Set Up and Optimize Your Google Business Profile the Right Way — Starting This Week

When someone searches "CPA near me" or "tax accountant in [city]", Google returns a Map Pack — the three local listings that appear above organic results. Appearing in that pack is often worth more traffic than ranking on page one organically, because the searcher is already in buying mode and wants a local firm.

Your Google Business Profile is the primary input Google uses to decide which firms appear in that pack. It is not a directory listing you set once and forget. It is a live, editable asset that rewards consistent maintenance and penalizes neglect.

In our experience working with accounting firms, GBP is typically the fastest path to measurable local visibility improvement — often showing movement within 4–8 weeks of a structured optimization, compared to the 4–6 months organic SEO typically requires. That does not mean it replaces a full SEO strategy, but it is the right place to start if you are behind on local visibility.

Three factors drive Map Pack ranking for accounting firms:

• Relevance — how well your profile matches the searcher's intent (categories, services, description)
• Distance — proximity of your listed address to the searcher
• Prominence — review count, recency, rating, and your website's overall authority

You control relevance almost entirely through your profile configuration. Distance is fixed. Prominence builds over time through reviews and citations. This guide focuses on the levers you can act on immediately.

Compliance note: This content is educational and does not constitute legal or accounting licensing advice. When describing your services publicly, verify that your language complies with your state board's advertising rules and AICPA Code ET §1.600 regarding solicitation and false or misleading statements.

Category selection is the most consequential decision in your GBP setup. Google uses your primary category as a core relevance signal, so choosing the wrong one can suppress your visibility for your most important searches.

Primary Category Options for Accounting Firms

• Accountant — best for full-service CPA firms, bookkeeping practices, and advisory-focused firms where tax preparation is one of several services
• Tax Preparation Service — best for firms where individual and small-business tax returns are the dominant revenue source
• Certified Public Accountant — available in some markets; use if your credentialing is a primary differentiator
• Bookkeeping Service — only appropriate as a primary category if bookkeeping is your core offering, not a complement to CPA services

Secondary Categories

You can add up to nine additional categories. Use them to represent actual services you offer — not aspirational ones. Common secondary categories for CPA firms include:

• Tax Preparation Service (if your primary is Accountant)
• Financial Consultant
• Payroll Service
• Business Management Consultant

Do not add categories for services you do not actively provide. Google's guidelines prohibit keyword stuffing through category selection, and it can create client expectation problems if someone contacts you expecting a service you listed but do not offer.

How to Decide

Look at your last 12 months of new client sources. If the majority came through tax-related searches, 'Tax Preparation Service' as your primary will align your profile with actual demand. If most came through referrals seeking general CPA services — audit, advisory, bookkeeping — 'Accountant' is the stronger primary choice. Your category should reflect your revenue reality, not your aspirational positioning.

Google rewards profile completeness. A partially filled profile signals low engagement to Google's local algorithm and creates friction for prospective clients comparing firms in the Map Pack. Work through these fields in order of ranking impact.

Business Name

Use your legal or DBA business name only. Do not append keywords like "CPA" or "Tax" to your name unless they are part of your registered business name. Google's guidelines prohibit keyword insertion in the name field — it can trigger a suspension.

Address and Service Area

If clients visit your office, enter your physical address. If you work remotely or serve clients across a region without a storefront, configure a service area instead and hide your address. Attempting to show both a physical address and a broad service area simultaneously often confuses Google's proximity calculations.

For service area firms, define your radius conservatively. A tight, accurate service area typically performs better than an overextended one that Google cannot confidently rank you for.

Phone and Website

Use your direct office number, not a tracking number as the primary. Link to your homepage or a dedicated landing page — not a social media profile. Consistency between your GBP phone/address and your website's footer NAP (name, address, phone) is a trust signal Google checks.

Services

Add individual services explicitly: tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll processing, financial statement preparation, audit, business advisory. Each service can include a description. Write these in plain language that matches how clients search — not internal firm terminology.

Business Description

You have 750 characters. Use the first 250 for your most important message — that is what displays before the "More" truncation. Lead with what you do, who you serve, and your location. Avoid superlatives and unverifiable claims. State board advertising rules in many jurisdictions prohibit terms like "best" or "expert" without substantiation — verify your state's specific rules before publishing.

Photos

Add a current exterior shot, interior office photo, team photo, and your logo. Update photos at least twice a year. Many firms report that profiles with recent, genuine photos receive more profile views than those relying on Google's auto-generated street view thumbnail.

GBP posts appear in your profile and, in some cases, in Map Pack results. They expire after 7 days (except Events and Offers, which run until their end date), so a consistent posting cadence is necessary to maintain their presence.

