What we read
- The public Google listing: category, description, hours, phone, website, photos, attributes, whether it is claimed, rating, review count and the spread of star ratings.
- One Google Maps search, “[main category] near me”, made from nine points on a 3×3 grid around the listing. The point spacing is printed on each result.
- The first businesses Maps shows for that search, compared only on what their public listings show.
Everything is read once, when you run the checkup. Each result shows the date it was checked; it is not refreshed on its own.
The checks and their points
The free checkup scores the public-listing checks below, worth 80 points in all. A check earns full points, part of its points by tier, or none, and the score is the share of observed points earned, out of 100. Replies to reviews and posts add 20 more points, scored only in Reach after the owner connects Google.
| Check | Rule | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Profile: 55 points | ||
| Primary category | Shown on the listing | 8 |
| More categories | At least one besides the primary | 4 |
| Description | At least 50 characters | 8 |
| Opening hours | Shown on the listing | 8 |
| Phone number | Shown on the listing | 6 |
| Website | Shown on the listing | 6 |
| Photos | 10 or more for full points, 1 to 9 for part | 7 |
| Attributes | At least one shown | 3 |
| Claimed by the owner | Listing shows as claimed | 5 |
| Reviews and rating: 25 points | ||
| Star rating | 4.5 or higher for full points, 3.5 or higher for part | 10 |
| Number of reviews | 50 or more for full points, 1 or more for part | 10 |
| Share of 1 and 2 star reviews | 10% or less for full points, 20% or less for part | 5 |
| Not in the free checkup. Scored in Reach after the owner connects Google: 20 points | ||
| Reviews with a reply | 90% or more for full points, 50% or more for part | 10 |
| Latest Google post | Within 7 days for full points, 30 days for part | 10 |
Missing data and coverage
A check we could not see is left out of the total rather than scored as zero, so missing data never lowers the score.
A check that cannot apply is also left out: a listing with no reviews is not scored on its rating or its share of low ratings.
Every result says how many checks it was based on. Replies to reviews and posts are only visible after the owner connects Google in Reach, so a free checkup is never based on all checks.
The Google Maps grid
At each of the nine points we note whether the listing shows in the top 3 results, where Maps shows its first businesses before “More places”.
The grid is shown next to the score and is never part of it. It is one search at one moment, and Google ranks by relevance, distance and prominence.
The headline finding
Each result leads with one finding. We test these rules in order and show the first one whose data we have and whose condition holds; a rule without data is skipped, never guessed.
- The listing did not show in the Maps results at any grid point.
- The listing has no reviews and a business in the same search has some.
- A business in the same search has at least 2 times as many reviews.
- The listing shows no opening hours.
- A business in the same search is rated at least 0.5 stars higher.
- The listing is in the top 3 at some grid points but not all.
- The listing is in the top 3 at every grid point.
- The listing has more reviews than every business compared.
- Otherwise, the fix worth the most points.
What is stored and what is read live
A result keeps only what Reach computed: the score, the points in each group, the number of grid points in the top 3, the method version, the check date and the listing’s Google Place ID.
The business name, city and every other detail from Google are read live when a result or a shared card is shown, and are not saved with it.
What the score cannot tell you
- It is Reach’s own score. Google does not publish a score for Business Profiles.
- It does not predict or promise a ranking. A higher score means a more complete, better-reviewed listing, not a guaranteed position.
- The grid is one search at one moment. Results change with time, the searcher’s place and the query.
- It cannot see replies, posts, messages, calls or anything else that needs the owner’s Google access.
- It is not a percentile or an average. A score is not compared with other businesses in your category.
Versions
This is method v1. Any change to a check, a threshold or a point value becomes a new version, and every result keeps the version it was scored with.