Google Business Profile: 6 Mistakes That Cost a Local Business Customers

Most small business owners I talk to worry about their website. They wonder whether it's pretty, whether it's modern, whether it needs new photos. And meanwhile they completely miss the thing that often matters far more for a local business than the website itself: the Google Business Profile. That's the card with the map, opening hours, phone number and stars that pops up when someone types your name or "plumber Ostrava" into Google.

The good news is that this profile is free and you can set it up yourself. The bad news is that small mistakes in it cost plenty of businesses customers every single day — and the owner has no idea, because they've never seen their own profile through the eyes of a stranger who is only just looking for them. Let's go through the six most common mistakes. You don't need to be technical, common sense is enough.

Why the profile is often more important than the website

Try typing a service and a city into Google (ideally on your phone), the way a customer who doesn't know you would search — say "hairdresser Ostrava-Dubina" or "pizzeria Hrabůvka". Almost always, right at the top you'll see a map and three businesses beneath it. This block is technically called the map pack (or "local pack") and it's the single most valuable spot on the whole results page. Most people click right here — they call, navigate, order — and often never even reach the blue website links further down.

And here's the key point: you don't get into that pack of three through your website. You get there through your Google Business Profile. That's why, for a tradesperson, a restaurant, a hair salon or a small shop, a well-filled profile is often more important than the nicest website. The website persuades, but the profile decides whether the customer even sees you at all. I go into more detail in my article on local SEO in Ostrava.

Mistake 1: The profile isn't claimed and verified

A lot of businesses have a profile on Google without knowing it — Google sometimes creates one itself from public data. The problem is that a profile like that is run by no one. Anyone can suggest a change to it, the opening hours may be wrong, and you have no idea.

The first step is therefore to claim the profile (assert it as the owner) and verify it — Google needs to confirm the business really belongs to you. Verification most often happens via a code, a video of the premises, or a phone call. Only after verification do you get full control: you can edit the details, add photos and reply to reviews. Until the profile is verified, Google is effectively managing it for you — and that's exactly the situation where old or wrong information tends to sit.

Mistake 2: The wrong category

The category is how you tell Google what your business does — and it's one of the strongest signals for which searches you show up in at all. Yet plenty of businesses breeze past it. A typical mistake is picking a category that's too generic ("Company", "Services") instead of the precise one.

The rule is simple:

• The primary category should describe your main activity as precisely as possible. Not "shop", but "Hairdresser". Not "services", but "Plumber". This single choice carries the most weight.
• Add secondary categories for side services you genuinely offer — say "Barber shop" or "Beauty salon". But don't add categories that have nothing to do with you just to appear in more searches. Google doesn't favour it, and it only confuses the customer.

Don't try to stuff keywords into the business name ("Jana's Hair Salon — the best cuts in Ostrava, cheap"). The name should contain only your actual business name. Handle keywords through categories and the description, not through the name — otherwise you risk Google suspending your profile.

Mistake 3: A NAP that contradicts itself everywhere

NAP is shorthand for three basic details: Name, Address and Phone. It sounds trivial, but this is exactly where almost everyone slips up. A business has one address on its website, a different phone format on Firmy.cz, an old branch on Mapy.cz, and a nickname instead of the official name on Facebook.

Why does it matter? Google assembles your business from information scattered across the whole internet. When those details contradict one another, Google isn't sure which are correct — and it logically gives a less certain business a worse position. The fix isn't hard, just tedious: write down one exact form of the name, address and phone number, and go through every place your business appears online with it:

• your website (mainly the footer and the Contact page)
• your Google Business Profile
• Firmy.cz and Mapy.cz (people in the Czech market use them a lot)
• Facebook, Instagram, business directories

The goal is for it to be exactly the same everywhere — the same postal code, the same number format, the same name. Consistency is dull work, but Google rewards it with trust.

Mistake 4: A half-empty profile

A verified profile with the right category is the foundation. Now you have to fill it in — and this is where most businesses stop halfway. Empty spots in the profile are a wasted opportunity, because the customer decides based on what they see:

• Opening hours — they must be right, including holidays. Nothing annoys a customer more than driving up to a locked door because Google said "open". Wrong opening hours are the fastest way to earn an angry review.
• Real photos of the premises — not stock photos off the internet, but your actual workshop, shop, team, finished work. People want to see where they're going. A few honest phone photos do more than one staged shot.
• The Services and Products section — list exactly what you offer, ideally with a price or a price range. It helps both the customer and Google understand which searches to show you for.
• The business description — a few sentences about what you do, for whom and where. Naturally, in human language, not as a list of keywords.

You don't need to fill the profile in perfectly in one afternoon. But a half-empty profile next to a competitor who has photos, prices and current hours loses — even if your work is better.

Mistake 5: Reviews you write yourself

Reviews are the fuel of local search and the first thing a customer looks at. And it's exactly here that businesses make a mistake that can even get the profile blocked: they write the reviews themselves or have employees write them.

I understand the temptation — a new profile with no stars looks sad, and it's tempting to "kick-start" it with a few reviews from yourself, your family or your colleagues. But Google forbids this as a conflict of interest: a review must not be written by the owner or an employee, because it isn't an independent customer experience. On top of that, Google can detect it (from accounts, devices, patterns) and punishes it — from deleting the reviews to suspending the entire profile. Google has toughened its rules here even further: since April 2026 it explicitly prohibits a business from setting employees review quotas or handing them prepared ("scripted") texts to copy. In other words: no shortcut, no "write us five stars" for the staff.

The right way is slower, but safe and works long term — just politely ask real customers for a review:

• After finishing a job or after a visit, ask a satisfied customer for a rating. In person, by email or by text.
• Make it easy. In your Google Business Profile, generate a short link straight to writing a review and send it. At a physical location, a QR code on a card or by the till works too — the customer scans it and writes right away.
• Reply to every review — praise and criticism alike. For a negative review, thank them for the feedback, apologise for the bad experience and offer a solution (ideally offline, by phone). Never argue. Other customers see your replies too, and a calm, matter-of-fact response to criticism often makes a better impression than the five-star review itself.

How to tell your profile is in good shape

Quickly run through these six points — if you hesitate on any of them, you've found where to start:

• The profile is claimed and verified (you run it, not Google on your behalf).
• You have a precise primary category and sensible secondary ones.
• Your NAP (name, address, phone) is the same on the website, Google, Firmy.cz and Mapy.cz.
• The opening hours are right, you have real photos and filled-in services.
• The reviews come from customers, not from you or your staff.
• You reply to all ratings, even the bad ones.

The Google Business Profile is one of the few marketing tools that's free, you can handle it yourself, and yet it directly decides how many people call you. Spending an hour on it pays off more than many a paid ad.

If you're not sure whether your profile and overall online presence are in good shape, I'm happy to take a look — I'll go through your website and profile for free and send you a few concrete things holding you back, with no obligation and no sales pitch. Just get in touch via the free mini-audit. If you're only just finding out where you stand, start with how to tell if you have a bad website. And when you want to set the business profile into a wider strategy, local SEO is part of what I do.