What Is a GBP Audit?

A GBP audit (Google Business Profile audit) is a comprehensive evaluation of your Google Business Profile against all known local ranking factors. Think of it as a health check for your Google Maps presence — it tells you exactly what's working, what's broken, and what you need to fix to rank higher.

A proper GBP audit goes far beyond just checking if your hours are correct. It analyses your category strategy, photo health, review profile, citation consistency, on-page signals, and competitive positioning — all the factors Google's algorithm uses to decide who appears in the top 3 of the Local Pack.

Why You Need a GBP Audit Before Any Optimisation

We've audited hundreds of Google Business Profiles, and the same pattern repeats: businesses invest in optimisation tactics without first diagnosing their actual problems. You might spend months generating reviews when your real issue is a wrong primary category. A GBP audit prevents this — it identifies the highest-impact fixes first.

The Complete GBP Audit Checklist (40+ Factors)

Section 1: Profile Completeness (10 Factors)

  • ✅ Business Name — matches your real-world name exactly (no keyword stuffing)
  • ✅ Primary Category — is it the most specific, most relevant category available?
  • ✅ Secondary Categories — have you added all applicable additional categories (up to 9)?
  • ✅ Business Description — is it 750 characters, keyword-rich, and benefit-focused?
  • ✅ Phone Number — local number (not 1-800) that matches your website
  • ✅ Website URL — links to your homepage or a tracking URL
  • ✅ Address / Service Area — correct and matches all directory listings
  • ✅ Business Hours — accurate including holidays and special hours
  • ✅ Opening Date — filled in (contributes to trust signals)
  • ✅ Attributes — all relevant attributes filled (payment options, amenities, accessibility, etc.)

Section 2: Photo Health (6 Factors)

  • ✅ Total Photo Count — 25+ photos minimum; 100+ for competitive markets
  • ✅ Photo Recency — photos added within the last 30 days
  • ✅ Photo Diversity — interior, exterior, team, product/service, logo cover photo
  • ✅ Cover Photo — professional, representative of your brand (not a logo)
  • ✅ Logo — current, square format, high resolution
  • ✅ Customer-Added Photos — review any customer photos for inappropriate or inaccurate content

Section 3: Review Profile (7 Factors)

  • ✅ Total Review Count — where do you stand vs. top-3 competitors?
  • ✅ Average Star Rating — 4.5+ stars required for competitive markets
  • ✅ Review Recency — at least 3–5 new reviews per month
  • ✅ Response Rate — are you responding to 100% of reviews?
  • ✅ Response Quality — responses are personalised, not templated copy-paste
  • ✅ Keyword Richness — do reviews mention your service and city names?
  • ✅ Negative Review Handling — are negative reviews responded to professionally?

Section 4: Citation Audit (8 Factors)

The citation audit portion of a GBP audit is one of the most time-consuming — but also one of the most impactful. NAP inconsistencies silently destroy local authority.

  • ✅ NAP Consistency — is your Name, Address, Phone identical across all directories?
  • ✅ Yelp Listing — claimed, complete, and accurate
  • ✅ Apple Maps — claimed via Apple Business Connect
  • ✅ Bing Places — claimed and synced
  • ✅ Yellow Pages — accurate and unclaimed duplicates removed
  • ✅ BBB Listing — if applicable to your industry
  • ✅ Industry Directories — Healthgrades (medical), Avvo (legal), Houzz (home services), etc.
  • ✅ Duplicate Listings — any duplicate GBP or directory listings that need to be removed

Our dedicated citation building service includes a full citation audit plus corrections across 50+ directories.

Section 5: Google Posts Activity (4 Factors)

  • ✅ Post Frequency — at least 1 post per week minimum
  • ✅ Post Type Variety — mix of offers, updates, events, products
  • ✅ Post Images — every post includes a high-quality image
  • ✅ Call-to-Action — every post has a clear CTA (Book, Call, Learn More)

Section 6: Services & Products (3 Factors)

  • ✅ Services Section — all your services listed with keyword-rich descriptions
  • ✅ Products Section — if applicable, products added with photos and prices
  • ✅ Service Area Coverage — service area accurately reflects where you operate

Section 7: Q&A Management (3 Factors)

  • ✅ Questions Seeded — have you proactively added common customer questions?
  • ✅ All Questions Answered — no unanswered questions from users
  • ✅ Answer Quality — answers are detailed, keyword-rich, and helpful

Section 8: Competitive Analysis (5 Factors)

  • ✅ Competitor Category Gap — are competitors using categories you're missing?
  • ✅ Review Gap — how many reviews separate you from the #1 ranked competitor?
  • ✅ Photo Gap — how does your photo count compare to top-ranking profiles?
  • ✅ Post Activity Gap — are competitors posting more frequently?
  • ✅ Service Description Gap — are competitors listing services you offer but haven't added?

How to Score Your GBP Audit

For each of the 46 factors above, score yourself:

  • 2 points: fully complete and optimised
  • 1 point: present but needs improvement
  • 0 points: missing or wrong

Maximum score: 92 points. Typical Map Pack #1 profiles score 75+. If you're scoring below 60, there are almost certainly quick wins that will move you up in rankings within 30–60 days.

Professional GBP Audit Service

Our professional GBP audit service delivers a full 40+ point analysis with a prioritised action plan. Unlike generic tools, our audit includes manual analysis, competitor benchmarking, and a custom roadmap — not just a checklist.

Alternatively, run our free online GBP audit tool to get an instant score on the core factors without signing up.

GBP Audit for Specific Cities: What Changes

The audit factors above apply everywhere, but the benchmark scores change by market. A score of 70/92 might rank you #1 in a small town and page 3 in New York City. When running a GBP audit in NYC, Chicago, or other major metros, the competitive bar is much higher — you need to score 80+ on most factors to compete for top-3 positions.

That's why our audit service includes a market-specific competitive analysis alongside the profile audit itself — so you know not just your score, but how it compares to your actual local competitors.