In the 23 businesses we audited, Google Business Profile was the strongest category by some distance, with an average score of 93.9%. Most plumbing and heating businesses have claimed and verified their GBP, which is a solid foundation. But claiming your profile is just the beginning. The businesses that dominate local search are the ones that treat their GBP as a living, active marketing channel - not a set-and-forget directory entry.
Why GBP Matters More Than Your Website
For most local service businesses, Google Business Profile drives more customer contacts than the company website. When someone searches "boiler service near me" or "emergency plumber [town]," the first thing they see is the Local Pack - the map with three business listings. Getting into that Local Pack, and optimising your listing within it, is the single most impactful thing you can do for local lead generation.
The Local Pack is driven by three factors: relevance (does your business match what the customer is searching for?), distance (how close are you to the searcher?), and prominence (how well-established and trusted is your business online?). You cannot control distance, but you can significantly influence relevance and prominence through your GBP.
Categories: The Foundation of Relevance
Your primary category is the most important signal you send to Google about what your business does. For most plumbing and heating businesses, the primary category should be "Plumber," "Heating Contractor," or "HVAC Contractor" - whichever most accurately describes your core service. You can add up to nine secondary categories, and you should use all of them to cover the full range of services you offer: "Gas Installation Service," "Boiler Supplier," "Central Heating Service," and so on.
One common mistake is choosing a category that is too broad. "Contractor" or "Home Services" tells Google very little about what you actually do. Be specific, and prioritise the categories that match your most profitable services.
Photos: The Most Underused Feature
Businesses with photos on their GBP receive 42% more requests for directions and 35% more clicks to their website than businesses without photos. Despite this, many of the businesses we audited had either no photos or only a handful of low-quality images.
The photos that perform best on GBP are authentic, specific, and varied. They should include: your team at work (with customer permission), completed jobs (before and after where possible), your vehicles, your premises or workshop, and any accreditations or certifications displayed prominently. Avoid stock photography - Google's algorithm can identify it, and customers can too.
Aim for a minimum of 20 photos, and add new ones regularly. Google rewards active profiles with better visibility.
Posts: Your Free Marketing Channel
GBP Posts allow you to publish updates, offers, and events directly to your profile. These posts appear in your listing in search results and on Google Maps, giving you a free marketing channel that most businesses completely ignore.
Effective post types for plumbing and heating businesses include: seasonal promotions (boiler service offers before winter, for example), new service announcements, case studies and completed job highlights, and educational content (tips for maintaining a boiler, signs you need a new radiator, etc.).
Posts expire after seven days, so aim to publish at least one new post per week. This is also a strong signal to Google that your business is active and engaged.
The Q&A Section: Answer Before They Ask
The Questions and Answers section of your GBP allows anyone to ask questions about your business - and anyone to answer them. This means that if you do not populate this section yourself, customers or competitors may answer questions on your behalf, potentially with inaccurate information.
Proactively add the questions your customers ask most frequently, along with accurate, detailed answers. Common questions for plumbing and heating businesses include: "Do you cover [area]?", "What are your call-out charges?", "Are you Gas Safe registered?", "Do you offer emergency cover?", and "How quickly can you respond?"
Review Management: The Prominence Factor
Reviews are the most powerful prominence signal in Google's local ranking algorithm. The volume of reviews, the average rating, and - crucially - the recency of reviews all influence where you appear in local search results.
The most important thing you can do with reviews is respond to all of them. In our audit data, 65% of businesses had a low review reply rate. Responding to positive reviews takes 30 seconds and signals to Google that your business is engaged. Responding to negative reviews thoughtfully and professionally can actually improve your reputation - potential customers read how you handle complaints as much as they read the complaints themselves.
We cover review management in much more detail in the Delivering Excellence section of this hub. But from a GBP optimisation perspective, the key metrics to track are: total review count (aim to grow this consistently), average rating (4.5 or above is the threshold for strong local ranking), and response rate (aim for 100%).