We audited 286 Google Business Profiles (formerly Google My Business) between July 16 and October 14, 2026. 56% had no services or described fewer than half of them, 37% had no live post from the last 90 days, and 76% tripped at least one text-matching rule in our policy scan. About one in nine had edits from Google waiting for the owner to accept or reject. Each owner signed in with Google to run the audit, so these Google My Business statistics come from the owner's side and include fields a public scraper cannot see, such as edits Google is waiting for the owner to review, plus the full attribute and service data.
Key findings
- 76% tripped a policy-scan rule. 217 of 286 profiles; 101 (35%) had a flag the scan treats as a suspension risk.
- 56% had no services or left most undescribed. 160 of 286.
- 37% had no live post from the last 90 days. 105 of 286, including 57 with no live posts.
- 45% had no video. 129 of 286.
- About 1 in 9 had Google edits waiting. 33 of 286.
- Top 3 and places 4 to 10 had the same median score (79). Reply rates differed: 71% against 47% answered at least 80% of recent reviews.
How the 286 Profiles Scored
The median profile scored 78 out of 100 across the audit's 32 weighted checks. 39 profiles (14%) earned an A, 89 (31%) a B, 64 (22%) a C, 41 (14%) a D and 53 (19%) an F.
The basics were in place: 281 listed a phone number, 274 showed hours for five or more days, and all 286 had a primary category. The most common failures were services, social links, video and accessibility attributes.
| Check | What counts as a fail | Profiles failing | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service descriptions | No services, or under half described in 40+ characters | 160 | 56% |
| Social profile links | No social media link | 156 | 55% |
| Video | No video on the profile | 129 | 45% |
| Accessibility attributes | None marked "Yes" | 116 | 41% |
| Posts in the last 90 days | No live post created in 90 days | 105 | 37% |
| Attributes filled in | Under 20% of available attributes set | 99 | 35% |
| Business name | Trips a name rule in the policy scan | 91 | 32% |
| Review volume | Fewer than 10 reviews | 79 | 28% |
| Additional categories | No secondary category | 77 | 27% |
| Owner reply rate | Under half of recent reviews answered, or no reviews | 76 | 27% |
Source: Wiremo free Google Business Profile audit, 286 businesses, latest audit per profile, 2026-07-16 to 2026-10-14.
We left two checks out of the table. "Most recent post" failed on 103 profiles (36%), but it overlaps the 90-day post check. Service types failed on 126 profiles (44%), which had fewer than three service types on their primary category, but Google's category list drives that field as much as the owner does.
Where would your profile land in this table? The free Google Business Profile audit runs the same 32 checks and the policy scan on your own profile. Sign in with Google (it only reads your profile) and get a graded report in about a minute.
Business Names and Policy Flags
The policy scan combines text-matching rules Wiremo wrote from Google's guidelines with flags Google sets itself. 217 of 286 profiles (76%) tripped at least one text-matching rule, or 210 (73%) if you leave out the broad post-superlative rule. Counting every finding, including Google's own pending-edit and duplicate flags, a flag for listings under 60 days old, contact details in owner replies (which Google allows) and an AI check for staff names repeated across reviews, 237 (83%) had at least one. Most flags are soft, wording worth tidying up. 101 profiles (35%) had at least one hard flag, the kind the scan treats as a suspension risk, and the business name produced most of them.
91 profiles (32%) had a name that tripped at least one name rule in the scan. None was blank; every failure came from a rule match, not a missing name. Google's guidelines for representing your business ask for your real-world name without special characters such as %, $, @ or / and without "irrelevant legal terms (e.g. LLC, LTD, INC)".
| Policy flag | Profiles | Closest Google rule |
|---|---|---|
| Superlative such as "best" or "leading" in the description | 82 | Misrepresentation |
| Special character in the name (33 of 35 were a "|") | 35 | Guidelines |
| All-caps word of five letters or more in the name | 29 | Guidelines |
| Marketing word such as "best" or "top" in the name | 22 | Guidelines |
| Promo or pricing language in the description | 20 | Guidelines |
| Tagline or keyword list after a comma in the name | 15 | Guidelines |
| Legal suffix such as LLC or Pvt in the name | 14 | Guidelines |
| URL, email, phone number or street address in the description | 13 | Description (links only) |
| Website field points to a social profile | 12 | Guidelines |
Source: Wiremo free Google Business Profile audit, policy scan, 286 businesses, 2026-07-16 to 2026-10-14. A profile can have several flags.
The scan uses text-matching rules, so a flag signals risk. Some hits are false alarms: 6 of the 22 marketing-word hits sat inside longer words, and the caps rule catches real acronyms. Google allows a legal term or special character in the name when you can "provide real-world proof (e.g. signage, business cards, invoices)" that shows it as part of your business name. Google's description rule covers links; the scan also flags phone numbers, emails and street addresses there.
Descriptions were flagged for wording more often than for length: 82 profiles (29%) had a superlative flag, while 15 (5%) had a description under 100 characters or none. Google's misrepresentation policy covers "false or misleading accounts of the description or quality of a good or service", so an unverifiable "best in town" line is a risk. Our spam prevention guide lists the name rules, and the suspension recovery guide covers what happens after Google acts.
