Guides for local businesses on Google
Step-by-step guides for your Google Business Profile, your reviews and your local rankings.
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New to Reach or to your Google listing? Begin with these two.
- Business Profile
Google Business Profile checklist: 12 things to get right
A complete checklist for your Google Business Profile: name, categories, hours, description, attributes, services, photos, posts, reviews and more, each checked against Google's own guidelines.6 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Reviews
How to reply to Google reviews
What to write for positive, negative and fake reviews, with example replies, when to reply, and what never to say in public.6 min read · Updated Sep 28, 2026
More guides
- AI assistants
AI for gym owners: 6 ChatGPT prompts for your profile
Six prompts for a gym's Google profile, what the assistant can really change through Reach, the Google rules for event and offer posts, and one worked reply.5 min read · Updated Oct 9, 2026 - Business Profile
Google Business Profile attributes: labels by business type
The attribute labels to check for a restaurant, clinic, salon or gym, what customers and visitors can see or change, and the steps to edit yours.6 min read · Updated Oct 9, 2026 - Reviews
Get more Google reviews for a clinic: copy this message
Send every patient the same optional message with your review link, and reply to reviews without confirming who is a patient.5 min read · Updated Oct 9, 2026 - AI assistants
Claude Google Business Profile: Setup and 6 Prompts
Add Reach by Locus to Claude as a custom connector, sign in, and ask in plain words. Six prompts to copy and the habits that make Claude useful for a shop.6 min read · Updated Oct 9, 2026 - AI assistants
AI for restaurant owners: ChatGPT prompts for Google
Six prompts for a restaurant's Google profile, what an assistant can and cannot change about a menu, and a worked reply to a late-delivery review.5 min read · Updated Oct 9, 2026 - AI assistants
AI for salon owners: ChatGPT prompts for Google
Six prompts for a salon's Google profile, the Malay and Thai search finding from the Reach benchmark, and a worked service-list rewrite.5 min read · Updated Oct 9, 2026 - AI assistants
AI tools for dentists: privacy-safe review reply prompts
Which AI jobs are safe for a dental practice, six prompts that keep patient details out of public replies, and the Google content and ad rules that apply to a clinic.5 min read · Updated Oct 9, 2026 - Reviews
Google review reply examples: 20 replies by star rating
What to write for every rating, what a clinic must never confirm, and how to answer a review with no text.9 min read · Updated Oct 8, 2026 - Local rankings
Local rank tracking on Google Maps: a free 5-minute check
Why your Google Maps ranking changes with the searcher's location, how grid tracking measures it, and how to read the results and act on them.5 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Local rankings
How to rank higher on Google Maps: the 3 factors that count
Google ranks Maps results on relevance, distance and prominence. What you can change for each, what to stop doing, and how to measure rank fairly.7 min read · Updated Oct 9, 2026 - Local rankings
Google Business Profile not showing on Google Maps: 7 checks
Search your exact name first. If you appear, it's ranking, not a missing profile. Seven checks, in the order to run them.7 min read · Updated Oct 8, 2026 - Access and ownership
How to create a Google Business Profile: free, 7 steps
Create a Google Business Profile for free in 7 steps: name, category, location or service area, contact details, then verification. What to have ready first.6 min read · Updated Oct 8, 2026 - Business Profile
How to Make a Free Website for Your Business in 2026
The free options left after Google closed business.site, what a local shop's site must show on the first screen, and how to connect it to your Google Business Profile.7 min read · Updated Oct 8, 2026 - Access and ownership
Google Business verification code not received? 4 fixes
IVR menus, blocked texts, the wrong inbox and a new-code request that cancels the postcard. What to check, method by method.6 min read · Updated Oct 8, 2026 - Access and ownership
Google Business Profile video verification: 3 shot lists
Three shot lists, the faces you must keep out of frame, and the fix for each Review issues reason.6 min read · Updated Oct 8, 2026 - Access and ownership
Google Business Profile suspended? The 60-minute appeal rule
Fix the cause, gather documents whose name and address match the profile, then appeal. Google gives you 60 minutes to upload them.7 min read · Updated Oct 8, 2026 - Access and ownership
Request ownership of a Google Business Profile: what happens
Someone else manages your listing? Check your own accounts first, then send a Request access. What happens when the owner approves, denies or stays silent.4 min read · Updated Oct 9, 2026 - Access and ownership
Add an owner to Google Business Profile: roles explained
Owners control who has access; managers run the profile day to day. How to invite people, hand over primary ownership, and remove someone who has left.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Access and ownership
