seo-gbp-audit

name

seo-gbp-audit

description

Audits a business's Google Business Profile (GBP) for the single most-impactful local SEO lever — primary category fit. Wrong primary category = map-pack invisible. Returns the recommended primary + secondary category set per the GBP taxonomy, the rationale, and a side-by-side competitor-category comparison. Use when the user says "GBP audit", "Google Business Profile", "map pack", "local SEO start", or after a portfolio brand or client engagement begins.

GBP Category Audit

The cheapest, fastest map-pack lever in local SEO. Wrong primary category = the business is structurally invisible to half its addressable searches. Every Unite-Group portfolio brand + every new client engagement runs this within the first 48 hours.

When to invoke

• "GBP audit for {brand}"
• "Google Business Profile check"
• "map pack visibility for {brand}"
• "local SEO start" for any new client
• Automatically: the moment a client-portal-provision finishes Hour-1 setup

What it does

Given a business name + primary location + 3-5 competitor business names:

1. Look up the current GBP primary + secondary categories for the target business (via the public GBP listing or — if absent — flag that GBP isn't claimed yet, which IS the audit result).
2. Look up competitors' primary categories — these are the categories Google believes win the local intent for the keyword set.
3. Cross-reference against the full GBP taxonomy (the 4,000+ categories Google publishes). Identify:
   • The recommended primary category — usually the one ≥2 of the top-3 ranking competitors use
   • Up to 9 secondary categories — niche modifiers that don't displace the primary
4. Surface mismatches — primary categories that fail the "what would a customer type into Google Maps" gut test, even if the business technically does the service.
5. Emit:
   • ~/2nd Brain/2nd Brain/Wiki/seo-gbp-audit-{brand}-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md
   • One Linear issue per category change recommended, with rationale
   • One-page client-readable PDF if Phill says --pdf or it's a client engagement

Steps

1. Resolve target business → GBP listing URL or Place ID (use DataForSEO if missing).
2. Pull competitor GBPs for the top 3 ranking keywords (use seo-rankings skill).
3. Build category-frequency table: which category wins which competitor.
4. Compare target's current primary vs the modal competitor primary.
5. Write audit Markdown + Linear issue.

Constraints

• Only one primary category per GBP. The output MUST recommend ONE primary — not "either/or".
• Secondary categories are capped at 9 by Google. If the recommendation exceeds 9, pick the highest-volume keyword intents.
• Never recommend a category the business doesn't legitimately serve — Google enforces with suspensions, and the brand-guardian gate blocks it anyway.
• Respect [[design-preferences]] — PDFs follow Gun Metal #1a1a1a + Candy Red #dc143c if --pdf is set.
• [[unite-group-only]] when scoped to a UG client; otherwise full portfolio scope is fine.

Output

End with explicit recommendation per [[always-recommend]]. Example:

✅ GBP audit for CCW Carpet Cleaning Melbourne — current primary "Cleaning service" is WRONG for the map-pack intent. Recommended primary: "Carpet cleaning service" (3/3 top-ranking competitors); add 8 secondary categories (steam cleaning, upholstery, etc.). Linear: UNI-{xxxx}. Next move: get Toby to update before he's back from holiday 26 May — it's a 60-second change with 4-6 week ranking lift.

Related

• Companion: [[seo-page-fix]] (Prompt #14 — on-page audit)
• Companion: [[seo-gbp-posting]] (Prompt #7 — 8-week posting plan)
• Playbook: [[playbook-local-seo-gsc-review]] (the wider recurring GSC review)
• Underlying APIs: DataForSEO Maps + Labs (already wired)
• Source: [[research-22-claude-seo-prompts-2026-05-14]] Prompt #2