Short version: what customers see on your Google listing isn't always what you typed. Google reviews edits, can add details it collected itself, and holiday hours go stale. Once a quarter, pull up your own listing on your phone like a stranger would, then check Collected info, hours, special hours, phone, website, and service area. It takes about ten minutes.
Why your listing can drift
Google says it reviews changes before they go live on a profile, and that it may reach out with automated calls or texts to the verified phone number to confirm details, then use the answers to update the profile (source). Customers can also suggest edits to a listing they don't own. None of that is bad. It just means the version of your business on Google can change without you sitting down to change it.
Step 1: Look at it the way a customer does
Sign out, or use a browser in private mode, and search your business name plus your town on your phone. Read the listing top to bottom: name, category, hours, phone, website button, and the service area. Write down anything that surprises you before you fix anything.
Step 2: Check Collected info
Signed in to the account that owns the profile, choose Edit profile, then Collected info. Google says this shows details it gathered, with where they came from and the date. You can delete an item you don't want on your records (source). Google notes this feature is limited to some regions and categories, so you may not see it. If it's there, read every line.
Step 3: Hours, then special hours
Main hours are the ones people check first. If your crew does after-hours calls, say so honestly and don't list "open 24 hours" unless someone answers. Then set special hours for holidays. Google has a separate setting for those, plus "more hours" if different parts of your business keep different hours (source). Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's are when stale hours cost you a call, or send someone to a locked door.
Step 4: Tap the phone number
Actually tap it from your phone and let it ring. Does it reach the line you want, or an old cell or a former office manager? Google lets you list a primary number and up to 2 more, mobile or landline (source). If you changed numbers this year, this is the check that matters most.
Step 5: Tap the website button
Google asks for the full address with "https://" and says Googlebot shouldn't be blocked on the site (source). On your phone, the link should open your site, not an old builder's page, an expired domain, or a Facebook page you stopped posting on. Check that your number is easy to find at the top once it loads.
Step 6: Service area and address
If you don't meet customers where you work from, Google lets you hide the address and list the cities or zip codes you serve instead (source). Make sure a home address isn't showing, and that the towns listed are the ones you'll actually drive to.
Step 7: Put it on the calendar
Once a quarter is enough for most trades, plus a week before each major holiday for special hours. Keep a one-line note of what you checked and what you changed. If something you fixed keeps coming back, check your old directory listings and look for edits someone else suggested.
Rather we look first?
That's part of our free Map Check. Send your business name and phone, and we look up your listing the way a customer in your town would, then send a screen-recorded video, about 3 minutes, flagging anything that looks off plus the three fixes we'd make. You make the changes yourself, and it costs nothing.