Categories, Services and Attributes
Service descriptions failed more often than any other check. 160 profiles (56%) listed no services or described fewer than half of them in 40 or more characters. Among the 233 profiles that listed any services, 107 (46%) still left most undescribed, and 67 profiles (23%) listed two services or fewer.
Google says that "when local customers search Google for an offering you provide, that service may be highlighted on your profile" (services help page). Our guide to adding products and services walks through the editor.
The scan also flagged 68 profiles (24%) for contact details, promo terms or superlatives in a service description. Google's written rule covers service names, so treat these as clean-up items.
77 profiles (27%) had no additional category. Google asks you to "use as few categories as possible to describe your overall core business" (guidelines), so add one only when it describes a real part of the business; the categories guide shows how to choose.
Attributes were thin. 99 profiles (35%) had set fewer than 20% of the attributes Google offers for their category, and 116 (41%) had no accessibility attribute marked "Yes", whether they skipped the section or answered "No". Google says attributes "show up on your Business Profile on Search, Maps, and other Google platforms" (attributes help page); our attributes guide explains each group. 156 profiles (55%) had no social media link, though Google offers those links only "in select regions" (social links help page).
Posts, Photos and Video
105 of 286 profiles (37%) had no live post from the 90 days before their audit, and 57 (20%) had no live posts at all. We count posts still live; expired or deleted posts are not visible to the audit. Of the 181 with a live post from that window, 148 had three or more. Google gives no posting frequency, but it archives "posts older than 6 months" unless you set a date range (posts help page).
Post text drew more flags than timing. Among the 229 profiles with live posts, 104 (45%) had a phone number, email, URL or street address in at least one post. Google says it "may remove posts with unverified contact information" and offers a Call now button instead. The scan also found a superlative in posts on 141 of those 229 profiles (62%), but that rule matches "best" anywhere, including "best regards", so treat 62% as a ceiling. Our post best practices cover what Google recommends.
On media, 129 profiles (45%) had no video, 56 (20%) had no cover photo and 35 (12%) had no profile photo. 55 (19%) had fewer than 10 photos and videos from the owner account, and 59 (21%) had added nothing in 180 days. With a low-quality cover, "a user-submitted photo may be selected instead" (Google's photo guidelines); our photos and videos guide has the specs.
Reviews and Owner Replies
Among the 257 profiles with reviews, the median profile had 53 Google reviews and a 4.9 rating. 29 profiles had none. 79 (28%) had fewer than 10 reviews, including the 29 with none, and 71 (25%) had received no review in the 90 days before the audit, again counting the 29. If your profile is one of them, automate your review requests so every customer gets your review link after the job.
168 profiles answered at least 80% of their recent reviews (we check up to the 50 newest): 59% of all 286, or 65% of the 257 with reviews. 76 (27%) answered fewer than half or had no reviews. Google's review help page says: "When you reply to their reviews, you show them that you value their feedback."
For 36 profiles, most in the US and UK, an AI step rated the newest replies: 7 personalized, 22 mixed, 4 a copied template, 3 with almost no replies. That sample is too small to generalize. Our guide to responding to negative reviews has templates to adapt.
Google-Suggested Edits Waiting for the Owner
33 of 286 profiles (12%, about 1 in 9) had changes from Google waiting for the owner. Google gathers these from "user reports and licensed content", and only the owner sees them, so a public scraper cannot count them.
Google's help page on Google updates gives you 4 days: "Once notified, you have 4 days to accept or reject the suggestion." If you do nothing, "Google may automatically publish the update if it is supported by other publicly available information, such as your business website." A wrong phone number or closing time can go live that way.
24 profiles (8%) had their own changes held for Google review, and Google had marked 3 as duplicates.
Tip: the profile editor shows fields Google changed in blue, with the legend "Shows info changed by Google." Check it whenever Google notifies you about your profile.
Own-Category Rank: Top 3 vs Places 4 to 10
For 233 profiles we also measured where the business ranked for its own primary category, such as "Dentist". At audit time the tool ran one Google Places search centered on the business's map pin, with a 1,000 m radius (1,600 m in the US and UK) that favors nearby results without excluding others. That is one search from one point, not a city-wide rank. Top 3 is the same cut-off as the Google local pack, which shows three businesses.
125 businesses (54%) sat in the top 3 near their own pin, 51 (22%) in places 4 to 10, 17 (7%) in 11 to 20, and 40 (17%) outside the top 20.
| Measure | Top 3 | Places 4 to 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Profiles | 125 | 51 |
| Median audit score | 79 | 79 |
| Median Google reviews (profiles with reviews) | 72 | 89 |
| Answered 80%+ of recent reviews | 71% | 47% |
| Posted in the last 90 days | 68% | 65% |
| Has a video | 60% | 67% |
| At least one hard policy flag | 34% | 41% |
Source: Wiremo free Google Business Profile audit, own-category search for 233 businesses (196 searched with a 1,000 m location bias, 37 with 1,600 m), of which 176 in the top 10 are shown, 2026-07-16 to 2026-10-14.
