Pick your primary category carefully
Your primary category is the single biggest local ranking factor. Search 'category:[your service]' and pick the most specific match — 'Italian Restaurant' beats 'Restaurant'.
Get reviews steadily
Volume, recency, and response rate all matter. Aim for 5+ new reviews per month and respond to every one within 48 hours — including negative ones.
Add Posts and Q&A weekly
Posts expire after 7 days. Keeping a fresh Post is a positive activity signal. Seed the Q&A section with the questions you actually get asked — answers there appear directly in the profile.
NAP consistency across the web
Your Name, Address, and Phone must be identical on your site, Google Business Profile, and citation sites (Yelp, Apple Maps, Bing Places). Inconsistency confuses Google about which entity is which.