9 Google Business Profile Mistakes That Are Costing Derbyshire Businesses Enquiries

Last updated: 28 August 2026

A Google Business Profile is often the first thing a potential customer sees, before they ever reach your website. Here are the nine most common mistakes we find on Derbyshire business listings, with a straightforward fix for each. Most businesses are making at least two of these right now.

1. The profile isn't claimed or verified

An unclaimed or unverified profile means anyone, including Google itself, can edit it, and you can't respond to reviews or post updates. It's the single biggest GBP mistake because everything else on this list depends on having control of the listing first. Part of the Google pillar of the BIG12 framework.

Fix: Claim and verify your profile through Google Business Profile Manager today, it usually takes minutes if you have the physical address to hand.

2. The business categories are wrong or too narrow

Your primary category is one of the strongest ranking signals Google uses to decide who to show for a search. A generic or incorrect category, "Consultant" instead of "Marketing Agency", means you're invisible for the searches that actually convert. Categories feed straight into SEO visibility.

Fix: Set the most specific primary category available, then add every genuinely relevant secondary category.

3. No photos added in months

Listings with recent, real photos get far more clicks and calls than ones running on old stock images. A stale photo set quietly signals a business that might not still be trading, which undermines the Brand impression you're making before anyone even clicks through.

Fix: Add at least four new photos a month, team, work in progress, finished results, nothing generic.

4. Opening hours are wrong or not updated for holidays

Nothing loses a customer faster than turning up to a business that's shown as open but isn't. Google also quietly deprioritises listings with inconsistent hours information over time. This is a Local pillar basic that's easy to let slip.

Fix: Set special hours for every bank holiday and double-check standard hours are still accurate every quarter.

5. Reviews are never responded to

An unanswered review, good or bad, reads as a business nobody's minding. Responding, especially to negative reviews, is one of the strongest trust signals a prospective customer sees before they've even visited your website. Managing this properly is a CRM habit as much as a marketing one.

Fix: Reply to every review within 48 hours, even a short, genuine thank-you on a five-star review.

6. No Google Posts published

Google Posts show directly in your listing and are one of the few free ways to put a specific offer or update in front of someone actively searching for you. Most businesses don't know the feature exists, which makes it an easy edge over local competitors, a bit like a mini Social Media feed inside your listing.

Fix: Publish one Google Post a fortnight, an offer, a new service, or a recent result.

7. The service area isn't set correctly

If your service area is missing, too broad, or too narrow, you'll either show up for searches nowhere near your actual coverage or miss the towns you do serve. It's the GBP equivalent of the "no towns named" mistake that hurts websites too.

Fix: List every town and postcode district you genuinely serve, not just your home city.

8. The Q&A section is sitting empty or unanswered

Anyone can ask a question on your listing, and anyone can answer it, including competitors or people with wrong information. An unanswered Q&A section leaves the field open to whoever gets there first, and it's exactly the kind of structured answer AI tools increasingly pull from.

Fix: Seed the Q&A with the five questions you're asked most often, and answer them yourself before anyone else does.

9. Your business name, address and phone number don't match your website

Google cross-checks your listing details against what it finds elsewhere online. A mismatch, an old address, a different phone number, a slightly different business name, quietly undermines the trust signal that's supposed to be helping you.

Fix: Check your name, address and phone number are identical, word for word, across your GBP listing, website footer, and any directory listings.

What to do with this list

These are the same checks we run under the Google pillar of a full BIG12 audit, alongside local, brand and lead generation. Local businesses that get this right compound their visibility fast, Inn Farm Dairy saw a 366% increase in daily revenue after tightening up exactly this kind of local visibility work.

Score your site free with the BIG12 Scorecard →
See the Inn Farm Dairy result  ·  Read all our case studies  ·  Book your free 90-minute audit