Resources
Free step-by-step guides that answer the Google Business Profile and Google Maps questions agents ask, in plain words.
What you’ll learn
How Google picks three agents, and how to be one
Each guide answers one question an agent types into Google. Every one has numbered steps with times, a real example from a published Ashford client story or report, the mistakes to skip, and Google’s own help pages as sources.
guides, in three stages
minutes to read every one
no sign-up to read
01
How the map pack works
You’ll learn Google’s three tests for who gets in, which are relevance, distance and prominence.
02
How to own and protect your profile
You’ll set one up, verify it and know what to do if Google suspends it.
03
What Google reads, and how to fix it
Your details on other sites (citations), your categories, your posts and your reviews, taken in the order that matters.
04
What to measure, and when to get help
Five numbers from Google’s Performance screen, your map rank and a plain test for whether you need a cleanup, a rebuild or monthly management.
The guides
Start at the top, or search for your question
Stage 01
Get a verified profile in your name and the right categories, and learn the way back if Google suspends it.
Stage 02
What Google reads when it picks the three agents on the map: matching details, posts, photos and reviews.
Stage 03
The numbers to check each month, and how to tell when the work has outgrown your time.
Words you’ll see
Six terms, in plain words
Google Business Profile
The free business listing Google shows on Maps and beside search results, with your name, phone, reviews, hours and photos.
Map pack
The map and the three businesses Google shows first for a local search like “realtor near me”.
Verification
It’s Google confirming the business is real and that the owner controls the profile. Having a profile isn’t the same as being verified.
Google jail
What agents call a profile that’s suspended, rejected or stuck in verification.
Categories
The labels that tell Google what the business is, one main category plus up to nine more, and they decide which searches it can appear for.
Citation
Any mention of the business’s name, address and phone on another site, like directories, brokerage pages, Zillow or Yelp.
Rather talk it through?
It’s free. We’ll pull your map rank before we talk and walk through the gaps these guides cover on your own profile.