1. Fetch the profile
We pull the public Google Business Profile through the Google Places API: category, address, hours, photos, star rating, review count and the most recent reviews. No scraping, no logged-in data.
Methodology
How we measure a Google Business Profile
Every score in our scan comes from public Google data and one fixed calculation. This page opens up the whole method: which sources we use, how we calculate, and where the data stops.
2. Measure map pack position
We run a search for the primary category inside the business's own city and record where the profile lands among local competitors. Position is therefore category- and city-specific, never a national average.
3. Score the reputation
The score uses a Bayesian average: rating × log10(review count + 1), smoothed toward the category mean. That stops 5.0 from 3 reviews outranking 4.6 from 400 reviews.
4. Reply behaviour and recency
From the fetched reviews we compute the reply rate and how recent the newest review is. Replies and recency weigh more heavily than raw volume, because both are activity signals.
5. Profile completeness
We check the fields Google itself uses to consider a profile complete: categories, website, phone, hours, photos, services and description. Every missing field lowers the score.
What this scan cannot see
An honest method names its limits too. These are ours:
- We only see what is public. Google Business Profile dashboard insights (searches, calls, direction requests) are not included.
- The Places API returns a sample of reviews, not every review. Reply rate is therefore an estimate based on that sample.
- Map pack positions differ per person and per location. Our measurement is neutral (no personal history) and can differ from what you see on your own phone.
- A scan is a snapshot. Ratings, reviews and competitors move, so compare scans over time rather than treating one result as final.
- Individual scan results are stored for 10 days. After that we keep only anonymous, aggregated numbers for research — no business names.
See the method run on your own profile
The scan is free and takes about a minute. Prefer to see the numbers across every business we scanned first?