For multi-location businesses, local listings aren’t a “set it and forget it” task. They’re a foundational layer of your digital presence—shaping how customers discover locations, trust your brand, and decide where to go.
This checklist is designed to help marketing, operations, and digital teams pressure-test their current approach to local listings. It focuses on where things break down at scale, what “good” looks like in practice, and where hidden risk often lives.
1. Where should I set up profiles based on my business needs?
Profiles should exist, be claimed, and be actively maintained on:
☐ Google Business Profile (GBP) for every eligible location
☐ Apple Maps (critical for mobile and iOS users)
☐ Bing Places (supports search, voice assistants, and Windows devices)
☐ Facebook location pages (where customers engage socially)
☐ Industry-specific directories relevant to your vertical
What good looks like:
Every customer-facing location is represented wherever customers search and make decisions.
Red flag:
If you discover missing or outdated profiles reactively—or can’t name all publishing platforms—coverage gaps are likely hurting visibility.
2. How do I clean up my local listings?
Listings cleanup should be a repeatable process, not a one-time project:
☐ Consistent business name, address, and phone number across platforms
☐ Accurate regular business hours
☐ Holiday and special hours updated in advance
☐ Duplicate or legacy profiles identified and resolved
☐ Categories, services, and attributes reviewed for accuracy
What good looks like:
Edits happen once and propagate everywhere, without manual spot-fixing.
Red flag:
If customers or frontline teams report errors before you detect them, cleanup is reactive and incomplete.
3. How do I improve my local pages?
High-impact optimization focuses on relevance and intent:
☐ Primary category reflects how customers actually search
☐ Secondary categories support relevance without diluting focus
☐ Services and attributes map to high-intent queries
☐ Business descriptions are accurate and current
☐ Photos are recent, location-specific, and refreshed regularly
What good looks like:
Profiles align with real-world search behavior, not internal assumptions.
Red flag:
If optimization means “everything is filled out,” performance will plateau.
4. How do I follow admin and governance best practices?
Strong governance balances control with speed:
☐ Clear ownership for listings management exists
☐ Admin, editor, and viewer access is clearly defined
☐ Brand-level guidelines for categories, photos, and descriptions
☐ A documented process for approvals, edits, and escalations
What good looks like:
Teams know who owns what—and updates don’t stall or spiral.
Red flag:
If listings drift off-brand or changes happen without visibility, governance is failing quietly.
5. What are the optimal response times?
Response expectations should be consistent and documented:
☐ Reviews responded to within 24–48 hours
☐ Negative or sensitive reviews addressed as soon as possible
☐ Questions and messages monitored daily
☐ SLAs communicated to local teams or agencies
What good looks like:
Customers see timely, thoughtful engagement at every location.
Red flag:
If response speed varies widely by location, trust and rankings erode.
6. Am I employing a good review response strategy?
A strong review response strategy is intentional and repeatable:
☐ Clear tone and brand voice guidelines
☐ Responses address the specific issue raised
☐ Positive reviews are acknowledged, not ignored
☐ Escalation paths exist for legal, medical, or safety concerns
What good looks like:
Responses build confidence and defuse issues before they escalate. AI can help you personalize responds at scale.
Red flag:
Robotic, defensive, or inconsistent replies do more harm than silence.
7. What KPIs should I be measuring?
Listings should be measured as a performance channel:
☐ Listings accuracy rate
☐ Verification status by location
☐ Profile views and impressions
☐ Calls, direction requests, and website clicks
☐ Review volume, ratings, and response rate
What good looks like:
Metrics are reviewed regularly and tied to action.
Red flag:
If listings performance can’t be reported beyond anecdotes, value is being missed.
8. Am I doing a good job maintaining my profiles and listings?
Ongoing maintenance should be structured and proactive:
☐ Quarterly audits of accuracy and completeness
☐ Regular photo, attribute, and service refreshes
☐ Proactive monitoring of verification status
☐ Processes that scale beyond individual effort
What good looks like:
Profiles improve over time instead of slowly decaying.
Red flag:
If listings only get attention when something breaks, maintenance isn’t sustainable
Final self-check
Answer yes or no:
☐ Do we know our listings accuracy rate today?
☐ Could we handle mass re-verification tomorrow?
☐ Are categories chosen strategically across locations?
☐ Are listings treated as a performance channel—not a task?
If this checklist surfaced gaps, that’s not a failure—it’s clarity. Each “red flag” represents an opportunity to reduce risk, improve visibility, and create more consistent customer experiences across every location. Multiple “no” answers signal immediate opportunity.
Continue learning
Explore Listings 101: Your Google Business Profile Masterclass to learn how multi-location teams structure, optimize, and govern GBP at scale, including verification, categories, reviews, and ongoing maintenance.
👉 Access the masterclass:
https://www.alchemer.com/resource/listings-101-your-google-business-profile-masterclass/