Caleb Ulku provides a step-by-step tutorial on optimizing a Google Business Profile (GBP) using AI tools like ChatGPT. He explains that GBP map results capture 60-70% of local search clicks versus only 20-30% for organic website results, making GBP optimization more impactful than traditional SEO for local businesses. The tutorial covers creating and verifying a GBP (including the now-required video verification), using specific ChatGPT prompts to generate 20-30 services, 4-5 categories, and a business description, and syncing website content with GBP categories using H2 tags or dedicated service pages. He also addresses reviews, GBP posts, geotagged photos, messaging responsiveness, and phone answer rates as ranking and trust signals.
When someone searches for a local service (like 'Plumber Houston'), 60-70% of searchers will call or click on one of the three map results, which are powered by Google Business Profiles — not websites. In contrast, only 20-30% of searchers click on organic website results. That means two to three times more customers go to the map result than find your organic website. The sponsored/ad results at the top only capture about 5-10% of clicks.
Google uses what it calls a 'blended algorithm' that considers both your website content and your Google Business Profile itself. One of the strongest ranking factors is the physical distance from the searcher to the business address — the closer the searcher is to your address, the higher you tend to rank. The goal of GBP optimization is to build enough trust with Google so that your profile ranks well even for searchers who are farther away from your business address, allowing you to outrank competitors who may be physically closer.
Before creating a new GBP, you should establish online evidence that the business exists. Steps include: (1) Search for the business name to see if results exist; if not, create them. (2) Buy a domain (either niche+city like PlumberHouston.com or a branded domain). (3) Do local citations for the business name. (4) Issue a press release. (5) Create a website with homepage content about the service. (6) Order physical items like car magnets, business cards with matching email/domain, and yard signs. (7) Wait approximately 30 days for all this content to age and appear more legitimate to Google. The business name used must match formal business formation paperwork, insurance statements, or utility bills.
In 2019, verification was simple — you just entered your business name, address, and phone number, and Google mailed you a postcard with a code. Now, in the last 12 months or so, almost every new Google Business Profile requires a video verification. There are two steps to video verification: first, Google's automated system accepts the video upload, and then Google manually reviews it to decide whether the business is real and whether to verify it. Additionally, Google now wants to see online evidence that the business exists before approving a new GBP.
You should aim to add 20 to 30 different services to your Google Business Profile. If you can't think of that many, you can use ChatGPT with this prompt: 'You are a local SEO expert. What services should be added to a Google business profile for an [business type] in [city, state]? Please be specific and list at least 20 services, but feel free to list additional ones that are highly relevant. Each service should be a specific offering and not a broad category. Also, include variations of services that might have different names but are commonly searched for by target customers.' Review the list for accuracy before adding the services to your profile.
You should aim for four to five categories — the maximum Google allows. Most business owners only add one, but you should use as many as possible. To find the right categories, use this ChatGPT prompt: 'You are a local SEO expert. What additional categories should a local [business type] use for their Google business profile? Here are 20 services that this company provides: [list services].' Including your services list in the prompt helps ChatGPT match services with appropriate categories. Adding the services to the prompt first (before working on categories) is recommended so the categories align with your services.
Use this prompt: 'You are an expert in local SEO and improving Google Business Profile rank position. Please write a Google Business Profile description for a [business type] in [city, state], targeting 750 characters in length. This business has been serving local clients for over [X] years, and the unique selling proposition is [your USP].' Customize the business type, location, years in business, and unique selling proposition to match your specific business or client.
Write 20 or so GBP posts using ChatGPT, then schedule them to publish one per week using a tool like GoHighLevel. When you run out (after your 20th post), delete the first post before publishing the 21st to avoid duplicate content. This entire process takes about half an hour and only needs to be done once. While some SEOs debate whether regular GBP posts improve rankings, the minimal time investment makes it worth doing. The key benefit is that it only needs to be set up one time.
Yes, you should geotag photos before uploading them to your GBP. While Google removes the geotag data when photos are uploaded, it's unclear whether Google uses that data to verify photos are real or whether it impacts ranking — since the effort is minimal (under 30 minutes), it's worth doing. For photo sources: business-provided photos are best, AI-generated photos are a distant second option, and stock images should never be used because Google can match images and knows they're stock photos. Schedule photo uploads (e.g., once a day or once a week) using a tool like GoHighLevel.
