The Google Business Profile checklist for regulated practices

For a lot of people looking for a lawyer, a doctor, or an advisor nearby, the first thing they see is not your website. It is your Google Business Profile, the panel on Maps with your hours, photos, reviews, and a button to call. Most checklists for it are written for coffee shops and plumbers, and they are fine on setup. Now, they are wrong in a couple of places that matter a great deal to a regulated practice, so this one keeps those in view.

Why the profile matters more now

Google renamed Google My Business to Google Business Profile in 2021, but the job is the same: it is often the first impression a new client gets. What has changed is who else reads it. When someone asks an AI assistant for a firm near them, the profile is one of the sources it can lean on, alongside your website and what other sites say about you. A complete profile that matches your site is one of the clearer signals you control. It is the "found" layer we describe in Five Acronyms, One Test.

Setup: eight items to get exactly right

1. Claim and verify the profile. Make sure the firm controls it, not a former employee, an old agency, or a stranger who suggested an edit.
2. Use your real name. Exactly as it appears on your sign and letterhead. Google's guidelines do not allow extra keywords in the name, and a stuffed name can get the profile suspended.
3. Keep your contact details identical everywhere. Name, address, and phone number should read the same on the profile, your website, and every directory, including bar, medical, and advisor listings.
4. Choose an honest primary category. Pick the one that fits best, then add only the few extra categories that are true.
5. Write a plain description. Who you help and what you do, written for a person, not stuffed with keywords.
6. List your services. One per item, in the words clients use. Add prices only where you can state them accurately; law firms should follow their state bar's rules on fee advertising.
7. Set your hours, including holidays. Nothing loses a new client faster than a locked door during listed hours.
8. Add real photos and matching links. The building, the reception area, and the team, with their permission. No stock images, and for medical practices, no patients in the frame. Link each location's profile to that location's page on your site, plus a booking link if clients can schedule online.

One change to know about: Google ended the chat feature on Business Profiles in July 2024. If an older checklist tells you to answer messages there, make sure your phone number and booking link work instead.

Reviews, the regulated way

Every checklist says to ask for reviews and reply to all of them. For a regulated practice, the asking is simple and the replying is where the risk is.

Asking. Ask every client the same way, with your review link, and do not filter who gets asked. Google does not allow selectively asking for positive reviews.

Replying. Thank people, and never confirm that someone is your client or patient or mention anything about their matter or care, even when they shared it first and even when the review is unfair. HHS has penalized dental practices for review replies that disclosed patient information. For lawyers, ABA Formal Opinion 496 says a lawyer may not reveal client confidences to answer online criticism. For advisors, a review you adopt, edit, or help shape can be treated as your own testimonial under the SEC Marketing Rule.

The practical fix is to write two standard replies, one for praise and one for complaints, have your compliance lead approve them once, and use them every time. A short, polite, general reply that invites the person to call the office is almost always the right one.

Six habits that keep it working

9. Post an update once or twice a month. A new article, an event, or a change in hours.
10. Ask every client for a review, the same way, every time.
11. Reply to new reviews within a couple of days, using your approved replies.
12. Watch for suggested edits. Anyone can suggest a change to your profile, so check regularly that your name, hours, and category have not been changed.
13. Add a few fresh photos each quarter. New team members, a renovated office, the new sign.
14. Check the performance numbers. Google shows calls, direction requests, and website clicks. Those tell you whether the profile brings in inquiries or just views. We cover how to read them alongside your other numbers in Is It Working?

Where to start

Search your firm's name on Google Maps and look at the profile the way a new client would. Is the name right, are the hours current, do the photos show the real firm, and do your review replies stay general? Fix the setup first, then settle into the monthly habits. It adds up to about an hour a month.

To see where your profile stands, the free Google Business Profile Audit takes about two minutes and scores reviews, completeness, categories, photos and posts, and how well the profile matches your website. Aday Interactive, Inc. can also set it up and keep it current for you.