Google Business Profile Optimisation: The Building Blocks of Footfall
If you own brick-and-mortar stores, google business profile optimisation is one of the highest-leverage things you can do. It’s not “just a listing”. Your profile is often the first touchpoint customers see, and the bridge between digital demand and a real-world visit.
If your data is inconsistent, Google struggles to trust and rank your locations. That affects your visibility in Maps, clicks on directions and calls, and your ability to measure store impact through Google Ads.
The verification requirement: why 90% matters
Verification coverage matters more than most people think for retailers with multiple locations. In practice, Google expects very high verification coverage across your locations (often referenced as 90%+) before certain store-related features and measurement options are available.
The problem is that many retail estates have years of mess behind them:
- Duplicate listings created by old staff or agencies
- Unverified locations that still show in Maps
- Phone numbers that no longer work
- Slight address inconsistencies across systems
- Even small differences like “St” vs “Street” can create inconsistencies that slow you down.
Start with data hygiene. Claim every location, remove duplicates quickly, and standardise your Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) to match your website.
If you manage multiple stores, it helps to define a single “source of truth” for location data so updates happen once, then flow everywhere.
Optimising for the “Local Pack”
Your Google Business Profile plays a major role in whether you appear in the “Local Pack” (the map results at the top of many local searches).
When someone searches “hardware store near me”, Google typically shows three local results first. Winning one of those spots can drive a steady stream of high-intent visits.
The fastest wins usually come from completeness and relevance:
- Choose the correct primary category (this is a strong signal)
- Add relevant secondary categories (don’t overdo it)
- Fill every useful field (services, products, opening hours, website, appointment links)
- Keep your location info consistent with your website
Once you rank in these zones, you also need to make sure you’re targeting the right people in paid media.
Learn more in our Postcode Targeting vs. Radius Targeting guide.
Turn Maps visibility into measurable footfall.
Book an Online to Offline Growth Session and we’ll:
- Check your verification coverage across locations
- Identify duplicates and NAP inconsistencies
- Map the fastest fixes to unlock Store Visits and location-based reporting
The power of visuals: show, don’t just tell
Retail is visual, and your profile should reflect the real in-store experience. Strong photos reduce uncertainty. They help a customer recognise your storefront, understand what you stock, and feel confident that the trip will be worth it.
Aim for a balanced photo set for each location:
- Exterior shots (daylight, clear signage, parking entrance)
- Interior shots (aisles, key categories, seasonal displays)
- Product shots (best sellers, hero categories, premium ranges)
- Team shots (adds trust and local personality)
Make this part of your operating rhythm. If the store has changed layout, refit signage, or updated ranges, update the photos. A profile that looks abandoned loses trust.
Attributes and details: the “filter” effect
Attributes look small, but they can decide whether you appear in filtered local results.
Think of them as a set of checkboxes customers (and Google) use to narrow the field. If you don’t have the tag, you may not show up when it matters.
Keep these up to date where relevant:
- In-store shopping
- In-store pickup / click and collect
- Delivery
- Accessibility attributes
- Parking
- Payment options
Also, treat opening hours as non-negotiable. Incorrect hours create the worst kind of experience: a customer shows up and finds the doors shut. That leads to lost trust, lost lifetime value, and often a negative review.
At minimum, update hours for bank holidays, seasonal changes, and one-off store events.
Reviews and reputation management
Reviews do two jobs. They influence visibility, and they influence decisions.
Even when you rank well, customers still compare. They scan ratings, read recent reviews, and look for patterns.
Make reviews a system, not a scramble:
- Ask happy customers (staff prompts, receipts, QR codes)
- Reply to every review, especially the negative ones
- Keep responses calm, specific, and useful (avoid copy-paste)
- Use feedback to spot operational issues (queues, parking confusion, product availability)
This activity also signals that the location is active and well-managed.
Connecting the dots: linking to Google Ads
To measure and scale store impact, your profile needs to be connected to Google Ads. This enables Location Assets (formerly location extensions), which can show the nearest store address directly in your ads. More importantly, it unlocks the data connection needed for store-related measurement.
If you’re running O2O campaigns, this step is foundational.
Read our guide on Footfall Tracking & Measurement to see how it works.
Enabling Local Inventory Ads
A verified and well-managed location setup also supports Local Inventory Ads (LIA).
LIAs help you capture “I want it today” intent by showing local availability to nearby searchers. When it’s done well, it reduces wasted clicks and increases store-ready traffic.
If your locations are unverified, suspended, or inconsistent, your local product setup can fail and your feed performance can suffer.
See how this format drives sales in our Local Inventory Ads article.
Common optimisation mistakes to avoid
These are the issues we see most often in multi-location retail.
- Inconsistent naming: “Smith’s”, “Smith’s Hardware”, “Smiths Ltd”. Pick the real-world brand name (what’s on the sign) and keep it consistent.
- Missing or incorrect phone numbers: Customers call before they visit. If the number fails, they often move on.
- Ignoring Q&A: Customers ask practical questions directly on your profile. If you don’t answer, someone else might, and it might be wrong.
- Duplicate listings: Duplicates split your reviews and confuse Google. Merge or remove them quickly.
- Out-of-date hours: This is one of the fastest ways to earn negative reviews.
Case study: the result of clean data
We worked with a retailer that had 15 locations, but only 8 were verified. Naming and address formats were inconsistent, and Store Visits measurement wasn’t available.
We cleaned up duplicates, standardised NAP, verified every location, and updated the core profile assets (photos, hours, categories).
Once the estate was verified and linked to Google Ads, Store Visit reporting became available after the system had enough data.
Read the full story of how this foundation led to a 215% Increase in Store Visits.
FAQs
What is Google Business Profile optimisation?
It’s the process of verifying, cleaning, and improving your location profiles so you show up in Google Maps and the Local Pack, and so you can connect ads to store outcomes.
Do I need to verify every location?
Aim for full coverage. Store-related measurement and features generally require very high verification coverage across locations.
How often should I update my profile?
Treat it as ongoing maintenance. Update hours for bank holidays and events, refresh photos when the store changes, monitor Q&A, and reply to reviews consistently.
Why do duplicates harm performance?
Duplicates split trust signals (reviews, photos, engagement) and confuse Google’s understanding of the real location.
What’s the fastest win for retailers?
Fix NAP consistency, remove duplicates, add strong photos, and link your locations to Google Ads so you can deploy location assets and measurement.
Conclusion
Google Business Profile optimisation isn’t a one-off task. It’s operational.
Markets change, stores change, and customer expectations change. Your profile needs to reflect what’s true today, not what was true two years ago.
If you want to drive more visits and measure what’s working, start with verification and data hygiene, build a profile that earns trust, and connect it into your advertising stack.
Ready to audit your store profiles?
We can check your verification status, identify the gaps, and map the quickest fixes.