Why one hour of this beats a month of guessing
Most local owners never look at the business ranking above them. They guess. They assume the other shop spends more on ads, or has been around longer, or knows somebody.
Usually it is none of that. In our experience across 2,300+ profiles, the business on top has simply filled in more of its Google Business Profile and collected more recent reviews. That is work you can copy. And the best part is that none of it is hidden. A Business Profile is a public listing, so everything your competitor has done is sitting there in plain sight.
One hour with a notepad will tell you more than a month of wondering.
Start with the search your customer actually types
Do not search your business name. Search the words a customer would use when they do not know you yet.
- The service plus the town. Think "emergency plumber Katy" or "dog groomer near me".
- The problem, not the trade. Think "water heater leaking" or "tree branch on roof".
- The thing you wish you were known for. Think "same day roof repair".
Write down the three businesses that show up above you on the map results. Those three are your real competition for that search. Not the biggest company in your city, and not the one you grumble about at the chamber meeting.
What to write down for each competitor
Open each profile and note these nine things. Keep it simple and use the same list for all three so you can compare straight across.
- The main category, word for word.
- Any extra categories listed underneath it.
- Total number of reviews.
- Date of the most recent review.
- Whether the owner replies to reviews.
- Number of photos, and when the newest one went up.
- Services or products listed out with descriptions.
- Whether there are recent posts or updates.
- Whether questions have been asked and answered.
Then fill in the same nine lines for your own profile. Put your row at the bottom. That single sheet of paper is your whole marketing plan for the next 90 days.
Read the reviews, not just the number
The review count tells you who is ahead. The words inside the reviews tell you how to catch up.
Read twenty of your competitor's reviews and look for the phrases customers repeat. If eight people mention that the crew showed up on time, punctuality is what sells in your town. If four people mention a price surprise, that is an opening for you. Customers write the sales copy for you if you let them.
This is the heart of the Local Guide Method. Your customers do your SEO for you. The business on top did not write better copy about itself. It got more customers to describe it in their own words, more recently, and Google noticed.
Turn the sheet into three jobs for this week
Comparison is only useful if it turns into work. Pick the three widest gaps on your sheet and nothing else.
- Category gap. If every competitor uses a category you do not, and it honestly describes what you do, change yours to match. Google's own help pages say local results are ranked on how well a business matches the search, how close it is, and how well known it is. The category is how you tell Google what you are.
- Review gap. If their newest review is from last week and yours is from March, you do not have a reputation problem. You have an asking problem. Ask your next ten happy customers, by name, the same day the job finishes.
- Photo gap. If they have sixty photos and you have four, spend twenty minutes taking pictures of your van, your team, your storefront and three finished jobs. Add a few every month instead of fifty at once.
Leave the rest on the sheet. Three jobs you finish beat nine you start.
What you will often find
Here is the part that surprises owners. In our experience, the business ranking above you is usually not running a slick operation behind the scenes. Plenty of them have no recent posts, no services filled in, and no replies on their reviews. Some have a website that has not been touched in years.
They are winning on the basics. Which means the basics are available to you too.
If you would rather have someone else do the comparing, you can get a free audit of your profile and we will show you where you stand.
Put it on the calendar for 90 days out
Do this once and it is interesting. Do it every quarter and it becomes a habit that compounds.
Set a reminder for 90 days from today. Same search, same three competitors, same nine lines. You will see your review count climbing toward theirs, and you will see which of them stopped paying attention. That is usually when you pass them.
Idea spark: Chris Koerner and guest Justin Hall on The Koerner Office podcast.
Quick answers
- Is it legal to look at a competitor's Google Business Profile?
- Yes. A Business Profile is a public listing. Anyone searching can see the categories, hours, photos, reviews, services and posts.
- How many competitors should I check?
- Three is plenty. Pick the three businesses that show up above you for the search your customers actually use.
- Can a competitor see that I looked at their profile?
- No. Looking at a public profile does not notify them. Just do not leave a review or ask a question from your own account.
- How often should I do this?
- Once a quarter is enough for most local businesses. Profiles change slowly, and you need time to work on your own gaps.