Reviews are not as critical to GBP ranking as many people claim. For example, in a competitive search like 'Plumber Houston,' some businesses with only 150 reviews rank in the top three while others with 500+ reviews don't. However, once you ARE ranked in the top three, reviews become very important for building user trust and getting customers to choose your business over the other two shown. The most effective review-gathering method is to give the business owner a short script and a direct GBP review link, then have the owner text it to prior customers from their personal phone. This approach achieves a 60-70% success rate. An automated GoHighLevel sequence (3 texts + 3 emails over 3-4 weeks) is the second-best method, achieving about 10-15% success rate.
Several activities help signal that your GBP is active: (1) Keep holiday hours up to date — set a calendar reminder every other month to fill in upcoming holiday hours since Google only allows a few months in advance. (2) Reply to every review that comes in, working in service keywords or other relevant terms in your responses. (3) Respond to user-suggested changes (whether you approve or reject them, always respond). (4) Fill out every single field/box on your GBP profile. (5) Respond quickly to GBP messages — ignoring messages can negatively impact rankings. (6) Answer phone calls promptly, as high missed-call percentages can negatively impact rankings because it signals a poor user experience to Google.
GBP messaging is a feature that allows customers to essentially text your business directly through your Google Business Profile. It's recommended to keep it turned on, as more customers are using it instead of calling. However, you need to respond quickly — ignoring GBP messages can lead to negative ranking impacts. If you can't respond manually, you can use GoHighLevel to automatically respond to GBP messages and send you push notifications or texts when messages arrive so you can review and follow up. If you're truly unable to manage it, you can turn it off, though this is not recommended.
Your website content needs to align with the categories and services listed on your GBP so Google sees consistent information across both. For low-to-medium competition markets: use your homepage to mention all GBP categories as H2 tags, with a paragraph under each H2 about the most relevant service for that category. For high competition markets: create individual service pages for each GBP category, internally link them back to the homepage, use the GBP category as the H1 and title tag, use the target service as the H2, and match the URL slug to the GBP category. When unsure about competition level, treat it as high competition and create the service pages.
First, copy all your homepage content. Then use this prompt: 'I'm giving you homepage content for a website that wants to write their Google Business Profile for [niche + city]. The Google Business Profile categories they've used are: [list all categories]. Please rewrite this content focusing on adding exact match keywords for each category as H2 tags. When you provide the content back, italicize anything that you changed so I can quickly evaluate your edits. Under each H2, a single relevant service should be mentioned with a paragraph about how that service relates to the GBP category. The services provided by the client are: [list your 20 services].' This prompt makes ChatGPT rewrite your homepage so it matches your GBP categories and services.
A human editor reviewing AI-generated content should focus on two things: (1) Fact-checking — AI tends to 'hallucinate,' meaning it can confidently state incorrect information, so all facts need to be verified. (2) Adding uniqueness — AI-generated content tends to be very generic, so the human editor should add specific, unique details that differentiate the content and make it more valuable and authentic.
Based on real client examples shown in the video, ranking improvements typically occur within two to three months of applying these optimization methods. The presenter showed before-and-after ranking improvements for three clients in West Columbia, Concord, and San Mateo — all achieved within two to three months. For clients who already have an established website and GBP (a couple of years old) but are struggling to rank, applying these methods can push them into the top three positions in just a few months — unless they're in an extremely competitive market like Houston.
Google has been observed to negatively impact rankings for businesses with high missed-call percentages. The reasoning is that Google prioritizes user experience: if a user searches for a service, Google presents a business, the user calls that business, and no one answers — that's a bad user experience. Since Google's goal is to provide good search results that lead to positive experiences, businesses that consistently don't answer their phones signal poor user experience, which can hurt their rankings. The recommendation is to always answer the phone and stay on the line for at least 10-20 seconds (you can hang up if it's a spam or marketing call).
For a typical local search query: Sponsored results (ads) at the top capture approximately 5-10% of clicks. Map results (Google Business Profiles) in the middle capture 60-70% of clicks — these are the three businesses shown in the map pack. Organic website results below the map capture 20-30% of clicks. This means the map results (GBP) receive two to three times more traffic than organic website results, making your Google Business Profile the most important asset for capturing local search traffic.
For local businesses trying to get more customers with Google search, their Google Business Profile is more important than their website.
60% to 70% of searchers are going to call or click on one of those three map results — and those are not your website. Those are your Google Business Profile.
Two to three times the traffic — the customers will go to your map result than will find your organic website.
Google generally doesn't trust stuff that's 45 seconds old.
