Google Business Profile: the 6 fields shops leave blank

Most people don't go to your website first. They search "barbershop near me," Google shows a map with three businesses on it, and they pick one of those three. That map card is your Google Business Profile. If it's empty or stale, Google quietly stops showing you as much.

Six fields worth checking today

1. Primary category. Pick the single category that matches what you do most. "Barber Shop," not "Beauty Salon," if you're a barber. This one field affects who Google shows you to more than almost anything else on the whole profile.

2. Secondary categories. Add two to five more for other things you do. A barbershop that sells product might add "Men's Clothing Store." Every category is a different way to get found.

3. Services, with prices. List every individual service, not just "haircuts." Fade, beard trim, kids cut, each with a short description and a price or range. The more specific, the more searches you show up in.

4. Attributes. Check every one that's true: wheelchair accessible, women-owned, appointment required, walk-ins welcome. Google uses these to match you to specific searches nobody thinks to type by hand.

5. The business description. Under 750 characters, honest, and specific to what you actually do and where. Most shops either leave this blank or fill it with keywords Google can flag as spam.

6. Your review link. Generate it in the dashboard under "Get more reviews" and save it somewhere you can text or hand out. Most shops never generate this at all, which means asking for a review means making the customer go find you first.

What's in the full workbook

These six are part of a 23-step setup checklist covering every field Google gives you. The full workbook also has 5 fill-in-the-blank description templates, 12 ready-to-post update templates, a 20-photo shot list in order, fixes for suspended profiles and fake reviews, and 5 more AI prompts.

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