6 Google Business Profile fixes you can make before Friday

Six Google Business Profile fixes will fit comfortably between now and Friday: claim the profile, correct your hours, set the right categories, add real photos, rewrite the description, and clear your unanswered reviews. Each takes under half an hour, so one fix a day gets the whole list done before the weekend.

Why the listing deserves a week of attention

For most patients, your Google listing is the practice until they walk through the door. 71% of patients check online reviews as the first step in finding a new doctor (Software Advice), and since NHS.uk closed its public star-ratings in 2025, Google is where UK practices are publicly judged. A listing with wrong hours, no photos and silent reviews quietly undoes the good work happening inside the building.

Fix 1 (Monday): claim it and control who has access

Search your practice name, and on the listing look for the option to claim or verify the business. If it is already claimed, find out who holds the login – it is often a former staff member or an old agency. Move ownership to a practice email account that outlives any individual, and add the practice manager as a manager. Everything else this week depends on having the keys.

Fix 2 (Tuesday): make the hours true

Wrong opening hours are the fastest way to earn an angry review from someone who travelled to a closed door. Check the standard hours against reality, then set special hours for upcoming bank holidays while you are there. Check the phone number and website link at the same time – all three should match what your own website says.

Fix 3 (Wednesday): choose the right categories

Your primary category should say precisely what you are – “Dental clinic”, “General practitioner”, “Physiotherapist” – not a vague “Medical clinic” if something closer exists. Add secondary categories for genuine additional services. Categories shape which searches you can appear in, so five minutes here matters more than most people expect.

Fix 4 (Thursday): add photos taken by a human this year

Patients scroll photos to answer one question: “will I feel comfortable here?” Add a handful of honest, current pictures – the entrance (so people recognise it from the street), reception, a waiting area, a treatment room, and the team if they are willing. Phone photos in daylight are fine. Skip stock imagery; patients can tell, and it reads as having something to hide.

Fix 5 (Friday morning): rewrite the description in plain English

The business description is often blank or written like a brochure. Two or three sentences do it: who you are, what you offer, who you serve, how to register or book. For example: “[Practice name] is a family-run dental practice in [town], offering NHS and private care. New patients are welcome – call us or book through our website.” No superlatives needed; clarity is the persuasion.

Fix 6 (Friday afternoon): answer every unanswered review

Scroll your reviews and reply to any without a response – the old ones too. Businesses that respond to reviews are seen as 1.7× more trustworthy (Google/Ipsos). Keep replies short and warm: “Thank you for taking the time – we’ll share this with the team.” For critical reviews, stay polite, never confirm the person is a patient, never discuss any care detail in public, and offer a private route: “We’re sorry to read this – please contact our practice manager on [number] so we can look into it properly.”

What Friday leaves you with

By the weekend the listing tells the truth: right hours, right category, real photos, a clear description and no review left hanging. That is the foundation the 76% of consumers who regularly read online reviews (BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2023) will actually see. The one thing this week does not fix is the flow of new reviews – that comes from inviting every patient, never from incentives or from filtering out unhappy ones, both of which breach Google’s review policy.