Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile — Listing Optimisation and Local Pack Strategy

Purpose

SYNTHEX connects to Google Business Profile via OAuth to manage locations, reviews, posts, insights, and photos. This skill documents how to optimise GBP listings for maximum local search visibility and how to use Synthex infrastructure to maintain listing health.

Infrastructure Map

API Routes (8):

Listing Optimisation Checklist

Run through this 12-point checklist for every connected GBP location:

1. Business name — exact legal name, no keyword stuffing (Google will suspend for this)
2. Primary category — most specific match available; use getCategories('query', 'AU') to search
3. Additional categories — 3-5 categories covering secondary services (max 9 allowed)
4. Address — complete Australian format: "Suite X, 123 Street Name, Suburb STATE POSTCODE"
5. Phone — verified and answered; a local number versus 1300/1800 as a ranking factor is [UNCONFIRMED]
6. Website — HTTPS URL matching the business; tracked via websiteUri field
7. Hours — all 7 days set via regularHours; accurate and current
8. Special hours — public holidays and seasonal changes updated proactively
9. Description — 750 characters maximum; include primary services and location; natural language
10. Services/menu items — list all distinct services with descriptions
11. Opening date — set correctly (a tenure ranking benefit is [UNCONFIRMED])
12. Attributes — gender-neutral restrooms, wheelchair accessible, etc. as applicable

Review Response Strategy

Timing Targets

Tone Matrix

Matches the gbp-monitor cron's AI reply suggestion logic:

AI Reply Workflow

1. gbp-monitor cron fetches new reviews daily at 5 AM UTC
2. For unreplied reviews, AI generates a suggestion stored in GBPReview.aiSuggestion
3. Human reviews the suggestion in the dashboard
4. Approved replies are sent via POST /api/google-business/reviews/[reviewId]/reply

Reply Rules

• Always use Australian English (colour, organise, recognise)
• Personalise every reply — reference specific details from the review
• Never use emojis in review replies
• Never include staff signatures or job titles
• Never be defensive or argumentative
• Never post identical replies to different reviews
• Keep replies concise: 2-4 sentences for positive, 3-5 sentences for negative

Google Posts Strategy

Post Types

Publishing Guidelines

• Frequency: Google gives no recommended posting frequency and does not list posts as a ranking factor [VERIFIED: support.google.com/business/answer/7342169, answer/7091, 16/10/2026]. Post when there is a real job, offer or event; recurring posts can run weekly or monthly. Never promise a ranking effect from posting.
• Length: 150-300 words with a clear value proposition
• Image: 400x300px minimum, JPEG format, relevant to content
• CTA options: Book, Order Online, Learn More, Sign Up, Call Now
• Created via createPost(connectionId, locationName, post) using the GBPPost interface

Content Ideas for Local Businesses

• Behind-the-scenes of your service delivery
• Customer success stories (with permission)
• Seasonal tips related to your industry
• Staff introductions and expertise highlights
• Community involvement and local events
• New service or product announcements

Local Pack Ranking Factors

Relevance

How well your listing matches the search query:

• Primary and additional categories must accurately reflect services
• Description should contain natural service and location keywords
• Attributes and services list provide additional relevance signals

Distance

How close your business is to the searcher:

• Distance is how far the business is from the searcher; it cannot be optimised beyond an accurate address
• Service-area configuration for businesses that travel to customers
• Do not geotag photos for ranking: Google's photo help does not mention geotags or EXIF location [VERIFIED: answer/6103862, 16/10/2026]

Prominence

How well-known and trusted your business is:

Google: prominence is how well-known a business is, based on info like how many websites link to it and how many reviews it has; more reviews and positive ratings can help; there is no way to pay for or request a better local ranking [VERIFIED: answer/7091, 16/10/2026].

• Reviews — genuine volume and rating; reply to every review (Google says replies show you value feedback; replies as a direct ranking factor are [UNCONFIRMED])
• Links and mentions — websites and directories that link to the business; keep NAP consistent
• Not ranking factors on Google's page: photos, posts, geotags and business-name keywords. GBPSnapshot views and clicks are outcomes to measure, not levers Google lists

Verified platform changes 2025–2026

Re-opened 16/10/2026; full ledger: docs/ree/sources/platform-changes-2025-2026.md.

• The My Business Q&A API was discontinued on 03/11/2025: Q&A can no longer be read or posted through the API [VERIFIED].
• 2026 API changelog: review reply state, recurring posts, review media and reply policy-violation fields [VERIFIED].
• API policy requires the business's express consent and forbids automatically reverting Google's edits [VERIFIED].
• Google's Maps policy forbids incentivised reviews, review gating, discouraging negative reviews and asking for specific review content [VERIFIED].
• Video verification needs one continuous, unedited recording showing location, operations and management access [VERIFIED].
• Ask Maps (conversational Maps) is rolling out in Australia (announced 07/08/2026) [VERIFIED]; its ranking inputs are not published.
• Performance API: fetchMultiDailyMetricsTimeSeries is a GET with repeated dailyMetrics query parameters and nested multiDailyMetricTimeSeries[].dailyMetricTimeSeries[] results (REE Phase 2 scope, SCOPE §7b).