It only takes a half hour to write and schedule a lifetime of Google Business Profile posts — and things that only take a half hour to do, we generally just do them.
Not worth split testing something that's so quick and easy.
Reviews are not very important to ranking a GBP. Once you are ranked in the top three, reviews are very important to build trust with your users — just not as important to rank as what a lot of other people say.
That request coming from the business owner's phone — the response rate is massive. Almost 60 to 70% versus 10 to 15% from an automated sequence.
I have seen negative rank impacts from ignoring GBP messaging.
If a user searches for something, Google presents them with a business, the user calls that business and there's no answer — that's a bad user experience. So you always, always need to answer the phone.
AI tends to hallucinate, which is a polite way to say it just makes things up.
Content is just a lot less expensive now than it was a year or two ago — now we just treat almost everything like it's high competition.
Google wants to see that the business exists beyond just a brand new GBP; if there are no results, you need to create them first
Online presence via a domain helps Google verify the business exists before GBP verification
Creates online evidence of the business's existence to support GBP verification; use a source like 'the ice cream truck shop' if unsure where to go
When Google crawls it, it needs to see the business exists; the content doesn't need to be final at this stage
Physical business artifacts help establish legitimacy for Google's manual video verification review
Google doesn't trust brand-new information; letting citations, press releases, and the website age makes the business look more realistic
Google requires proof that the business is real; the name must match official documents
Almost every new GBP now requires video verification; download the free step-by-step guide and sample video from the description link
More services help Google understand what terms to rank the GBP for; use the prompt: 'You are a local SEO expert. What services should be added to a Google business profile for an [niche] company in [city]? Please be specific and list at least 20 services...'
Most business owners only add one category; Google allows five, so maximize them. Use the prompt: 'You are a local SEO expert. What additional categories should a local [niche] use for their Google business profile? Here are 20 services...'
The description helps Google and users understand the business; use the prompt template provided in the video
Regular GBP posts may help ranking and only take about half an hour to set up for a lifetime of posts; when you run out, reuse from the beginning but delete the old post first to avoid duplicates
Google may use geotag data to verify photos are real or to impact ranking; takes less than half an hour and is worth doing
Google can match stock images and knows they are stock; real business photos are far more effective
Consistent activity signals to Google that the GBP is active
This method achieves a ~60–70% response rate versus ~10–15% for automated methods because the request comes directly from the business owner
This is the second-best review method with a ~10–15% success rate; avoids spamming customers by stopping after a link click or after all messages are sent
Google can only accept holiday hours a few months in advance; keeping them updated shows Google the GBP is active
Shows Google the GBP is active and builds trust with users; GoHighLevel can automate AI-generated responses
Responding (regardless of approval/rejection) signals GBP activity to Google
Completeness signals to Google that the GBP is legitimate and well-maintained
Ignoring GBP messages can cause negative ranking impacts; if you truly can't respond, turn messaging off rather than ignoring it
High missed call percentages have been observed to cause negative ranking impacts; Google sees unanswered calls as a bad user experience
Syncing website content with GBP categories and services builds trust with Google; use the prompt: 'I'm giving you homepage content... please rewrite focusing on adding exact match keywords for each category as H2 tags... italicize anything you changed'
In high competition spaces, the homepage alone cannot cover all categories effectively; dedicated service pages give each category its own SEO weight
AI tends to hallucinate (make things up) and produce generic content; a human editor addresses both issues
AI-generated content is cheap enough now that it's not worth the time to evaluate competition level; defaulting to high competition is safer
Recommended as the primary AI tool for generating GBP services lists, categories, descriptions, posts, and website content
"ChatGPT can help you. In fact, here's the prompt that you should give ChatGPT for it to generate services for your niche."
Recommended as a scheduling and automation tool for GBP posts, photos, review requests, automated responses, and messaging
"Combine that with a tool like GoHighLevel where you can schedule them out very easily forever."
Primary subject of the tutorial; the local business listing product being optimized
"this video is going to be a complete tutorial step by step breakdown on how you can use AI to set up and optimize a Google business profile."
Mentioned as Google's parent company that earns revenue from ad clicks
"Google's parent company Alphabet makes nearly 80% of its revenue from you clicking on those ads."
Referenced throughout as the search engine and platform whose algorithm and trust signals are being optimized for
"The way the Google business profile rankings work, Google calls it a blended algorithm."
Mentioned as a favorite source for press releases and citations
"if you're not sure where to go for a press release or citations, my favorite source is here, the ice cream truck shop."