The checklist is the same for every trade. What goes in each box is not.
A roofer's best photo is a drone shot of a finished tear-off. A cleaning company's best photo is a kitchen that sparkles. An HVAC company's busiest week is the first cold snap. A landscaper's is the first warm Saturday in spring. Same Google Business Profile. Completely different playbook.
This one is for every home service owner: roofers, HVAC companies, plumbers, electricians, tree services, cleaning companies, landscapers, painters, and the rest of the trades. Below is the full checklist I use when I audit a contractor's Google profile, plus what changes trade by trade, and the things Google changed recently that most profiles haven't caught up with.
If you're starting from scratch, set up your profile first with our step-by-step Google Business Profile setup guide. Then come back here.
Why this still matters
The map is where the call happens. When a homeowner searches "plumber near me" or "tree removal in [town]," the map shows up before the regular results, and most people pick from what they see there.
Homeowners are also picky. In Scorpion's 2026 State of Home Services Marketing report, 87% of homeowners said they will not hire a business rated below 4 stars. In BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey, 31% of consumers said they'll only use a business with 4.5 stars or more, and 74% look for reviews written in the last three months.
And Google says it plainly on its own help page: "Businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results." Google also says customers are 2.7 times more likely to consider a business reputable when they find a complete Business Profile on Search and Maps.
How Google decides who shows up
Google says local ranking comes down to three things:
•Relevance: how well your profile matches what someone is searching for.
•Distance: how far you are from the person searching.
•Prominence: how well known your business is. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help.
Google also says there's no way to pay for a better local ranking. Ads are separate.
Whitespark surveys local SEO experts every year on what moves the map. In its 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors, the top three were your primary category, how close your address is to the person searching, and keywords in your business name. Right behind them: having an address in the city being searched, being open at the time of the search, a high star rating, and the number of Google reviews with text.
Two warnings about that list. First, you can't control distance, so don't waste energy on it. Second, keywords in your business name do move rankings, but Google's rules say your name must not include service or location information unless that's your real name. Stuffing "Best Roofing Grand Rapids" into your name is one of the top reasons contractors get suspended. Don't do it. Here's what to do if your profile gets suspended.
The checklist
Work through this top to bottom. Most profiles I audit miss at least five of these.
1. The foundation
•Business name matches your real-world name exactly. The name on your truck, your sign, and your paperwork. No added keywords, cities, or taglines.
•Address handled correctly. If you don't serve customers at your address, which is true for most contractors, Google says to hide or remove it and show a service area instead. No P.O. boxes. No virtual offices unless they're staffed during business hours.
•Service area is realistic. Google says the overall service area shouldn't extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where you're based, though some businesses can justify more. You can list up to 20 service areas. Pick the towns you actually want work in.
•One profile per business. Duplicates hurt you. If you find an old one, merge or remove it.
•A local phone number that's answered. Your main line, not a lead tracking number that changes every quarter.
•Hours that are true. If you take emergency calls after hours, use "More hours" to show it instead of claiming you're open 24 hours when the office isn't.
•Website link goes to the right page. Usually your homepage. If you have multiple locations, link each profile to its own location page.
2. Categories
•The right primary category. This is the single biggest thing you control. Pick the one that describes your core business, not your side work.
•A few accurate additional categories. Google says to use as few categories as possible to describe your core business. Only add ones for services you really do.
•Check what the top three in your town use. Then decide if you're missing one that fits you.
Get this wrong and nothing else on this list matters as much. Read the #1 ranking factor most contractors get wrong before you touch yours.
3. Services and description
•Every service listed. Google lets you pick suggested services for your category and add custom ones, with a price and description if you want. List them all, in the words homeowners use.
•A description that sounds like a person. What you do, where you do it, who you are, and what makes you different. No keyword stuffing, no links, no all caps.
•Opening date and attributes filled in. Small details add up to a "complete" profile.
4. Photos and video
•Real photos from real jobs. Lots of them. Google recommends adding photos and videos regularly to promote engagement and boost your ranking in search.
•Your logo and a cover photo. Your logo should match your website and trucks.
•Team and truck photos. People hire people. Show them who's coming to the house.
