The short answer

A fully optimised Google Business Profile (GBP) is the single highest-ROI free marketing asset any UK trade owns. For most local service businesses, GBP drives 40–60% of total enquiries — more than the website, ads and social combined. Yet over 70% of UK trade GBPs we audit are either incomplete, miscategorised, or haven't been touched in over a year.

What does "fully optimised" actually mean?

Optimised means every field filled, every service listed, weekly posts published, photos uploaded from every job, reviews replied to within 24 hours, Q&A monitored and seeded, and the primary category set correctly. Each of those is a ranking signal — and competitors who miss any of them leave a gap for you to overtake them in.

The 2026 GBP optimisation checklist

1. Categories — primary and secondary

Your primary category does 80% of the ranking work. Pick the most specific category that matches your highest-margin service — "Driveway Contractor" not "Contractor". Add 3–5 relevant secondary categories. Wrong category = invisible in the map pack.

2. Services and descriptions

Every service you offer should be listed with a 100–300 word description that uses the keywords customers actually search. This is one of the few places you control the exact text Google indexes for your profile.

3. Photos — every week, every job

GBPs with regular photo uploads consistently outrank dormant ones. Aim for 5+ new geo-tagged photos per week — interior, exterior, team, before/after, vehicles. Avoid stock photos: Google can detect them and they hurt local trust signals.

4. Google Posts — weekly minimum

Posts give Google a freshness signal. One post per week (update, offer, or recent job) is the minimum. Posts also appear directly in your knowledge panel — they're prime real estate.

5. Reviews — velocity, recency, response

Volume matters but recency matters more. A trade with 80 reviews from the last year beats one with 300 from 2018. Reply to every review within 24 hours — Google explicitly confirms this is a ranking factor.

6. Q&A — seed and monitor

Most trades ignore the Q&A section. Pre-seed 8–12 of the most common buyer questions with clear answers. It pre-empts objections and gives Google more text to index against your profile.

7. Service area + opening hours

Set a realistic service area (matching the postcodes on your website). Keep hours accurate including bank holidays — Google penalises profiles with stale hours.

8. UTM-tagged website link

Tag the website link so you can track in Google Analytics exactly how many leads originated in GBP vs other sources. Most trades have no idea — and end up underinvesting in their best channel.

How long does GBP optimisation take to pay back?

Most trades see a measurable lift in map-pack impressions within 14 days and in calls/direction requests within 30. By day 60 a properly optimised profile typically delivers 30–80% more enquiries than it did pre-optimisation — at zero ongoing media cost.

How does GBP tie into AI search?

AI engines (Google AI Overviews especially, but ChatGPT and Perplexity increasingly) treat GBP as the authoritative entity record for local businesses. A complete, consistent profile makes you significantly more likely to be cited by name when AI is asked who to recommend.

We handle the entire profile for you

Lead Hack manages GBP for our clients as part of every retainer — category strategy, weekly posts, photo uploads, review responses, Q&A seeding and monthly performance reporting. You send the job photos; we do the rest.

Book your free GBP audit →

Google Business Profile Optimisation UK: The 2026 Checklist Every Trade Needs