Google Business Profile Hacks
Most Google Business Profiles aren’t underperforming because they’re bad. They’re underperforming because every business is doing the exact same things.
Complete your profile. Add some photos. Ask for reviews. Repeat.
That baseline stuff matters — but it’s table stakes now. If you want your business to stand out in local search and get recommended by AI systems, you need to go further. Here are six Google Business Profile hacks that almost no small business is using. Any one of them could give you an edge over competitors who are still playing it safe.
1. Put Text on Your Photos (Seriously)
Here’s something most business owners don’t know: Google uses AI to “read” the photos on your profile and understand what your business does. The problem is that a lot of business photos are too generic for AI to extract useful information from.
A photo of two people sitting across a desk from each other could be a law firm, a financial advisor, a real estate agent — Google can’t tell. Which means that photo isn’t helping your rankings.
The fix is simple. Open your photo in Canva (it’s free), and add a small text caption directly on the image. Something like: Personal injury attorney in Seattle meeting with car accident client.
That text gets read by Google’s AI when it processes your photo. You’ve just turned a generic image into a keyword-rich signal — without changing anything about how the photo looks to a customer.
Test it yourself: drop one of your business photos into ChatGPT and ask it to describe what it sees. Then add your text caption, upload it again, and ask the same question. You’ll see exactly how much more information AI can extract from the second version.
What to do: Go through your existing GBP photos. Find the ones that look generic or abstract. Add a short descriptive caption in Canva — your business type, location, and what’s happening in the photo. Re-upload them.
2. Add Videos — They Auto-Play in Search Results
If you have photos on your GBP but no videos, you’re missing one of the most powerful free tools available to you.
Videos auto-play when someone is scrolling through Google Maps results. While every other business shows a static thumbnail, yours is moving. That stops the scroll. It gets attention. It pulls people into your profile before they’ve even clicked on a competitor.
And you don’t need professional video production. A 30-second walkthrough of your shop, a quick before-and-after of a completed job, a time-lapse of your team in action — all of it works. You can even create simple branded videos in Canva using a template, add some text, and export it as an MP4.
Google also uses video content to better understand your business, just like it does with photos and posts. More content = more context = better visibility.
What to do: Record one short video this week. It doesn’t need to be polished. Show your space, your work, or your team. Upload it to your GBP and make it a habit to add new videos regularly.
3. Connect Your Social Profiles — Google Is Reading Your Posts
This one surprises most business owners. Google is actively pulling content from your social media profiles and using it to understand what your business offers — and in some cases, displaying it directly in your search results.
There are businesses getting snippets in Google search results that pull directly from their Instagram posts. A restaurant posts about a weekly special on Instagram, and that content shows up in their Google listing. That’s free, dynamic, keyword-rich content appearing in search — automatically.
But here’s the catch: it only works if your social profiles are connected to your GBP. If they’re not linked, Google can’t attribute that content to your business.
This is also a powerful signal for AI Local SEO — the more consistently your business information and content appears across platforms, the more confidently AI systems can identify and recommend you.
What to do: Go to your Google Business Profile, click Edit Profile, scroll down to the Social Profiles section, and add every active social account you have. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn — all of it.
4. Switch Your Primary Category With the Season
Your primary GBP category is the single most powerful ranking factor in local search. Most businesses set it once and never touch it again. That’s a missed opportunity — especially if your services change with the seasons.
Here’s a real example: a lawn care company that also does snow removal. If their primary category is “Lawn Care Service” in January, they’re competing at a disadvantage against businesses whose primary category is “Snow Removal Service” — even if they do the exact same work.
Google heavily weights primary category when deciding which businesses to show for a given search. If your primary category doesn’t match what people are searching for right now, you’re less likely to show up — even if you offer the service.
This applies to any business with seasonal offerings: HVAC companies (heating vs. cooling), landscapers, contractors, even restaurants with seasonal menus.
What to do: Think about what service drives the most revenue for you right now, this season. Go to your GBP, click Edit Profile, and update your primary category to match. Set a reminder to review it every quarter. This one change can have an outsized impact on your Google Business Profile rankings.
5. Level Up Your Google Posts With Multiple Photos and Videos
Most businesses either skip Google Posts entirely or publish a single static image with a caption. Both approaches leave a lot on the table.
Google Posts support multiple photos and videos in a single post — and the ones that use that space look dramatically more engaging than a single image. You can mix video and photos in one post. The video loads first, grabs attention, and the photos give more context.
Posts signal to Google (and to AI systems) that your business is active, current, and engaged with customers. A business with fresh, rich posts looks more authoritative than one with a blank posts section or stale content from eight months ago.
The content doesn’t need to be complicated: a completed project, a seasonal promotion, an answered FAQ, a behind-the-scenes look at your work. Aim for at minimum twice a month.
What to do: Next time you write a Google Post, add at least two or three photos instead of one. If you have a short video, lead with that. Use the full space Google gives you — it’s free real estate.
6. Post on Your Own GBP as a Customer
This is the tip that almost nobody knows about — and it’s completely legitimate.
Google allows customers to post photos, videos, and updates directly on a business’s Google profile. Most business owners don’t even know this section exists on their own listing. But you can use it yourself.
By visiting your own GBP on Google Maps (as a user, not as the business owner), you can scroll down and add a customer update — a photo, a video, a short note. This content appears in a separate section on your profile called “Updates from Customers” and gets prominent placement.
It’s additional content, additional keywords, additional visual material — all showing up on your profile — and it can stay visible for months.
What to do: Pull up your business on Google Maps. Scroll down until you see the option to add photos or updates as a visitor. Upload a great photo of your work or your space with a descriptive caption. Think of it as a customer would write it — specific, genuine, detailed.
The Bottom Line
None of these tips require a big budget or a marketing degree. They require consistency and attention — which is exactly what most of your competitors aren’t giving their GBP.
Text on your photos. Videos that stop the scroll. Social profiles connected. Seasonal category updates. Richer posts. Customer-perspective updates on your own profile.
Six things. Most businesses are doing zero of them.
Your Google Business Profile is a direct signal to both Google and AI systems about who you are, what you do, and whether you deserve to be recommended. The more complete, current, and content-rich it is, the more confidently those systems will put your business in front of customers who are ready to buy.
If you want help making sure your GBP is fully optimized — and connected to a broader local SEO strategy that gets you recommended by AI — book a free discovery call and we’ll show you exactly where you stand.