•Before and after shots for any trade where the change is visible.
•Short videos. A 20-second walk-through of a finished job does more than a paragraph.
•Keep the location data in your job photos. It's proof you work where you say you work. More in prove you're local with job site photos.
Google's photo specs: JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, with 720 by 720 pixels recommended.
5. Reviews
•A steady flow, not a burst. Three reviews a week, every week, beats 40 in one month and then nothing.
•Ask every happy customer, every time. Send a direct review link by text the day the job is done.
•Reply to every review. BrightLocal found 89% of consumers expect businesses to respond to reviews.
•Follow the rules. Google prohibits review gating (only asking happy customers, or steering unhappy ones away), offering discounts or gifts for reviews, setting review quotas for staff, and reviews from employees. The FTC's rule on fake reviews, in effect since October 21, 2024, bans buying reviews, fake reviews including AI-generated ones, and paying for reviews that express a particular opinion.
Reviews are your engine. Here's why your 300 reviews from 2022 aren't selling for you anymore and how to respond to a negative review.
6. Posts
•Post at least weekly. Finished jobs with the town name, seasonal tips, offers, and team news.
•Know that posts expire. Google says posts older than six months are archived unless you set a date range. A profile with no recent posts looks abandoned.
Here's what to post and how often. It's written for roofers, but the system works for every trade.
7. Booking and contact buttons
•Add a booking or appointment link if you take online bookings. Google lets you add your own link.
•Make sure the call button works on a phone. Test it yourself.
8. What Google changed that you might have missed
•Chat is gone. Google ended Business Profile chat and call history on July 31, 2024. If your profile still tells people to message you, update it.
•Q&A is being replaced by AI. Google is phasing out the Q&A feature on Maps and replacing it with an AI "Ask" feature that answers from your profile, reviews, and website, as Search Engine Roundtable reported in December 2025. That means the answers have to already be on your profile and website. Fill in every field and answer common questions on your site.
•Video verification is common now. Be ready to show your branded truck, equipment, tools, or marketing materials on a live video call during business hours.
•The Local Services Ads badge changed. If you run Local Services Ads, the old Google Guaranteed badge is being replaced with a single Google Verified badge, and the money-back guarantee was discontinued for bookings after December 7, 2025.
9. The same information everywhere else
Your Google profile doesn't live alone. ChatGPT reads Yelp and Bing. Siri reads Apple Business Connect. AI tools compare them all. Your name, address, phone, hours, and services should match exactly on your website, Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Facebook, BBB, and Angi. Here's where AI search gets its facts about your business.
What changes trade by trade
Here's where the playbook splits. These are the things I tell each trade to focus on. Google's category list changes, so confirm the exact category names inside your profile.
| Trade | Common primary categories | Photos that prove you | When to push posts and reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roofing | Roofing contractor | Drone shots of finished roofs, tear-off progress, storm damage you repaired | After storms and in late summer and fall |
| HVAC | HVAC contractor, Air conditioning contractor, Heating contractor, Furnace repair service | Clean installs, labeled equipment, techs in uniform at the home | Before the first heat wave and the first cold snap |
| Plumbing | Plumber | Water heater installs, clean pipe work, the problem you found | Year-round, with extra focus before the first freeze |
| Electrical | Electrician | Panel upgrades, EV charger installs, clean wiring | When EV, generator, and panel upgrade questions spike in your area |
| Tree service | Tree service | Crane or bucket work, before and after removals, cleanup | After windstorms, and spring and fall |
| Cleaning | House cleaning service, Commercial cleaning service | Before and after kitchens and bathrooms, your team in uniform | Spring cleaning season and before the holidays |
| Landscaping | Landscaper, Lawn care service | Finished patios and beds, seasonal transformations | Early spring through summer |
| Painting | Painter | Before and after rooms and exteriors, color close-ups | Spring through early fall for exteriors |
A few trade-specific tips that make a real difference:
•Emergency trades (HVAC, plumbing, roofing, tree): Use "More hours" for emergency availability instead of claiming 24 hours. Then make sure someone actually answers those hours.
•Trades with big visual changes (roofing, painting, landscaping, cleaning): Before and after pairs are your best content. Shoot from the same spot both times.
