Google Business Profile Optimisation for Letchworth Businesses

Your Google Business Profile is probably costing you customers right now

Right. Let's talk about the thing most Letchworth businesses set up once in 2019 and haven't touched since.

Your Google Business Profile. The thing that shows up when someone searches "plumber near me" or "cafe Letchworth" or whatever it is you do. It's not just a listing anymore. It's where most of your customers decide whether to call you or the business three doors down.

I've looked at maybe 200 GBPs in North Herts over the last year. Properly looked at them, not just glanced. And honestly, about 80% are doing the bare minimum. Name, address, phone number. Maybe a photo from 2017 that's somehow both blurry and overexposed.

The thing is, Google's been quietly turning these profiles into something much bigger. Posts, Q&A, booking buttons, product listings, service menus. Most of it gets ignored. And that's mental, because this is free real estate at the exact moment someone's looking for what you sell.

What actually matters in 2026

Google's algorithm for local search has changed a lot. Used to be you could stuff your business name with keywords and call it a day. "Dan's Plumbing Services Emergency Plumber Letchworth Hitchin." Looked ridiculous but it worked.

Not anymore. Now it's about signals. How people interact with your profile. Whether they click through to your site. How long they spend looking at your photos. Whether they ask questions. All of it feeds back.

And then there's the AI search layer. ChatGPT, Perplexus, Google's own SGE (Search Generative Experience, the AI overview thing that shows up before regular results now). These systems pull from your GBP data. If your profile's incomplete or inconsistent, you're invisible to AI answers. That's AEO in practice. Answer Engine Optimisation. Making sure when someone asks an AI "who does X in Letchworth," your business shows up.

We've had three clients in Baldock and Hitchin in the last six months who suddenly got a bump in calls. Didn't change their website. Didn't run ads. Just fixed their GBP properly and started showing up in AI-generated local recommendations.

The bits everyone gets wrong

Categories. You get a primary category and you can add secondaries. Most people pick one and forget about it. But if you're a cafe that also does outside catering, you need both. If you're an accountant who specialises in small business tax, there's a category for that. I've seen businesses miss out on entire customer segments because they picked "restaurant" when "breakfast restaurant" or "brunch restaurant" would've been more specific.

Service areas. If you serve Letchworth but also cover Stevenage, Hitchin, Royston... you need to list them. Google doesn't guess. A plumber based in Letchworth who doesn't list Baldock as a service area won't show up when someone in Baldock searches. Seems obvious when you say it out loud but half the trades around here haven't set this up.

Business description. You've got 750 characters. Most people write two sentences. This is where you tell Google (and people) what you actually do. Be specific. "Family-run Italian restaurant in Letchworth Garden City serving fresh pasta and wood-fired pizza since 2015" is better than "We serve great food." One of those helps Google understand what you are. The other's just... words.

Photos. This one drives me mad. Your GBP shows up in search, in Maps, in AI answers. People look at your photos before they look at your website. And I see businesses with three photos. One of the shopfront from across the road. One interior shot that's so dark you can't tell what you're looking at. One of the owner from some networking event in 2018.

You should have 20+ photos minimum. Exterior, interior, products, team, work in progress if that makes sense for what you do. Update them. Seasonal stuff. New stock. A cafe in Hitchin we worked with started posting a photo of their special board every Monday. Nothing fancy, just a phone photo. Their profile views went up 40% in two months.

The stuff that actually moves the needle

Google Posts. These are the little updates that show in your profile. They last seven days, then they disappear. Most businesses don't use them at all.

But they work. You can post offers, events, updates, new products. Takes two minutes. And Google sees it as a signal that your business is active, which matters for ranking.

We tell clients to post weekly. Doesn't need to be War and Peace. "New summer menu available now" with a photo. "20% off garden clearance this week." "We've just taken on an apprentice, meet Josh." People read them. More importantly, Google sees you're maintaining the profile.

Q&A section. Anyone can ask a question on your GBP. Anyone can answer, including random people who've never been to your business. Which means you need to monitor it and answer questions yourself.

I've seen competitors sabotage businesses by asking loaded questions. "Is it true you're closing down?" on a perfectly healthy cafe's profile. If you don't answer, it just sits there. People see it and assume it's true.

Better to get ahead of it. Seed your own Q&A. Ask the questions customers actually ask. "Do you have parking?" "Are you open bank holidays?" Answer them properly. It fills out your profile and stops the section being empty (or worse, full of stuff you can't control).

Reviews are still the thing

Look, everyone knows reviews matter. But most businesses are passive about them. They wait for reviews to come in, say thanks, move on.

You need a system. Not a "please leave us a review" sign by the till that nobody reads. An actual process.

We've got a client in Letchworth (accountancy firm, based over near the town centre) who sends a review request email two weeks after they finish someone's tax return. Just a simple email. "If you were happy with how we handled things, we'd love a Google review." Links directly to their GBP review page.

They went from maybe one review every two months to two or three a week. Their ranking for "accountant Letchworth" went from page two to top three in about four months. Not the only thing that did it, but reviews were a big part.

And respond to every review. Even the good ones. Especially the bad ones, but that's another conversation.

Google's looking at review velocity (how often you get them), recency (when was the last one), and rating. But also sentiment and keywords in the review text. When someone says "great local plumber, fixed our boiler same day," that's gold. Those keywords matter.

The AI search angle

This is where it gets interesting. We're seeing more and more searches happening in ChatGPT, Perplexus, Claude. People ask natural questions. "Where can I get a good Sunday roast near Letchworth?" "Who does website design in North Herts?"

These AI systems pull from structured data. Your GBP is structured data. If it's complete and consistent with your website NAP (name, address, phone), you show up in AI answers. If it's not, you don't.

We've started treating GBP optimisation as part of AEO, not just SEO. Same principles. Make your information clear, consistent, detailed. Answer the questions people actually ask. Use natural language in your description and posts.

One cafe in Hitchin we worked with added "vegan options available" and "dog-friendly" to their GBP description and menu. Started showing up in AI-generated lists when people asked about vegan cafes or dog-friendly places to eat. Didn't change anything else. Just made that information explicit.

What to do about it

Right, so. If you're running a business in Letchworth, Hitchin, Baldock, wherever, and your GBP is just... sitting there, here's what to do:

• Claim it if you haven't. Obvious, but some businesses still don't own their profile.
• Fill out every section. All of it. Business hours, attributes, service area, description, categories.
• Add 20+ good photos. Recent ones. Well-lit. Show what you actually do.
• Start posting weekly. Even if it's small stuff. Google wants to see activity.
• Get a review system in place. Don't just hope people leave reviews.
• Monitor the Q&A. Answer questions. Add your own if it's empty.
• Check it monthly. Update hours, add new photos, keep it current.

It's not complicated. It's just work that most people can't be bothered to do. Which is exactly why it works when you do it properly.

If you want someone to just sort this out for you, that's what we do. Local SEO and AEO for businesses around here. We're based in Letchworth, we know the area, and we've done this enough times to know what actually works versus what's just noise. Book a call and we'll have a look at what you've got.