Google Business Profile is the single highest-ROI free marketing asset most UK law firms have. It is also the most consistently misconfigured. Across the firms I audit, twelve specific settings are wrong almost universally. Each one is a quiet visibility tax.
1. The primary category is too generic
Most firms select “Solicitor” or “Law firm” as primary category. Better: pick the category that matches your dominant practice area (Family law attorney, Commercial law firm, etc). The primary category is the strongest relevance signal Google uses.
2. Secondary categories are blank
You can add up to nine secondary categories. Most firms have none. Each secondary category extends the queries your GBP is eligible to rank for. Add every practice area you genuinely cover.
3. Services list is empty or generic
The Services section accepts unlimited entries. Most firms have one or two. Each service should be a specific buyer-facing offering (“Divorce solicitor”, “Will writing”, “Conveyancing for first-time buyers”) with a 100-300 word description.
4. The business description does not include practice area keywords
The description appears in the local pack listing. Most firm descriptions are generic (“Independent law firm serving the local community”). Better: explicitly mention your top 3-5 practice areas and your city. The description is a relevance signal Google reads.
5. Photos are stock or outdated
Google weights profiles with active, original photography. Most firms have a few stock images from the website build five years ago. Better: add at least one new photo per month — office, team, location — to signal an active business.
6. Posts have not been touched in months (or ever)
GBP Posts are a freshness signal. Posts expire after 7 days for events and 90 days for general posts, but the profile is treated as more active if posts are added weekly. Most firms have stale posts from 18 months ago and nothing since.
7. The Q&A section is unmoderated
Anyone can ask a question on a GBP. Anyone (including competitors and disgruntled former clients) can answer. Most firms have not seeded the Q&A with their own questions and answers, and have not been monitoring it. Result: incorrect or unanswered questions sit visibly on the listing.
8. Reviews are not being requested systematically
Most firms ask for reviews ad hoc — when a satisfied client is in the office, or when a partner remembers. The firms dominating local packs send a structured review request after every closed matter, with a one-click direct link to the review form. Review velocity (recency and frequency) matters more than review count.
9. Reviews are not being responded to
Google tracks response rate. Profiles where the business responds to most reviews rank higher than profiles where the business ignores them. Most firms either respond to none or respond only to negative ones, both of which underperform.
10. NAP inconsistencies across the web
Name, address, phone number variations across directories, the firm website, social profiles, and the SRA register weaken the local pack ranking. “Smith & Jones Solicitors LLP” on the website but “Smith Jones Solicitors” on the GBP. “+44 (0)20 7123 4567” on the website but “0207 123 4567” on the GBP. Each inconsistency is a relevance signal lost.
11. Service area is set incorrectly
Firms that serve clients across a wider geography than the office address should set the service area. Most firms either leave it blank (losing visibility in adjacent areas they could serve) or set it too wide (diluting the proximity signal in their actual catchment).
12. Multiple offices share a single GBP
Each genuine, staffed office should have its own GBP, optimised independently. Firms that try to run a single profile for multiple offices cede the local pack in every secondary location.
What this means for partners
Twelve settings, none individually dramatic, collectively responsible for the visibility gap most firms have in their local market. The fixes are typically a few hours of work per office, plus a systematic process change for reviews and posts.
The realistic uplift: firms moving from a typical neglected GBP to a properly configured and actively maintained one usually see local pack rank improvements within 4-12 weeks.
If you would like an audit of where your firm is GBP sits today and what the prioritised fix list looks like, the SRA-Compliant AI Visibility Audit includes a full GBP audit. Or book an intro call for a direct conversation.
