Google Business Profile is the dashboard where you control your business listing on Google Search and Maps. When someone searches for a plumber in Ottawa or coffee near me, the businesses that appear in the map results and the local 3-pack are pulled from GBP data. You create a profile by claiming your business at google.com/business, verify ownership (usually by postcard or phone), then fill out your NAP (name, address, phone), categories, hours, service areas, and attributes. GBP replaced Google My Business in 2021 but functions the same way. The profile includes several key sections: basic info (category, address, hours), attributes (wheelchair accessible, outdoor seating), service areas for businesses without a physical location, posts for updates and offers, photos and videos, and a Q&A section. Customer reviews show up here too, and responding to them signals active management to Google. The profile drives two main ranking factors for local SEO. First, it feeds Google's local algorithm, which weighs relevance (how well your categories match the search), distance (proximity to the searcher), and prominence (review count, rating, citations). Second, it's the source for your Knowledge Panel when someone searches your business name directly. If your GBP says you close at 6 PM but your website says 8 PM, Google often trusts the profile over the site. At Ottawa SEO, we treat GBP optimization as the foundation of local campaigns, not an afterthought. That means selecting the tightest primary category (Google allows one primary, multiple secondary), uploading 20+ geotagged photos, posting weekly updates, and monitoring the Insights tab to see how customers find you (direct searches vs. discovery searches). We also build citations to reinforce the NAP consistency across the web. For multi-location businesses, each physical location needs its own profile with unique content and local phone numbers. Accurate GBP data isn't optional anymore—it's the difference between showing up in the local pack or getting buried on page two.