Your agency promised a Google Business profile and never delivered
If your web agency promised to set up your Google Business profile and never did, you are missing the single most important piece of free local marketing available to a small business. The Google Business profile is the box that appears on the right of the search results with your phone number, opening hours and reviews. If it does not exist, you are invisible to anyone searching for your service nearby.
What a Google Business profile actually is
It is the free listing Google shows when someone searches for a local business. Your name, address, phone number, opening hours, photos, reviews and a link to your website all sit in one box at the top of the results.
For a plumber in Leeds or a beautician in Bristol, this listing brings in more enquiries than the website itself in most months. It is also free. Google does not charge a penny for it.
That is what makes it worth setting up properly. It is also what makes it inexcusable when an agency charges you for it and skips the work.
How to check whether yours was set up
Open Google in a private or incognito window so your own searches do not skew the result. Search for your business name and town. Then search for your service and town, for example "plumber Sheffield".
Look for the box on the right with a map and your details. If nothing appears, or a partial listing appears with no photos, no description and no link to your site, the profile was either never claimed or never finished.
You can also go to google.com/business and sign in with the email address the agency would have used. If they registered it under their own account, you will not see anything.
What the agency probably did instead
Three things usually happen. Either the agency created a profile under their own Google account and forgot about it, or they never created one at all, or they ticked the box on their internal checklist without doing the work.
The third one is more common than agencies will ever admit. "Google Business profile setup" appears on the invoice as a £150-300 line item and takes about twenty minutes of actual work.
If the profile does exist under the agency's account, you have a second problem. They own it. The reviews, the photos, the opening hours - all sitting in an account you cannot log into.
How to claim the profile yourself
Go to google.com/business and sign in with a Google account you control. Search for your business. If a listing exists, you can request ownership - Google will contact the current owner (your agency) and give them seven days to respond.
If they do not respond, ownership transfers to you. If they refuse, you can appeal directly to Google with proof you run the business - utility bills, a photo of the shopfront, your Companies House registration.
If no listing exists at all, create one from scratch. Google sends a postcard with a verification code to your business address. It takes about a week. Once verified, you are in full control.
What to say to the agency
Keep it short and in writing. "The Google Business profile setup was included in the package I paid for in [month]. Please confirm whether the profile exists, send me the login details, and transfer ownership to my Google account at [your email]."
Do not ask them to explain why it was not done. You will get a story about how the verification postcard was sent and never arrived, or how they were waiting on something from you. Just get the asset transferred or get the money back.
If they registered it under their own account and refuse to hand it over, that is a refund situation. You paid for something that was either never delivered or is being held hostage.
Stop paying for things that were never done
The Google Business profile sits alongside the other items agencies tend to charge for and quietly skip - the sitemap submission, the analytics setup, the SEO audit nobody ever reads. Most monthly retainers are built on the assumption you will not check.
If you are still paying the same agency a monthly fee, ask for an itemised list of what was actually delivered against what was promised. The reply, or the silence, will tell you what to do next.
SkipTheAgency's Maintained plan at £65/month includes Google Business profile updates as standard - hours, photos, replies to reviews, the lot. The profile stays in your account, not mine, so if you ever leave you walk away with everything intact.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my agency set up my Google Business profile?
Search for your business name and town on Google in a private window. If a box appears on the right with your address, phone number, opening hours and photos, it exists. If nothing appears or only a partial listing shows up, it was never set up properly.
Can I take ownership of a Google Business profile my agency created?
Yes. Go to google.com/business, sign in, search for your business and request ownership. Google contacts the current owner and gives them seven days to respond. If they do not, ownership transfers to you automatically.
How much should a Google Business profile setup cost?
Nothing from Google - the listing itself is free. An agency charging you to set it up is charging for about twenty minutes of work. A reasonable one-off fee would be £50-100, not the £200-300 some agencies bundle in.
What if my agency refuses to hand over the Google Business profile?
Appeal directly to Google with proof you own the business - utility bills, Companies House registration, a photo of the premises. Google will transfer ownership. You should also ask for a refund on the line item, since the asset is unusable to you in their account.
Is a Google Business profile worth more than a website for a small business?
For most local service businesses, yes. The profile brings in more direct enquiries - phone calls, direction requests, review reads - than the website does in a typical month. The website backs it up. Skipping the profile is a bigger mistake than skipping the site.
Can I have a Google Business profile without a physical shop?
Yes. If you serve customers at their location - plumbers, electricians, mobile therapists - you list a service area instead of an address. The address itself stays hidden. Google calls this a service-area business.
Get the Google Business profile you already paid for
I will claim or recover your Google Business profile, transfer it into your account, and keep it updated alongside your site. SkipTheAgency's Maintained plan starts at £65/month and includes profile updates as standard.
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