A more complete profile did not separate the top 3 from places 4 to 10: both had a median audit score of 79. The 17 businesses in places 11 to 20 had the highest median of all, 82, while the 40 outside the top 20 had a lower median, about 71. Posting and video rates were close. Reply rate showed the widest gap, 71% against 47%, and 45% of the 40 outside the top 20 answered at least 80% of recent reviews.
Review counts did not rise steadily with position: the 4 to 10 group had more than the top 3 (89 against 72), but the 32 businesses outside the top 20 that had reviews had far fewer (median about 27; 8 more had none).
These figures describe a small, self-selected sample and cannot show that replying moves you up. Google says local results are "mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity" (local ranking page), and one search cannot separate them.
Customers search from different streets, so a geo-grid scan runs the same search from a grid of points around you (our grid rank tracking explainer shows how). GTrack, Wiremo's Google Maps rank tracker, has a free plan with 200 credits, and your first scan needs no account.
How to Check Your Own Profile
For your own traffic numbers, open the Performance report in your profile. It shows views, searches, calls, direction requests and website clicks, and Google provides it "only for verified Business Profiles" (Performance help page). Our insights guide explains each metric.
To compare your profile with this study, check these five items first (or audit a profile by hand with our six-section guide):
- Services. Give each service a one-sentence description, with no phone numbers or prices.
- Google updates. Look for blue fields in the editor and answer them within 4 days.
- Name. Match your signage. Remove "|" separators, cities and service keywords.
- Posts. We suggest at least one post a month (Google sets no frequency); keep phone numbers in the Call now button.
- Replies and attributes. Answer each new review, and open every attribute group, accessibility included.
GLocal: if the list is long, Wiremo's Google Business Profile management software schedules posts, photos and videos, lets you add services with descriptions (or generate them with AI), and drafts up to three AI replies per review. Plans start at $29.99 a month with a 30-day money-back guarantee; there is no free trial.
Run the same checks on your profile. The free audit grades your profile on the 32 checks in this study, runs the policy scan and lists Google edits waiting for you. It changes nothing and needs no credit card.
Methodology and Limits
- Source. Wiremo's free audit, which reads each profile through Google's Business Profile API after the owner signs in.
- Sample. 487 stored reports from 2026-07-16 to 2026-10-14 (reports expire after 90 days). We kept the latest audit per Google place ID, left out 12 reports from profiles with no place ID and removed Wiremo's own and test profiles: 286 businesses. The audit rules did not change in that window.
- Self-selection. Owners chose to run the audit; this is not a random sample.
- Countries. 153 businesses (53%) were in India and 66 (23%) in the US, UK, Canada and Australia; the rest came from Brazil, Pakistan, the UAE, Thailand and elsewhere.
- Business types. 214 showed an address and a service area, 37 were storefront only (or had no type set), 35 service-area only. No category had 10 or more profiles (the largest had 6), so we give no figures by industry.
- Policy scan. Text-matching rules Wiremo wrote from Google's guidelines, plus flags Google sets (pending edits, duplicates) and two soft checks on reviews and replies. A flag means risk, not a confirmed violation.
- Rank. One Places text search for the business's primary category around its own location, top 20 results. 233 profiles were searched; 193 appeared in the top 20 and 40 did not.
- Medians. For groups with an even count we report the conventional median, rounded.
- Rounding. Percentages are rounded to whole numbers.
Google Business Profile Statistics Questions
How many Google Business Profiles are missing service descriptions?
In our sample of 286 profiles audited from July to October 2026, 160 (56%) listed no services or described fewer than half of them. Among the 233 that listed services, 107 (46%) still left most without a description. No other check in the audit failed as often.
How many Google Business Profiles get policy flags?
217 of 286 profiles (76%) tripped at least one text-matching rule in Wiremo's policy scan, and 101 (35%) had a flag the scan treats as a suspension risk, mostly in the business name. Counting every finding, including Google's own pending-edit and duplicate flags, 237 (83%) had at least one. The scan's rules flag risk, not confirmed violations.
How many businesses post on their Google Business Profile?
181 of 286 profiles (63%) had a live post from the 90 days before their audit, and 148 had three or more in that window. 57 (20%) had no live posts. Google archives posts after six months unless you set a date range.
Does a more complete Google Business Profile rank higher?
Not clearly. Businesses in the top 3 for their own category near their address had the same median audit score (79) as those in places 4 to 10, the 17 in places 11 to 20 scored 82, and the 40 outside the top 20 scored lower (about 71). More of the top 3 group answered at least 80% of recent reviews: 71% against 47%. The sample is small and self-selected, so it shows a pattern and cannot show cause.
Where can I see statistics for my own Google Business Profile?
Open the Performance report from your profile on Google Search or Maps; verified profiles see views, searches, calls, direction requests and website clicks. For services, attributes, post history and pending Google edits, run the free audit or check each section in the profile editor.
