9 Look for Patterns
    10. 15.10 Bigger Local Visibility Has a Realistic Market
    11. 15.11 Reporting Should Explain What Happened
    12. 15.12 Measure, Learn, Go Around Again
  24. Part Four: Managing Google Business Profiles at Scale
  25. Chapter 16: Managing Multiple Locations and Complex Businesses
    1. 16.1 Scale Has to Exist in the Real World First
    2. 16.2 Every Location Needs Its Own Truth
    3. 16.3 The Website Needs to Reflect the Locations Too
    4. 16.4 Pictures and Posts Still Need Local Context
    5. 16.5 Reviews Stay Local Even When Management Is Centralised
    6. 16.6 This Is Why We Created Bulk Management
    7. 16.7 Bulk Verification
    8. 16.8 Complexity Creates a Governance Problem
    9. 16.9 Keep the Operating System Simple
  26. Chapter 17: Managing Google Business Profiles for Clients
    1. 17.1 The Agency Is an Authorised Representative
    2. 17.2 Onboarding Is Where Most Future Problems Begin
    3. 17.3 The Client Is Often the Dependency
    4. 17.4 Make It Easy for Clients to Give You What You Need
    5. 17.5 Keep Approval Moving
    6. 17.6 Praise Has to Connect With the Real Customer Journey
    7. 17.7 The Agency Needs to Know When Something Changes
    8. 17.8 Build a Repeatable Service
    9. 17.9 The Client Needs to See the Service
    10. 17.10 Show the Work and the Result
    11. 17.11 Build the Record as the Work Happens
    12. 17.12 Managing Clients Is Really Managing Dependencies
  27. Chapter 18: When Things Go Wrong
    1. 18.1 Understand the Change Before Acting
    2. 18.2 When Incorrect Information Keeps Coming Back
    3. 18.3 Recover Control of the Correct Profile
    4. 18.4 Diagnose Duplicates Before Acting
    5. 18.5 Failed Verification Usually Points Back to the Business
    6. 18.6 Re-Verification Is Part of Ongoing Management
    7. 18.7 Suspensions and Restrictions Need Facts
    8. 18.8 Build the Appeal Before You Submit It
    9. 18.9 Follow the Appeal Process
    10. 18.10 When the Profile Comes Back
    11. 18.11 Agencies Need an Escalation Process
    12. 18.12 Prevention Makes Recovery Easier
  28. Part Five: Running the GBP Loop with GBPly
  29. Chapter 19: GBPly
    1. 19.1 GBPly Runs the GBP Loop
    2. 19.2 The GBP Loop Is the Method
    3. 19.3 Start With GBP Expert
    4. 19.4 The Client Portal Solves the Missing-Information Problem
    5. 19.5 Dynamic Notifications Are What Keep the Loop Moving
    6. 19.6 Pictures Can Move From the Client Into the Workflow
    7. 19.7 Posts Can Move From Creation to Approval to Publishing
    8. 19.8 Praise Can Become Part of the Normal Customer Journey
    9. 19.9 Measurement Can Build Itself While the Work Continues
    10. 19.10 Bulk Management Removes Repetition at Scale
    11. 19.11 GBPly Also Helps Before and Beyond the Daily Loop
    12. 19.12 Put People Where Their Judgement Matters
    13. 19.13 The GBP Loop Can Keep Turning Without Somebody Holding Every Piece
    14. 19.14 What Changes for the Agency
    15. 19.15 The GBP Loop Is the Method. GBPly Is the System.
  30. Chapter 20: Bonus Chapter — Individual Practitioners
    1. 20.1 If You Made It This Far, This One Is for You
    2. 20.2 What Is an Individual Practitioner?
    3. 20.3 Imagine a Law Firm With Twenty Lawyers
    4. 20.4 The Practitioner's Profile Uses the Practitioner's Name
    5. 20.5 The Profile Still Has to Represent How the Practitioner Really Works
    6. 20.6 The Single-Practitioner Exception
    7. 20.7 Now Imagine the Search Opportunity
    8. 20.8 Run the GBP Loop for the Practitioner
    9. 20.9 This Is Where GBPly Becomes Particularly Useful
    10. 20.10 Build on the Legitimate Opportunity
    11. 20.11 This Could Be the Most Valuable Chapter in the Book for the Right Reader
    12. 20.12 One Last Favour
  31. Final Thoughts
  1. Cover

Part Five: Running the GBP Loop with GBPly

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