Google Business Profile checklist for Iloilo businesses: 10 fixes you can do this week

When someone in Jaro, Mandurriao or La Paz searches “near me”, Google shows three businesses on a map before anything else. Most of the calls go to those three. Getting into that group starts with your Google Business Profile, and most local profiles I look at have the same gaps.

Here are ten fixes, in the order I would do them.

1. Claim and verify the profile

If you have never logged in to your profile, someone else may control it, or nobody does. Search your business name on Google, click “Own this business?” and follow the verification steps. Nothing else on this list works until you are verified.

2. Pick the right primary category

Your primary category is the strongest signal you control. Choose the most specific one that describes what you sell, for example “Dental clinic” rather than “Medical clinic”, or “Coffee shop” rather than “Restaurant”. Add a few secondary categories only if they are true.

3. Use your real business name

Use the name on your signage and DTI registration. Adding keywords such as “Best Cafe Iloilo” to the name breaks Google’s rules and can get the profile suspended.

4. Match your address and phone everywhere

Your name, address and phone number should be written the same way on Google, Facebook, your website and any directory. Small differences (“Brgy.” on one, “Barangay” on another) are fine. A different phone number is not.

5. Set accurate hours, including holidays

Nothing loses a customer faster than showing up to a closed shop because Google said you were open. Update special hours before Dinagyang, Holy Week and Christmas.

6. Add real photos

Upload your storefront (so people recognise it from the street), your interior, your team and your products. Aim for at least ten, then add a few every month.

7. List your services or menu

Fill in the services or products section with what you actually offer and, where you can, prices. It helps Google match you to more specific searches.

8. Write a plain description

Say what you do, who you serve and where, in normal sentences. Mention the barangay or district if it helps people find you.

9. Ask every happy customer for a review

Reviews are one of the biggest factors for the map results. Create your review link from the profile dashboard and send it by Messenger or print it as a QR code at the counter. Do not offer discounts in exchange for reviews.

10. Reply to every review

Thank people for good reviews. Reply calmly and helpfully to bad ones. Future customers read your replies, and Google sees an active profile.

Want me to check yours?

Send me your business name on Messenger and I will tell you the top three things stopping your profile from showing up on the map. It is free, and it takes me about fifteen minutes.