Fix a duplicate Google Business Profile: remove or merge
Work out which listing is the real one, then remove or report the extra without touching the profile that holds your reviews.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Google Business Profile categories: pick the right one
Pick a primary category that says what your business is, add only the extra categories that are true, and change them without surprises.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Google Business Profile description: limit, rules, examples
Write a business description Google accepts and customers can use: the rules, a four-part structure, two examples and why descriptions are held back.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Google Business Profile photo size, rules and shot lists
Which photos to add to your Google Business Profile, Google's size and format rules, shot lists for four trades, and what to do about customer photos.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
How to use Google Business Profile posts
The three kinds of Google Business Profile post, where they appear, when they're archived, post ideas you can adapt and what gets posts rejected.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Change business address on Google without losing reviews
Move your Google Business Profile to a new address without losing your reviews or leaving a duplicate behind.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Google Business Profile without an address: set it up right
If you go to your customers instead of them coming to you, show the areas you serve on Google, not your home address.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Google Maps says permanently closed: how to fix it
Reopen a business Google shows as closed, then pick the right status next time: special hours for a short break, Temporarily closed for a long one, Permanently closed only for good.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Google Business Profile holiday hours: set them early
Set holiday hours on Google Business Profile for Diwali, Eid or Songkran in a few minutes. The 6-day limit, overnight hours and when to use Temporarily closed.5 min read · Updated Oct 8, 2026 - Reviews
How to remove fake Google reviews: report and appeal
Which Google reviews can be removed, how to report one, how to track and appeal your report, and what to do while you wait.5 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Local rankings
Report a fake Google Business listing: evidence that works
Spot listings that break Google's guidelines, report them on Maps, escalate fraud with Google's complaint form, and gather evidence that holds up.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Google keeps changing my business hours? How to stop it
Why Google changes your hours, phone number or name, how to accept or reject its edits, and how to fix the website and directories it copies from so the change stops coming back.6 min read · Updated Oct 9, 2026 - Business Profile
Add WhatsApp to Google Business Profile: the wa.me link fix
Add a WhatsApp or text message chat button to your Business Profile, the link Google needs, and what to do when the option is missing.5 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Add a menu to Google Business Profile: items, link or photos
Publish an accurate menu on Google with the menu editor, a menu link or menu photos, and find out why your menu may not show.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Add a booking link to Google Business Profile: 5 steps
Add a Book button to your Google Business Profile in 5 steps, pick which link shows first, and remove links from booking sites you never signed up for.5 min read · Updated Oct 8, 2026 - Local rankings
How to read your Google Business Profile performance report
What each metric in Google's performance report means, how Google counts it, and how to check a drop before you change anything.4 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Business Profile
Google Business Profile name rules, with examples
What Google allows in a business name, the mistakes that get a name edited or a profile suspended, and how to fix yours or report a competitor's.5 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Reviews
How to get more Google reviews without breaking the rules
When to ask, what to send on WhatsApp, SMS, email or in person, where to get your review link, and the asking habits that break Google's rules.5 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026 - Reviews
How many Google reviews do I need? The math to 4.5 stars
No magic number: compare with businesses like yours and do the rating math. Formula, a worked example to 4.5, and how many reviews similar businesses have.6 min read · Updated Oct 8, 2026 - Local rankings
How to track Google Business Profile clicks in GA4
Tag your profile's website, booking and menu links with UTM parameters, find those visits in Google Analytics 4, and see why they will not match your Performance report.5 min read · Updated Oct 7, 2026
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