Why Every Tradesperson Needs a Google Business Profile in 2026

Look, I've had this conversation about fifteen times in the last month alone. Plumber in Hitchin asks me why his mate's getting more calls. Electrician in Letchworth wondering why jobs have dried up. Roofer in Baldock who's "done marketing" but isn't seeing anything from it.

First question I ask: "Have you got a Google Business Profile?"

Half the time, blank stare. Other half: "Oh yeah, I think I set that up years ago."

Right. So let's talk about this properly.

The thing nobody tells you about how customers find tradespeople now

It's not 2018 anymore. People aren't going to Yellow Pages. They're not even really going to Checkatrade first (though that helps too, different conversation).

They're opening their phone. They're typing "emergency plumber near me" or just saying it to their phone while they're standing in a kitchen with water pissing everywhere. And Google is deciding who they see.

Not who's been trading longest. Not who's got the best van. Who Google decides to show them.

Your Google Business Profile is how Google knows you exist. More than your website. More than your Facebook page that you update twice a year with photos of a job you did. More than any of it.

I've watched businesses in Stevenage get 40, 50 calls a month just from their GBP. Not spending a penny on ads. Just because they set it up right and keep it current.

And I've watched brilliant tradespeople, twenty years in the game, proper craftsmen, get maybe two enquiries a month because Google doesn't really know who they are or what they do or where they work.

What actually happens when someone searches for you

OK so someone's boiler's packed in. Or they've got damp. Or they need their bathroom done. They search.

Google looks at: - Who's claimed their business listing - Who's close to where they are - Who's got decent reviews - Who's actually answered their phone recently - What categories they're listed under - Whether their information is up to date

Then it shows three businesses in that map pack. Three. Not ten. Not a page of results. Three businesses get the call.

If you're not one of those three, you might as well not exist for that customer. They're not scrolling. They're not going to page two. They're ringing one of those three numbers.

Your GBP is what puts you in that three. Or doesn't.

The AEO bit (and why 2026 is different to last year)

This is where it gets interesting. AI search is changing how this works.

ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI overviews, all of them. They're pulling information from somewhere when someone asks "who should I use for X in Y area?"

They're pulling it from your Google Business Profile. Your reviews. Your categories. The services you've listed. Whether you've put your operating hours in. All that stuff you thought was just admin.

That's AEO. Answer Engine Optimisation. Making sure when AI is deciding who to recommend, you're in the mix.

I tested this last month. Asked ChatGPT to recommend three plumbers in Royston. It gave me three names. All three had complete, current Google Business Profiles with 20+ reviews. The two plumbers I know operate in Royston but haven't touched their GBP in two years? Not mentioned.

It's not magic. It's just that AI needs data to make recommendations, and your GBP is where that data lives.

What "set up properly" actually means

Right, so you're thinking "yeah I've got one of those." Maybe you do. Let me tell you what I see when most tradespeople show me their profile:

Address is their home address from 2019 when they lived somewhere else. Phone number goes to a mobile they don't use anymore. Categories are generic. "Contractor" instead of "Bathroom Remodeller" or "Emergency Plumber." Services section is empty. Photos are three blurry pictures of... something. Could be anything. Business description says "Quality workmanship, competitive prices" which tells nobody anything.

Zero reviews. Or five reviews from 2017.

Hours say you're open but you never updated them after COVID and now it says you work Sundays when you don't.

This is worse than not having one. Because Google is showing people this information, they're ringing a dead number or they're seeing you've got no reviews and going with someone else.

Setting it up properly means:

• Current phone number that you actually answer
• Accurate service area (the towns you actually cover)
• Specific categories, not generic ones
• Actual photos of your work, not stock images
• Services listed out (Google has specific service options for most trades)
• Business description that says what you do and where
• Hours that are right
• Posts every couple of weeks (just photos of jobs, really simple)
• Responding to reviews

That last one. Responding to reviews. Even the good ones. Especially the good ones. Just "Thanks for this, glad we could help" type stuff. Google watches that. It's a signal that you're active, you're real, you're engaged.

The review thing that everyone gets wrong

I'm going to be straight with you. You need reviews. Not five. Not ten. You need a steady flow of them.

Every job you finish where the customer's happy, you need to ask for a review. Not in a weird pushy way. Just "Would you mind leaving us a review on Google? Really helps us out."

Most people say yes. You send them a link (there's a way to generate a direct review link from your GBP, takes two minutes to find). Half of them actually do it.

Do that for six months and you've got 20, 30 reviews. That puts you ahead of 90% of tradespeople in your area.

But here's what people mess up. They get a bad review and they ignore it. Or they get defensive. Or they don't respond at all.

Bad reviews happen. Someone's having a bad day, there was a miscommunication, whatever. The response is what matters. You respond professionally, you acknowledge their concern, you explain what happened or you offer to make it right.

Everyone reading reviews knows some people are just difficult. What they're looking for is how you handle it. That's the signal.

I watched a plumber in Letchworth get a one-star review that was basically nonsense. Customer was angry about something that wasn't even the plumber's fault. He responded calmly, explained the situation, offered to come back and check the work anyway.

Three people mentioned that response when they called him for quotes. They'd read it. They'd seen how he handled it. That's what made them call.

What happens if you don't bother

Simple. Someone else gets the work.

There's an electrician I know, does good work, been going 15 years. Doesn't have a GBP. Doesn't see the point. Gets most of his work through word of mouth.

That's fine until it isn't. Until word of mouth dries up for a few months. Until the younger electrician down the road who set his profile up properly starts showing up first in searches.

You're leaving money on the table. That's what's happening.

Someone in your town right now is searching for what you do. They need the work done. They're ready to book. Google's showing them three options and you're not one of them because you didn't spend 20 minutes setting up a free listing.

That's bloody ridiculous when you think about it.

The bit about keeping it current

This isn't a set and forget thing. Well, it is more than most marketing. But you need to check in on it.

Update your hours if they change. Add photos of recent jobs. Respond to reviews. Post something once a fortnight if you can be bothered (honestly, just a photo and one sentence is fine).

Google likes to see activity. It's another signal that you're a real, current, operating business.

And when someone sees your profile and the last photo is from 2022, what do they think? They think you might not be trading anymore. Or you don't care. Either way, they're calling someone else.

Right, so what now

If you've got a GBP, go check it. Actually look at it. Is everything current? Are your categories right? Have you got photos? Reviews?

If you haven't got one, set it up today. It's free. Google "Google Business Profile" and follow the steps. They'll send you a postcard to verify your address, takes a few days, then you're live.

If you're in North Hertfordshire and this whole AI search thing is making your head hurt, that's kind of what we do. We help local businesses show up when people are searching, whether that's Google or ChatGPT or whatever's next. It's called AEO and it's more than just your GBP, but that's where it starts.

Book a call if you want to talk about it properly. Or if you want to see what AEO in North Hertfordshire actually looks like for businesses like yours, have a look at what we do.

But honestly, even if you never talk to us, just sort your Google Business Profile out. It's 2026. It's not optional anymore.