Our methodology

The 11 signals Google ranks - and how we optimize each

Local ranking isn’t a mystery or a trick. Complete, accurate, and active profiles give Google cleaner signals. Here’s exactly what we work through on every engagement - no black boxes.

  1. 01

    Primary category

    Google weights the primary category heavily for which searches you appear in.

  2. 02

    Additional categories

    Have you added all relevant secondary categories?

  3. 03

    Services / products

    Are your services (or products) listed with descriptions?

  4. 04

    Photos

    How many recent, high-quality photos are on your profile?

  5. 05

    Hours & special hours

    Are your regular and holiday hours complete and accurate?

  6. 06

    Review volume

    How many Google reviews do you have relative to local competitors?

  7. 07

    Review velocity & responses

    Do you get new reviews regularly and reply to them?

  8. 08

    Posts / updates

    How often do you publish Google posts (offers, updates, events)?

  9. 09

    Attributes

    Have you filled in attributes (accessibility, amenities, payment, etc.)?

  10. 10

    Business description

    Does your business description clearly describe services and service area?

  11. 11

    Name / address / phone consistency

    Is your business name, address, and phone identical across the web?

Want the field-by-field version?

The full checklist shows how these signals translate into categories, services, hours, photos, reviews, posts, attributes, Q&A and tracking.

Read the complete Google Business Profile checklist

NAP consistency and citation cleanup.

Your business name, address, and phone need to read identically everywhere Google looks: on your profile, your website, and the directories that feed it. When they do not match, the listing can look less trustworthy. We check your details across the profile and the sites that matter, flag what is inconsistent, and get it aligned, then note every fix in your summary.

See how citation cleanup works

What citation inconsistency costs you.

When your name, address, or phone reads differently across the web, "Ave" on one directory, "Avenue" on another, an old suite number on a third, the listing can look less trustworthy. Tools like Whitespark and agencies like The HOTH sell citation cleanup as a separate paid add-on. With ProfileBoost it is built in: the NAP audit and correction is one of the 11 signals covered by your $399, not an extra line item.

Mismatched citation

Oak Street Plumbing, 14 Oak Ave, Suite 2, 555-0140

Oak Street Services, 14 Oak Avenue, 555-0141

Aligned citation

Oak Street Plumbing, 14 Oak Avenue, Suite 2, 555-0140

Same name, address, and phone everywhere Google checks.

Before and after signal cleanup

Illustrative example until real anonymized client proof is available.

BeforeProfile thin
Oak Street Services
Local business · Hours missing
  • -Generic primary category
  • -One outdated photo
  • -Missing service descriptions
  • -Hours and attributes partly blank
AfterProfile completed
Oak Street Plumbing
Plumber · Open · Service area
  • OKSpecific primary category
  • OKCurrent profile photo set
  • OKClear services with descriptions
  • OKHours and attributes completed

Ranking guides that explain the model

If you want the plain-language ranking model behind this checklist, start with relevance, distance and prominence, then use the Maps checklist to turn those signals into profile work.

See how your profile scores on all 11

Run your free audit

ProfileBoost optimizes your profile against Google's published best practices. Search ranking is determined by Google's algorithm and depends on many factors; we cannot and do not guarantee any specific ranking position.