What 1.8 million Google Business Profiles Reveal About Local SEO Success

Whitespark studied 1.8 million Google Business Profiles across 4,209 categories to measure how category selection and Profile completeness affect local rankings. The findings offer concrete, data-backed guidance for businesses trying to rank higher in Google Maps and local search.

Which Google Business Profile categories rank best?

The exact-match primary category almost always wins. For a search for “hair salons,” profiles categorized as Hair salon averaged a rank of 49.9 with 11.3% appearing in the top 10. Profiles using the adjacent categories Hairdresser, Beauty salon, Barber shop, and Nail salon ranked lower and appeared in the top 10 far less often. The same pattern repeated for “plumbers” and across nearly every category in the dataset.

More importantly, specificity matters. Profiles using a specific primary category such as Criminal justice attorney, Personal injury attorney, Electrician, Roofing contractor, HVAC contractor, Tapas restaurant, or New American restaurant consistently outranked generic categories like Attorney, Contractor, or Restaurant.

• Specific primary categories averaged a 12.5% top-10 presence compared with 9.2% for generic categories, a 36% improvement.
• In the attorney data set, Criminal justice attorney averaged rank 44.7 with 13.4% top-10 presence, beating the generic Attorney category at 57.1 and 12.9%.
• In the contractor data set, Electrician (48.6) and Roofing contractor (53.1) both beat generic Contractor (57.7).
• In the restaurant data set, niche categories such as Tapas (28.8), Hawaiian (28.4), and New American (30.4) easily outranked generic Restaurant (49.7) and common categories like Pizza (74.8) and Chinese (73.2).

Specific categories tend to have less competition, and Google’s algorithm matches the primary category to the search query. Choosing a niche category helps the algorithm understand which searches the business should appear for.

Do additional categories help local rankings?

Yes. Profiles that pair a specific primary category with a well-matched additional category rank higher than profiles that use the primary category alone. Some of the strongest combinations in the study:

• Veterinarian + Emergency veterinarian service: average rank 33.9, compared with 51.2 for primary only and 75.6 when paired with Service establishment.
• Electrician + EV charging station contractor: average rank 38.2, versus 47.5 for primary only and 63.5 with Service establishment.
• Gym + Athletic club: average rank 34.7, versus 43.3 for primary only.
• Plumber + Drainage service: average rank 47.3, versus 54.0 for primary only and 62.3 with Service establishment.
• Roofing + Gutter service: average rank 47.1, versus 52.1 for primary only and 70.3 with Service establishment.
• Personal injury attorney + Business attorney: average rank 40.8, versus 51.4 for primary only.
• Dentist + Cosmetic dentist: average rank 47.6, versus 57.6 for primary only and 53.7 with Service establishment.

The data shows that adding specific, relevant additional categories correlates with rankings 6 to 17 positions better than using a single primary category. Whitespark notes this is correlation, not causation, since businesses that take the time to add categories also tend to invest more broadly in local SEO. The study also shows that a vague catch-all like Service establishment not only fails to help, it can actively hurt rankings.

Does Google Business Profile completeness affect rankings?

Whitespark built a 0-5 GBP Completeness Index, awarding one point each for a website, a business description, hours of operation, photos, and a claimed status. The results were clear.

Completeness varies by industry

• Home services: 4.4 average, 55% fully complete.
• Professional services: 4.3 average, 52% fully complete.
• Automotive: 4.2 average, 48% fully complete.
• Beauty and personal care: 4.1 average, 45% fully complete.
• Legal / Financial: 4.1 average, 46% fully complete.
• Retail: 3.9 average, 40% fully complete.
• Real estate: 3.8 average, 38% fully complete.
• Travel and tourism: 3.6 average, 33% fully complete.
• Community and organizations: 3.0 average, 22% fully complete.

Industries where local SEO drives revenue tend to maintain the most complete profiles. Institutional and noncommercial categories like churches show the lowest completeness, largely because they don’t depend on local search traffic.

Completeness predicts rank

• Score 0: average rank 62, 4% in top 10.
• Score 1: average rank 58, 5% in top 10.
• Score 2: average rank 54, 7% in top 10.
• Score 3: average rank 50, 9% in top 10.
• Score 4: average rank 47, 11% in top 10.
• Score 5: average rank 43, 13% in top 10.

Moving from a 0 to a 5 on the index improved average rank by roughly 19 positions and tripled the rate of appearing in the top 10. Again, the relationship is correlational, because businesses with complete profiles also tend to invest more in reviews, posts, and off-site SEO. Still, completing every field is one of the highest-leverage actions a local business can take.

A practical local rankings checklist

• Choose the most specific primary category that accurately describes the business.
• Add every relevant additional category the business actually offers, and skip vague categories like Service establishment.
• Fill in every GBP field: website, description, hours, photos, and claim the Profile.
• Keep the Profile active by requesting reviews, uploading photos and videos, and publishing Google Posts.
• Extend the same attention to website SEO, citations, social presence, and broader online reputation.

FAQ

How many Google Business Profiles did Whitespark analyze?

Whitespark studied 1.8 million Google Business Profiles across 4,209 categories to evaluate how category choices and Profile completeness affect local rankings.

Is it better to use a specific or generic Google Business Profile category?

Specific primary categories consistently outperform generic ones. In the study, specific categories produced a 12.5% top-10 presence versus 9.2% for generic categories, a 36% improvement.

Does Google Business Profile completeness improve rankings?

Yes. Profiles that scored 5 out of 5 on the GBP Completeness Index averaged rank 43 with 13% top-10 presence, compared with rank 62 and 4% top-10 presence for profiles scoring 0.

This article summarizes reporting from searchengineland.com. See our editorial disclaimer for how our articles are produced.