Run the ten-minute neighbors test and see what people three streets over actually get when they search for what you do.
Before you start
Ten yes/no questions, one score, and you'll know whether the people in your own town can actually find you — or whether they're calling the other guy.
Google shows different results a few blocks apart. Drive to a job, a supply run, a gas station — anywhere on the customer's side of town.
On iPhone: Safari → tabs button → Private. On Android: Chrome → three dots → New Incognito tab. This matters — Google knows it's you otherwise, and it'll flatter you.
Every yes is 1 point. Tally at the end.
The 10 checks
Quick checks you can do on your phone, parked in the truck, before your coffee's cold.
Type what a customer would type: "[your trade] [your town]" — like "plumber Cranston." Look at the map results. Scroll the whole list, tap "More businesses" if you have to.
If no:To the people searching right now, your business doesn't exist. They're not choosing the other guy over you — they never saw you.
Most people never tap "More businesses." The three names in that box get the calls.
If no:You exist, but you're on page two of the phone book. Close, not closed.
Type your exact business name. You should see your profile card — photo, reviews, hours, call button.
If no:You don't have a Google Business Profile, or Google can't match it to you. That's job one — it's free to set up.
Compare check 1 and check 3. Showing up when someone types your name means your mom can find you. Showing up for "electrician near me" means strangers can.
If no:Your repeat customers are fine. New ones can't find you. That's the difference between staying busy and staying stuck.
Open your own profile. Look at the pictures. Is there a real one — your truck, your work, your face — from the last twelve months? A logo alone doesn't count.
If no:A profile with old or no photos reads like a shop with the lights off. People wonder if you're still in business.
Check the hours on your profile against reality. "Hours not available" or wrong hours both fail.
If no:Someone with a busted water heater at 7am sees "Opens 9:00" or nothing at all — and calls whoever says they're open.
Actually tap the call button. Right now.
If no:Wrong number, old number, or a dead line. Every search that got this far just hit a wall. This is the easiest fix on this list.
Look at the services section on your profile. Does it name the jobs you want more of? ("Water heater replacement," "panel upgrades," "gutter cleaning.")
If no:Google guesses what you do. Blank services means it guesses badly — and shows you for less.
It should load fast on your phone, look like it belongs to you, and show your number without hunting.
If no:Dead link, Facebook page, or a site from 2014 that won't load — a lot of people who tap it just quietly leave. You paid for that tap with everything above, then dropped it at the door.
Drag the map to a neighborhood across town — or run the same search next time you're parked somewhere else — and redo check 1.
If no:This is the one nobody tells you. Google answers block by block. Being findable at the supply house and invisible near the golf course means there are whole neighborhoods where your phone never rings — and you'd never know from your own driveway.
Keep score
The checklist above is free to read, no email needed. Unlocking adds the working tally: Yes/No buttons on every check, a live score bar, and this printable card for the visor.
Drop your email and the tap-to-copy pack, the tally card, and the print version unlock right here — no redirect, no PDF hunt.
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Your score
Nice. Keep the photos fresh, keep the reviews coming, and check this again every season — this stuff drifts when you're not looking.
Some people find you. Plenty don't. Every "no" above is a specific hole, and most of them are free to fix — start with the phone number and the photos.
Nothing's wrong with your work. People just can't find it. The good news: everything on this list is fixable, and none of it needs an agency.
The catch with check 10
Google gives a different answer every few blocks — and driving your whole service area with an incognito tab isn't a Saturday anyone wants.
That's the whole reason we built the free scan: it runs this same check across your entire map at once, block by block, and shows you exactly which neighborhoods can see you and which can't.
One free scan shows exactly where your business stands on Google across your service area — and which competitors are ahead of you.
See where I rank →