Your Google Business Profile is penalising inactivity

If your Google Business Profile has not been touched in the past month, Google is quietly moving you down in local search results. We have watched this pattern repeat across Melbourne businesses since the March 2026 core update, with active profiles holding visibility while dormant ones lose it. Google now treats your profile like a living document, and when it looks abandoned the algorithm assumes the business behind it might be abandoned too. The good news is that staying active takes 15 minutes a week, and in this guide we show you exactly where to spend them.

Why Google penalises inactive business profiles

Google’s local ranking algorithm has always weighed relevance, distance and prominence. What changed in 2026 is how heavily recency now feeds into prominence. How quickly you respond to reviews, how often you add photos and how regularly you post all roll up into a freshness signal that affects your position in the local map pack.

Think of two accounting firms in Brunswick, both with 50 Google reviews and solid websites. One responds to every review within 24 hours, posts a weekly update and adds a new photo each month. The other has not touched its profile since 2024. Google sees one engaged business and one question mark, and the engaged business wins the map pack spot.

According to Moz’s local search ranking factors research, review signals and engagement signals have steadily grown as a share of how Google ranks local businesses. Our own client data points the same way. In 2026, Google rewards the active over the established.

The three signals Google watches most closely

Not everything on your profile carries equal weight. Based on what we are seeing after the March update, these are the signals that matter most for local SEO Melbourne businesses compete on.

Review recency and response rate

Having 200 reviews used to be enough. Google now cares more about when those reviews arrived and whether you responded, which makes review management a weekly habit rather than a set-and-forget task. A firm with 40 recent, answered reviews will often outrank a competitor whose 200 reviews dried up two years ago.

Google’s AI reply suggestions make responding faster than ever, but you still need to personalise them. A copy-paste thank you on every response signals low effort.

Photo and post freshness

Businesses that upload new photos and publish posts at least weekly see measurably better impression counts. Volume alone does not do it. A burst of 50 photos uploaded once and then nothing for six months performs worse than two photos a week, every week.

Questions and answers engagement

The questions section on your profile is one of the most overlooked ranking inputs. When someone asks a question and you answer promptly, Google records engagement. When questions sit unanswered for weeks, it reads as neglect. Worse, other users can answer on your behalf, and those answers may not represent your business accurately.

The 15 minute weekly Google Business Profile routine

You do not need a marketing team to keep your Google Business Profile healthy. You need 15 minutes every Monday morning. This is the routine we set up for every client.

Minutes 1 to 5: respond to every new review

Open your profile, read each new review and write a genuine response. For positive reviews, mention something specific, such as the tax return you helped with. For negative reviews, acknowledge the concern and offer to resolve it offline. Google tracks your response rate, so aim for 100%.

Minutes 5 to 10: add one photo and write one post

Take a photo of your office, your team or something relevant to this week’s work, then write a short post under 100 words. A real estate agent might cover weekend open homes. An accountant in April might remind clients about end of financial year deadlines.

Minutes 10 to 15: answer questions

Check for new questions and answer them directly. If there are none, add your own frequently asked questions. Google lets business owners post and answer their own, and these appear prominently on your profile.

That is the whole routine. Do it consistently and you are already ahead of roughly 80% of your competitors, because most businesses never touch their profile after the initial setup.

How to check if your profile is falling behind

Before you commit to the weekly routine, find out where you stand. Search your exact business name on Google, open your Google Business Profile and check three dates.

• Your last review. If it is more than two months old you have a recency problem, so ask your last three happy clients for a review with a direct link
• Your last photo. If the newest one is from last year, Google sees a dormant profile, so upload three current photos today
• Your last post. If the updates section is empty or months old, start this week with a single post

Next steps for Melbourne businesses

If you compete for local visibility as an accountant, lawyer or medical practice, your Google Business Profile is now your most important digital asset after your website. Unlike your website, it only takes 15 minutes a week to maintain, and consistent activity feeds directly into your Google Maps ranking.

The businesses that show up in the map pack this year will not be the ones with the oldest profiles or the most reviews. They will be the ones that kept showing up, week after week. Start this Monday.