The 47-Point Google Business Profile Checklist for Kansas City Home Service Contractors

Most Kansas City home service contractors set up their Google Business Profile once, leave it alone, and wonder why competitors keep ranking above them in the Map Pack. The 47 items below are what we audit on every Iron Pine engagement. None are theoretical — each one moves a measurable ranking, click-through, or conversion lever.

Categories (8 points)

1. Primary category is the most specific match for your core service (e.g. 'Gutter cleaning service,' not 'General contractor').
2. Secondary category #1 is set.
3. Secondary category #2 is set.
4. Secondary categories #3 through #7 are set (yes, up to 9 are allowed).
5. No category is duplicated as both primary and secondary.
6. All categories actually match services you offer (no keyword stuffing).
7. Categories have been reviewed in the last 90 days against current ranking.
8. Categories align with what competitors ranking above you are using.

Services (6 points)

1. At least 12 services are listed.
2. Each service has a 150-300 character description (not blank).
3. Service names use natural buyer language ('Seamless Gutter Installation' not 'Gutters - 5K').
4. Pricing is included where helpful (ranges or 'Free estimate').
5. Services map to high-intent keywords you'd target in ads.
6. Niche-specific services are present (e.g. 'Marketing for Gutter Companies' is more specific than 'Marketing').

Photos (7 points)

1. Logo is uploaded as a 1080x1080 PNG.
2. Cover photo is uploaded — wide landscape, brand-aligned, real (not stock).
3. 10+ total photos uploaded.
4. Photos are real jobs (not stock images or generic supplier photos).
5. Photos are geo-tagged to the city they were taken in.
6. A new photo has been uploaded in the last 14 days.
7. There's a photo upload cadence — at least 1-2 new per week ongoing.

Reviews (8 points)

1. Total review count is 10+.
2. Average rating is 4.5+.
3. At least one new review in the last 30 days.
4. Every review — positive and negative — has an owner response.
5. Owner responses are personalized (not copy-paste).
6. Negative reviews are responded to professionally without defensiveness.
7. Review request system exists (text + email after job completion).
8. Review velocity is steady (not 0 → 30 in one week, which Google flags).

Posts (4 points)

1. At least 4 GBP Posts in the last 30 days.
2. Posts include a mix of educational, service highlight, and job examples.
3. Each post has a clear CTA (Learn more, Call now, Book).
4. Posts include an image (text-only posts get 30% less engagement).

Description (3 points)

1. Description is filled to ~700 characters (Google allows 750).
2. Description includes your services, service area cities, and a positioning anchor.
3. Description reads as written by a human (not keyword-stuffed).

Q&A (3 points)

1. At least 8 Q&As are present.
2. Q&As were seeded by the owner (not random users).
3. Q&As address the 8 most common buyer questions in your category.

Other GBP fields (5 points)

1. Hours are accurate and include holiday hours.
2. Service area cities are explicitly listed (or address shown for storefront).
3. Phone number is correct and matches the website + citations exactly (NAP consistency).
4. Website link goes to a city-specific service page when possible (not just homepage).
5. Booking/Appointment link is set if applicable.

Off-GBP signals (3 points)

1. Website has LocalBusiness + Service + FAQPage schema markup, validated.
2. Citations across Apple Maps, BBB, Yelp, Angi, HomeAdvisor are consistent (NAP match).
3. GBP listing has been claimed and verified (not unclaimed).

What an elite KC contractor GBP looks like

We audited the top 3 Map Pack rankers across 12 home service queries in the KC metro. The average across the winners: 5.2 photos uploaded per month, 7.3 reviews earned per month with 99% response rate, 2.1 GBP Posts per week, 14 services listed, 6 secondary categories, and a fully-populated description. None of those numbers are out of reach — but together they form a moat most contractors won't bother to build.

If you got through this checklist and counted under 30 points, that's actually good news: every single missing item is a known-good lever. None of it requires guesswork or genius — just doing the work.