•Trades with manufacturer certifications (roofing, HVAC, electrical): Mention the certification in your description and services, and make sure you're listed in the manufacturer's dealer locator. It's proof Google and AI can find.
•Seasonal trades: Update your posts and photos before the season starts, not after. Your profile should look busy when homeowners start looking.
The 30-minute monthly routine
Set a reminder for the first Monday of every month.
1.Search for your main service and town on your phone. Note where you show up and who beats you.
2.Check your info. Name, hours, phone, services, and service area. Google and other users can suggest edits to your profile. Make sure nothing changed that you didn't approve.
3.Add at least 10 new photos from the past month's jobs.
4.Reply to any review you missed.
5.Look at your review count for the month. If it's lower than last month, fix your asking process.
6.Schedule four posts for the month ahead.
7.Check your performance stats for calls, website clicks, and direction requests. Watch the trend, not one month.
Thirty minutes a month. That's what separates the profiles that rank from the ones that sit there.
Frequently asked questions
How do I optimize my Google Business Profile as a contractor?
Start with the basics: your real business name, the right primary category, an accurate service area with your address hidden if you don't serve customers there, true hours, and every service listed. Then keep it active with real job photos, weekly posts, and a steady flow of reviews you reply to. Google says businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results.
What is the most important Google Business Profile ranking factor?
In Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors survey, the primary Google Business Profile category ranked first. Distance to the searcher and keywords in the business name followed, but you can't control distance, and Google's rules prohibit adding keywords to your name that aren't part of your real business name.
Should a contractor show their address on Google?
Only if you serve customers at that address. Google's guidelines say service-area businesses that don't serve customers at their location should hide or remove the address and set a service area instead. Most contractors who work from home or a shop customers don't visit should hide it.
How many reviews does my business need on Google?
There's no magic number, but recency and rating matter. BrightLocal's 2026 survey found 74% of consumers look for reviews from the last three months and 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or higher. Scorpion's 2026 report found 87% of homeowners won't hire a business rated below 4 stars. Aim for a steady flow every week.
How often should I post on my Google Business Profile?
At least once a week. Google archives posts after six months unless you set a date range, so a profile without recent posts can look inactive. Post finished jobs with the town name, seasonal tips, and offers.
Can I still message customers through Google Business Profile?
No. Google ended the Business Profile chat feature on July 31, 2024. Make sure your profile points customers to call, text, or book through your website instead.
Can I pay Google to rank higher on Google Maps?
No. Google says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Local Services Ads and Google Ads can put you in paid spots above the map, but they don't change your organic map ranking.
The bottom line
Your Google Business Profile is the closest thing to a free storefront on Main Street that you'll ever get. Most contractors set it up once and forget it.
The ones showing up at the top of the map aren't always the biggest. They're the ones with the right category, real photos, fresh reviews, and someone who checks the profile every month.
Want us to audit your Google profile against this checklist? At Resonating Brands, we build next generation websites and manage Google profiles for home service contractors so they work together. Contact us and we'll show you exactly what to fix first.
Sources
•Google, "Guidelines for representing your business on Google"
•Google, "Manage your service areas"
•Google, "Tips to improve your local ranking on Google"
•Google, "Complete your Business Profile on Google"
•Google, "Add or edit services"
•Google, "Posts on your Business Profile"
•Google, "Business Profile chat and call history"
•Google, "Video verification"
•Google, "Photo guidelines"
•Google, "Prohibited and restricted content for reviews"
•Google, "Google Verified badge"
•Whitespark, "2026 Local Search Ranking Factors", November 6, 2025
•BrightLocal, "Local Consumer Review Survey 2026", February 11, 2026
•Scorpion, "Scorpion's new industry report reveals a disconnect", February 19, 2026
•Search Engine Roundtable, "Google Maps Q&A feature replaced by Ask", December 15, 2025
•FTC, "Final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials", August 14, 2024
Janette O'Shaughnessy is the founder of Resonating Brands, a boutique digital marketing agency based in West Michigan that specializes in next generation websites, voice agents, and lead generation systems for home service contractors.
