Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a customer sees, and for most local businesses it brings more calls than the website. Yet most profiles we audit in Mumbai are missing at least five of the items below: a wrong category, a pin on the wrong building, no festival hours, or photos from the day they opened.
This is the checklist we use in the first month of every client’s Google Maps ranking service. Work through it in order, top to bottom. Most owners can finish it in an afternoon, and much of it only needs doing once.
Work through the 40 items in order: ownership first, then name, category, address and phone, then hours, services, photos, reviews, posts and consistency. After that, spend 30 minutes a month on the routine at the end.
Ownership and access
Start here. If you don’t fully control the profile, nothing else on this list is safe.
- You are the primary ownerCheck under the profile’s people and access settings. Agencies and staff should be managers, not owners.
- The profile is verifiedUnverified profiles rank poorly and can be edited by anyone. Video verification is the usual method now.
- No duplicate profilesSearch your name and phone number on Maps. Old listings from a previous address or an earlier owner split your reviews and confuse Google.
- Former staff and agencies removedAnyone who has left should no longer have access.
Name, category, address and phone
These settings decide which searches you can appear in. Get them exactly right before touching anything else.
- Business name matches your signboardNo added keywords or area names, unless they are genuinely part of your registered name.
- Primary category matches the top threeSearch your main service from your area and copy the category most of the top three use.
- Secondary categories only for real servicesAdd one only if it is a main part of what you do, not an occasional extra.
- Full address, the Mumbai wayShop or unit number, floor, wing, building, road, area and pin code, written as on your bills. In Navi Mumbai, see our sector address guide.
- Map pin on your entranceNot in the middle of the compound, and not on the building next door.
- Service area, only if you visit customersSet to the localities you actually serve, with your home address hidden.
- A local phone number that is answeredA mobile is fine. It should match your website and listings, and someone should pick it up during business hours.
- Website link to a strong pageYour homepage or the right branch page, loading fast on mobile, with the same name, address and phone.
Opening hours
- Regular hours, including your weekly offMany Mumbai businesses close one weekday. Make sure the profile says so.
- Special hours for festivalsDiwali, Ganpati, Holi, Eid, Christmas and public holidays, added a week before.
- More hours where they applySeparate hours for things like OPD, delivery or home visits, if Google offers them for your category.
Being shown as open when you are closed is one of the quickest ways to collect one-star reviews. It takes two minutes a month to prevent.
Description, services and attributes
This is where you tell Google, and customers, exactly what you do. It helps you match more specific searches and answers the first questions people have.
- A plain descriptionTwo or three short paragraphs: what you do, who for, where, and what makes you different. No keyword lists and no links.
- Every service listedEach with a short description. A salon should list keratin, hair colour and bridal makeup separately, not just “hair services”.
- Starting prices where sensible“From” prices filter out time-wasters and build trust.
- Products, if you sell anyWith photos and prices, so they can appear on the profile.
- Attributes completedWheelchair access, payment options, languages spoken, women-owned and the others that apply to you.
- Opening date setEspecially useful if you have been in business for years.
- Booking or appointment linkIf you take bookings online or by WhatsApp, add the link.
Photos and video
Photos are what most people look at first. Real, recent photos of your actual business beat any amount of polished stock imagery.
- Logo and cover photoClear, correctly cropped, and recognisably yours.
- Exterior from the streetSo customers can find the door. Include the signboard and a landmark if you can.
- Interior and premisesReception, waiting area, workshop or chairs: whatever the customer will see.
- Your team at workReal people build trust, especially for clinics and salons.
- Your finished workBefore-and-after shots, completed jobs or dishes, with customer permission where people appear.
- A short videoThirty seconds walking through the premises or showing a job is enough.
- New photos every monthA few at a time. A profile with photos only from opening day looks closed.
Reviews
- Your direct review link savedCopy it from the profile and save it as a WhatsApp quick reply.
- Every customer asked, the same dayNot only happy ones, which goes against Google’s rules.
- No incentivesNo discounts, gifts or contests in exchange for reviews.
- Every review answeredBriefly, politely, and within a few days. For clinics, never confirm that someone was a patient.
- Fake or abusive reviews reportedThrough the profile, with a short, factual reason. Don’t argue in public replies.
Our review management service sets up this routine and handles the replies.
Posts, offers and messaging
- A post every weekAn offer, recent work, a festival greeting with your hours, or a useful tip. Each with a photo.
- Offers with datesSet start and end dates so expired offers disappear on their own.
- Messaging or WhatsApp linkMany Mumbai customers prefer to message first. Only switch messaging on if someone will answer within a few hours.
Consistency and edits from others
- Name, address and phone identical everywhereOn your website, Justdial, Sulekha, IndiaMART, Bing, Apple Maps and industry directories.
- Google’s suggested edits checkedAnyone can suggest changes to your profile, and Google sometimes applies them. Look for update notices and reject wrong changes.
- Website schema matches the profileThe local business code on your website should show the same name, address, phone and hours.
The 30-minute monthly routine
Once everything above is done, the profile needs a little attention every month to keep working. This routine covers it:
| Task | Time |
|---|---|
| Check hours, phone and pin; reject wrong suggested edits | 5 min |
| Add 3–5 new photos | 5 min |
| Publish this week’s post and schedule the rest | 10 min |
| Reply to new reviews and send any missed review requests | 5 min |
| Look at calls, direction requests and website clicks in the performance report | 5 min |
Add special hours a week before every festival, and recheck your categories against the top three every six months.
Mistakes that get profiles suspended
Most suspensions we see in Mumbai come from a short list of causes. Avoid these and you avoid most of the risk:
- A virtual office, co-working desk or borrowed address.
- Keywords or area names added to the business name.
- Several profiles at the same address for different services.
- Frequent changes to name, address or category.
- Bought, swapped or incentivised reviews.
For how these settings fit into ranking higher, read how to rank on Google Maps in Mumbai.
NEXT STEP
Want us to check your profile against this list?
A free audit runs your profile through this checklist, shows where you rank across your area and lists the three fixes that matter most. Or see how our Google Maps service works.
WRITTEN BY
Yogesh Jadhav
Local SEO consultant and founder of Local SEO Mumbai. Building and ranking websites for local businesses since 2017, and still doing the work on every client account himself.