Category Selection Guide

Need to select categories?
  |
  +--> Search available categories
  |      getCategories('your service', 'AU')
  |
  +--> Select primary category
  |      Rule: most specific match to your core service
  |      "Plumber" not "Home Services"
  |      "Thai Restaurant" not "Restaurant"
  |
  +--> Select additional categories (3-5)
  |      Cover secondary services only
  |      Do not add aspirational categories
  |      Max 9 additional categories allowed
  |
  +--> Verify against competitors
         Check what categories top-ranking local competitors use
         Missing a common category = missed relevance signal

NAP Consistency Protocol

NAP = Name, Address, Phone. Must be identical across all online presence.

Source of Truth

GBPLocation.address is the canonical NAP record. All citations must match exactly.

Australian Address Format

[Business Name]
[Suite/Unit X, ]123 Street Name
Suburb STATE POSTCODE
Australia

Phone: (0X) XXXX XXXX or 04XX XXX XXX

Where to Enforce NAP

1. Google Business Profile (primary)
2. Business website (header/footer + contact page)
3. All directory citations (Yellow Pages AU, True Local, Hotfrog, etc.)
4. Social media profiles
5. Schema markup on website (LocalBusiness structured data)

Common NAP Inconsistencies to Audit

• "St" vs "Street", "Rd" vs "Road"
• Old phone numbers on legacy listings
• Abbreviated vs full suburb/state names
• Missing suite/unit numbers
• Different trading name vs legal entity name

Image Sourcing (REAL IMAGES ONLY — founder mandate)

GBP photos and Google Post images come from owned real photos — public/reference-library/ (manifest.json; 135 CCW product subjects) or the PRIVATE Supabase bucket reference-library-private (customer job photos; ingest via POST /api/admin/private-refs, served by signed URLs). Any AI-generated post image must be produced via lib/services/ai/image-generation.ts generateImage() / the generate_image MCP tool — grounded-by-default, and BLOCKED with "No owned references for this subject — add real photos to the reference library first" when there is no coverage. Never call an image provider or stock-photo API directly (CI guard test tests/unit/ai/no-direct-image-apis.test.ts). Frame extraction from owned videos via the Railway media worker is the corpus-growth path for fresh monthly photos. See .claude/rules/real-images-only.md and the grounded-visuals skill.

Photo Optimisation

Minimum Photo Set

Photo Requirements

• JPG or PNG, 10 KB–5 MB; recommended 720 × 720 px, minimum 250 × 250 px [VERIFIED: answer/6103862, 16/10/2026]
• Real job photos only, with customer consent (.claude/rules/real-images-only.md); no geotagging for ranking
• Add photos as real work happens; photo freshness as a ranking signal is [UNCONFIRMED]
• Use listPhotos(connectionId, locationName) to audit current photo inventory

Insights Interpretation

useGBPInsights(locationId, days) returns totals and 30-day trend data.

Key Metrics

Conversion Rate Formula

Conversion Rate = (websiteClicks + phoneClicks + directionClicks) / (searchViews + mapsViews) * 100

Internal heuristic targets `[UNCONFIRMED]`: >5% for service businesses, >8% for retail/hospitality.
A missing or failed metric is UNAVAILABLE, never 0 (`docs/ree/REE-SPEC.md` §6); do not compute a rate from it.

Trend Analysis

Use the trend array from useGBPInsights to plot 30-day performance. Correlate changes with:

• Review response activity
• Google Posts publishing frequency
• Photo uploads
• Category or description changes
• Algorithm updates (cross-reference with google-updates-sentinel skill)

Reference skill: This is a read-only architecture guide — it documents existing systems and does not generate creative or code output. No capability uplift block is needed.

Foundation & Gate Wiring (SYN-1049)

Adopted from the senior-skill standard so every artefact this connector produces is checked against the locked foundation before it lands.

Reads at every invocation (never cached — re-read each run):

• .claude/memory/ceo-foundation.md — GBP compliance (Q3.2.3), universal taboos, verification gates for ranking claims.
• .claude/memory/verification-gates.md — gate state for any claim referenced.

Output gate: every client-facing artefact this connector produces routes through brand-voice-enforce before the CEO batched-review queue. A REJECT blocks the artefact until the quoted offending string is fixed.

Evidence standard: every quantitative or factual claim carries exactly one tag — [VERIFIED] / [INFERENCE] / [UNCONFIRMED]. Untagged = defect (.claude/rules/fabel-evidence-standard.md). Never state a projected result as fact.

Spec: see spec.md in this skill directory.