The Definitive Guide to Google Business Profile Optimization

What you need to know to optimize your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business listing).

Jessie Low

Last Updated: April 22, 2022

Attributes & Know This Place

Attributes

Attributes can show up in various places in your Business Profile, above your address on desktop, in the about section on mobile and in the Maps app, as justifications in search results, or as eye-catching icons featured in mobile search results. The Attributes that are available to your business will depend on your location and business type.

You can see the available attributes in the Info section of your Google Business Profile Manager. The attributes that you can add and edit as a business are sometimes referred to as “objective attributes” and they are universally available across the same business categories.

Here is an example of what the Attributes section looks like:

There are dozens of attributes to choose from and they fall under various categories. Some of the most common attributes you will see are:

From the business – This category has been expanded over the past year and allows business owner’s to share identify attributes like Black-owned, Latino-owned, veteran-owned, or women-owned.

Accessibility – Help patrons know in advance if you have wheelchair accessible elevators, entrances, restrooms, or seating.

Payments – Do you only accept a certain form of payment? Let visitors know in advance if you are cash-only or which credit cards your business accepts (do you take Amex – because my goodness so many places don’t and it’s nice to know in advance). NFC mobile payments, checks (or as we like to say in Canada, “cheque”). Whatever form of payment you accept, add it here.

Service Options – This is category dependent but you’ll see online appointments, takeout, no delivery, dine-in, brunch, online care, language assistance, and so on.

Other attribute categories include:

  • Offerings
  • Crowd
  • Highlights
  • Popular For
  • Atmosphere
  • Planning
  • About this person (for medical practitioners)
  • Amenities
  • Activities
  • Dining Options
  • Payments
  • Health & Safety (added during COVID-19)

Depending on your primary and additional categories very specific attributes will be exclusively available within your Business Profile. For example, COVID-19 Testing Sites have unique attributes under Offerings and Planning, including: 

  • Drive-through 
  • Appointment required for Covid Test 
  • Referral required
  • Tests limited to certain patients 

Benefits of Attributes

Increased search volume for key attributes: There may be an increase in search volume for businesses that self-identify with some of these attributes. According to Google, “In the past 12 months, Google search interest for “black owned businesses” has skyrocketed 600% based on Google Trends data comparing January-December 2019 to January-December 2020.”(source)

Justifications: Attributes can trigger justifications, which are based on the search term and can indicate to the searcher that you have what they’re looking for. Below is a justification for the attribute “curbside pickup.”

Eye-catching icons: Select Identity Attributes also trigger icons in the Business Profile and justifications on Search and Maps. 

Other icons:

  • The “LGBTQ+-friendly” attribute displays a rainbow flag. 

Ranking: The Identity Attributes listed above can impact ranking for searches related to the attribute. For example, searching for female-owned businesses near me, businesses that have added the “Women-Owned” attribute will rank higher. 

Best Practices

  • Business owners should add any available and applicable attributes to their Business Profile.
  • Monitor your attributes regularly. Google releases new options frequently and Google Users can suggest changes to attributes, which can lead to inaccuracies in your Business Profile. 

Know This Place?

Know This Place is another crowd-sourced feature that encourages users to answer questions about a business. The questions are auto-generated by Google and accessible on desktop through the branded Business Profile (Knowledge Panel).

For restaurants and cafés, Know This Place questions are sometimes linked to the “Subjective Attributes” that show up under “Highlights” in the “About” section with icons in mobile search results, and if you’re popular enough data will shop up in the Insights tab in Business Profile Manager under “What Your Business Is Known For”. Because this is crowdsourced content you as the business owner have no control over the information. These “subjective attributes” are based on a customers experience and cannot be modified directly. Google states that:

“Since customers’ opinions are based on their experience, the information is subjective. It’s considered to be valuable to other customers, as it describes the feel & ambiance for a place. Unless proven false, we won’t remove this information.”

Types of Questions

  • We’ve come across questions related to the overall vibe and crowd of the restaurant or café, for example, “popular with tourists” or “good for a quick bite”.
  • Accessibility questions, like “Does this place have Wheelchair Accessible Parking?”
  • Beyond that, there are some questions that appear to be unrelated to Attributes of any kind, and are simply Google’s way of collecting more information about a business, for example:
    • Can you buy this here? [specific brand, product, or menu item]
  • We’ve also seen questions that appear to be related to the “Located in” feature, such as “Is this place located inside another business?”
  • Other Questions I have seen in the past:
    • Is this place kid friendly?
    • Is this a place to go for coffee?
    • Does this place serve dessert?
    • Does this place attract a trendy crowd?
    • Are high-chairs available?
    • Is there an all-you-can-drink option?
    • Does this place accept credit cards?

You get the gist.

This is another reminder to make sure you have a fully optimized Google Business Profile, this ensures that you’ve answered these questions in advance of having it crowd-sourced. It’s a great feature if someone has the correct answers, but could become an issue for your listing if incorrect information is being added.

Pro Tip: As the business owner or listing manager, you can proactively answer these questions to help provide Google with accurate business information. Many of these questions are asking about things outside of attributes and other GBP features. “Know This Place?” does not always show up, but you can try to trigger it by opening a new browser tab in an Incognito browser or by logging into Google under a different profile (typically it won’t show up if you’re logged in as the business owner).

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