Post Types Available

• Update — general announcements, tax deadline reminders, service highlights
• Offer — limited-time promotions (check state board rules on fee advertising before using)
• Event — seminars, webinars, or community events your firm hosts

Seasonal Posting Calendar for CPA Firms

Structure your posting calendar around the natural rhythm of the tax year:

• January–April (Tax Season): Post weekly. Topics include filing deadlines, required documents checklist, extension filing, new tax law changes relevant to individual or small business clients. This is when your prospective clients are actively searching — your post activity during this window has the highest visibility impact.
• May–June (Post-Tax Season): Shift to advisory and planning topics. Quarterly estimated tax reminders, mid-year business reviews, retirement planning for self-employed clients.
• July–September: Bookkeeping and payroll service highlights. Back-to-school season is when new small business owners often start searching for ongoing accounting support.
• October–December: Year-end planning posts. Tax-loss harvesting awareness, retirement contribution deadlines, business entity review.

Post Best Practices

Keep posts under 300 words. Include a single clear call to action — "Call to schedule" or "Learn more" linking to a relevant page on your site. Add a photo to every post; text-only posts get fewer clicks in our experience. Avoid making specific financial projections or guarantees in post copy — this creates both regulatory risk and client expectation issues.

Do not automate posts with generic content. A post about "tax tips" with no specifics reads as filler to both Google and prospective clients. Specific, timely posts — "The IRS extended the Q3 estimated tax deadline — here's what that means for our clients" — perform consistently better.

Reviews are a direct ranking factor in Google's local algorithm and the primary trust signal prospective clients use when choosing between two similar firms in the Map Pack. A firm with 12 recent 5-star reviews will typically outrank a firm with 80 older reviews and no recent activity — recency matters as much as volume.

How to Generate Reviews Consistently

The most effective review generation method is a direct, personal ask at a natural high-satisfaction moment — after a successful tax filing, after resolving a complex business issue, or at the end of an onboarding call. Automate the follow-up, not the ask itself.

Create a short GBP review link (available in your Google Business dashboard under "Get more reviews") and include it in your post-engagement email. A simple message works better than an elaborate one: "If you found our work helpful, a Google review takes about 90 seconds and helps other business owners find us."

Compliance Considerations

Before running any review generation campaign, review AICPA Code ET §1.600 on solicitation and your state board's specific advertising rules. Some state boards restrict how CPAs can solicit testimonials or endorsements. Additionally, the FTC Endorsement Guides require that any incentivized reviews be clearly disclosed — offering discounts or gifts in exchange for reviews violates both FTC rules and Google's review policies. Do not offer incentives for reviews.

Responding to Reviews

Respond to every review — positive and negative — within 72 hours. For positive reviews, acknowledge the specific work they mentioned rather than using a generic template. For negative reviews, respond professionally without disclosing any client information (even to defend yourself) — this is a confidentiality obligation under AICPA standards. A calm, professional response to a negative review often reassures prospective clients more than the absence of negative reviews entirely.

Review Velocity

Aim for a steady cadence rather than bursts. A sudden influx of reviews can trigger Google's spam filters. Industry benchmarks suggest that two to four new reviews per month is a sustainable and effective pace for most accounting practices — though this varies by market size and firm growth stage.

A GBP profile is not a one-time setup task. Google allows the public to suggest edits to your listing — including changes to your address, phone number, hours, or business name. These suggested edits can go live without your explicit approval if you are not monitoring the profile.

Monthly Maintenance Checklist

• Check the "Suggest an edit" section for any pending public changes to your profile
• Verify your hours are current, including holiday closures and tax-season extended hours
• Publish at least two posts during the month
• Respond to any new reviews received
• Review your profile's Q&A section — anyone can post a question and anyone can answer it, including incorrect answers from the public

Seasonal Updates

Update your business description and service highlights at least twice a year to reflect any changes in your firm's focus. If you added a new service line — say, fractional CFO work or cryptocurrency tax reporting — add it as a named service in your profile. If you stopped offering a service, remove it. Outdated information erodes both client trust and Google's confidence in your profile accuracy.

Tracking Performance

Google Business Profile's built-in insights show search queries that triggered your profile, the number of profile views, direction requests, and calls. Review these monthly. If you are getting strong impression volume but low call or direction conversions, the issue is usually your profile's photos, review count, or description — not your ranking position.

If you want to connect GBP performance to website behavior, use UTM parameters on the website URL linked in your profile. This lets you track GBP-originated visits in Google Analytics separately from other local traffic sources.

For firms ready to move beyond self-managed GBP optimization into a full local SEO strategy, explore what professional GBP optimization for accountants looks like as part of a managed engagement.