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