A Google Business Profile audit is a check of your free Google listing against the businesses that rank for the same search on Google Maps. It shows where your profile appears, how your categories, reviews, hours and contact details compare, and what to fix first. This free Google Business Profile audit tool runs that check for you. Enter your business name, city and the search you want to rank, and it compares your profile with the top 20 Google Maps results for that search, including whether you appear in the top three, which form the Maps pack.
Run an audit every 30 to 90 days, and again after a major change such as a new location, phone number, service or category.
How to use the Google Business Profile audit tool
The tool asks for three things: your business name, your city and the search you want to rank. If several profiles match your business name, it asks first which one is yours. Then it compares your profile with the top 20 results for your search.
Type your business name the way it appears on your storefront and your legal registration. Enter the city where the business is located. For the search, type the phrase a customer would type, such as "plumber in Austin", so the comparison matches the results that customer sees.
You get 3 free audits every 30 days, with no signup. The results download as a report you can keep.
What is a Google Business Profile audit?
A Google Business Profile audit reads your listing the way a customer's search does. A Google My Business (GMB) audit is the same check under the product's older name. It looks at the fields that decide which businesses appear in Maps, then sets your numbers beside the ones that rank. The main fields are your primary and secondary categories, your review count and rating, how often new reviews arrive, how many of them get a reply, your opening hours, your website and your phone number.
An audit does not promise a ranking. It shows the gaps between your profile and the businesses that already show up for your search, so you can decide which gap to close first. A profile that looks complete can still trail the businesses in your local results, and the comparison is how you find out where.
Why should you run a Google Business Profile audit?
Run an audit when your profile may be wrong, out of date, or trailing the businesses that show up for your search.
Inaccurate or outdated information
Hours, categories, website and phone number that do not match your real business confuse customers and can hold back your position in results. The tool checks your hours, your website and your phone number, and if your website shows the same phone number as your profile. Compare those results with the details on your storefront and your site.
Where you appear for your search
Check where your profile appears for the search you want to win. The tool shows if you appear in the top three of the Maps pack, and where, among the top 20 results. It also sets your review count and rating against the businesses that rank, so you can see how far apart you are.
What to fix first
The tool reports each item it compares, with what it found, so you can see the gaps directly. Start with the items that differ most from the businesses that rank.
I'd fix a wrong primary category before anything else, because it takes minutes to change and reviews take months to build. If your category already fits, I'd spend the time on replies to your most recent reviews instead, since the reply gap is one you can close this week.
Photos
Photos help customers choose between listings, but the tool does not check them. Look at your photos by hand. Replace blurry or old images with recent photos of your real storefront, your team and your work.
Should your business name include keywords?
No. Google's guidance says your name should reflect your real-world business name, and the guidance says "Including unnecessary information in your business name isn't permitted" in its business name rules. Adding a keyword such as a service or a city is the kind of addition that rule covers.
Search Engine Roundtable reported in August 2026 that Google said for your business name you cannot repeat "the same business name in multiple scripts or languages." That matters if your sign shows two languages, because the name field should carry the name once. The tool shows whether your name has extra keywords added, as a question to check, since the words may be part of your real name.
What should a Google Business Profile audit checklist include?
Use this list as an audit template. Copy it into a sheet, then mark each item as right, wrong or missing.
- Business name matches your storefront and legal registration.
- Your location and phone number match your website and your other listings.
- Primary category fits the work you do most, and secondary categories cover the rest.
- Opening hours are current, including vacation hours.
- Website is linked and shows the same phone number as your profile.
- Compare your review count and rating with the businesses that rank for your search.
- New reviews keep arriving, not just a burst from years ago.
- Recent reviews get replies, including the one-star reviews.
- Your website has LocalBusiness structured data, which the tool checks.
A 2026 benchmark of 1,800 French profiles found that 46 percent of top-20 profiles never reply to reviews. The sample is from France, so treat it as a sign of how common the gap is, not a US figure. Replies are a gap most owners can close without spending money.
A review-software analysis of 229,882 Google reviews found that "Five-star reviews got a reply 29.3% of the time, three times as often as one-star reviews." The same analysis found that "the reply came after 19.5 days on average" for one-star reviews. Owners can close that gap by replying to one-star reviews sooner.
How do you audit your Google business categories?
Your primary category names the main type of business you run, and secondary categories cover other services. The tool compares both with the businesses that rank for your search, so a mismatch shows up as a gap.
Primary and secondary categories
Yes, if you offer more than one service. Choose one primary category that describes the core of your business, then add secondary categories for the services that matter. Services and their descriptions help customers see what you offer, so fill them in too.
I'd pick the category that a customer would search for first, even if it is narrower than what you think of as your business. A broad category can leave your listing among results that do not match the search. Our free category finder shows the categories the top businesses in your city use.
How do you audit your business location?
Your location is the place customers can visit, and your phone number and website should match it. Check that the location on your profile is the one on your storefront, your signage and your website, with the same spelling each time.
Service-area businesses
Not every business needs a storefront location. A service business that visits customers can hide its location and list a service area instead, provided the business operates where it says. The tool checks your website and if that website shows the same phone number as your profile, so a site with the right number helps the check pass.
Other directory listings
The tool does not compare your location with other directory listings. Write your business details the same way across your website, your profile and any directories you use.
How do you write a business description?
Write a description that says what you do, where you do it and who you serve, in plain sentences. Name your main services in the description, because customers use it to decide if you are the right business for them.
The tool does not check the description field. Write it yourself, keep it accurate, and update it when your services change.
How does this audit compare you with competitors?
The audit compares your profile with the businesses that rank for your exact search. It does not compare you with businesses outside those results, so the comparison is only as wide as the search you enter.
Who ranks in the Maps pack?
The tool pulls the top 20 Google Maps results for the search you enter. The top three form the Maps pack. Look at those three first, and note their review counts, ratings and categories. Then look at your own profile against that list.
How much does distance matter?
Distance is the part of the ranking you cannot change, because your business stays where it is. Put your effort into the factors you control, such as categories, reviews and replies.
Why does a Google Business Profile audit matter?
An audit shows what a customer sees when they search for your service. It also shows changes you can make without spending money, such as fixing a wrong category, adding hours or replying to reviews.
It does not promise a ranking. Use the audit to find the gaps, then fix the ones that matter most for your search.
Is this Google Business Profile audit free?
Yes. You get 3 free audits every 30 days, with no signup needed. The results download as a report, so you can keep a copy and compare it after you make changes.
Run the audit again after you fix the items it flagged, to see which gaps closed and which are still open.
