How to Audit a Competitor's Google Business Profile Before You Fix Yours
Most "how to optimise your Google Business Profile" content is written for a business starting from zero, and if that's you, it's genuinely useful. But if you've had a profile running for years, generic advice sends you fiddling with settings that were never your actual problem. 💖 The more useful move for an established business is to look at what the two or three competitors consistently outranking you in the local map pack are actually doing — whatever's working for them is a far better guide to your specific market than a one-size-fits-all checklist written for nobody in particular.
What most businesses get wrong
The common mistake is optimising in a vacuum: adding every possible category, writing a generic description, uploading whatever photos are on someone's phone, then wondering why a competitor two suburbs over with half the reviews still outranks them. Local search results are relative, not absolute — Google ranks you against businesses competing for the same searches in the same geographic radius, not some universal standard of a "good" profile. If you don't know what your competitors are actually doing, you're optimising against an imaginary opponent.
Search the exact term a customer would use (e.g. "family lawyer [suburb]") and open the top 2-3 map pack results that are genuinely comparable to you. For each one, note:
- Primary category: What's their main category set as, and do they use secondary categories you haven't considered?
- Review count and velocity: Total reviews, and roughly how many they've collected in the last 3 months (recent activity matters more than the total).
- Review response rate: Are they replying to reviews, and how quickly? Note the tone — templated or genuinely personal.
- Photo mix: Team photos, office/premises, work samples, or generic stock? How many total, and how recently updated?
- Business description and services list: What language do they use? What services or products do they list that you don't?
- Posts: Are they using Google Posts/updates, and how often?
- Q&A section: Have they seeded any questions themselves, and are they answering others?
- Booking/contact options: Direct booking link, messaging enabled, phone-only?
Score each category 1-3 against your own profile (1 = they're clearly ahead, 2 = roughly even, 3 = you're ahead), and you'll have a short, specific list of where to focus — not a 40-point generic checklist.
How to turn the audit into action without copying
The point isn't to clone a competitor's profile — copying a description almost word-for-word can look spammy to both Google and a client comparing you side by side. Use the audit to find gaps and patterns, then write your own version in your own voice. If competitors have strong recent reviews and you don't, the fix is a genuine review-request process, not fabricated reviews (which breach Google's policies and can get a listing suspended). Add a missing category only if it's genuinely accurate to what you do. Revisit the audit every six months or so, since local competition shifts as new profiles open and old ones go stale.
Mistakes to avoid
- Auditing businesses that aren't real local competitors just because they rank well nationally
- Copying a competitor's description or photo style closely enough that it looks derivative
- Fixating on review count alone and ignoring reply quality, recency, or category accuracy
- Doing the audit once and never repeating it as the local market shifts
- Treating this as a substitute for having an accurate, complete profile of your own basics first (hours, address, phone number)
Frequently asked questions
How many competitors should I audit?
Two to three is usually enough to spot real patterns without the exercise taking all day. Pick the ones that consistently outrank you for your most important search terms, not just the biggest names in your industry.
Is it against Google's rules to look at a competitor's profile this closely?
No — you're only viewing public information anyone can see. It becomes a problem only if you copy content directly or fabricate reviews, both of which breach Google's guidelines regardless of whether the idea came from a competitor audit.
Will fixing these gaps guarantee I outrank my competitors?
No, and be wary of anyone who promises that. Local ranking factors include proximity to the searcher, overall website authority, and signals Google doesn't fully disclose, so a stronger profile improves your odds without guaranteeing a specific ranking position.
Should I do this for competitors outside my immediate area too?
Only if they're genuinely pulling from the same customer pool. Auditing a firm 40 minutes away with a different client base will tell you less than you'd think, since local search results and what "works" can vary meaningfully between nearby patches.
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