What Is the GBP Score?
The GBP (Google Business Profile) score in Search Atlas is a composite metric that measures how complete, accurate, and optimised your Google Business Profile is. It takes into account dozens of profile fields and signals, so changes you make do not always reflect instantly in the score.
Why Does the Score Take Time to Update?
There are two separate layers of delay to be aware of:
- Google's processing time: After you save a change inside Google Business Profile, Google needs to review and publish that update. Depending on the type of edit, this can take anywhere from a few minutes to several days. Until Google confirms the change is live, Search Atlas cannot factor it into the score.
- Search Atlas sync cycle: Search Atlas pulls fresh data from your Google Business Profile on a scheduled basis. Once Google has processed your edit, Search Atlas will pick it up during the next sync. Score recalculations occur after the updated data has been retrieved from Google's side.
This means the total time between making an edit and seeing your score move can range from a few hours to a few days, depending on the type of change and Google's review speed.
Which Changes Carry the Most Weight?
Not all profile edits affect the score equally. Search Atlas weights changes based on how significantly they influence local search relevance and profile completeness. High-impact edits tend to move the score more noticeably than minor tweaks.
Higher-impact changes (typically produce a more visible score shift):
- Adding or updating your primary and secondary business categories
- Writing or substantially rewriting your business description
- Adding or refreshing photos and videos (especially the cover photo and logo)
- Completing previously empty core fields: address, phone number, and website URL
- Setting accurate and complete opening hours, including special hours
Lower-impact changes (smaller or more gradual score movement):
- Adding or updating attributes (e.g. accessibility features, payment methods)
- Responding to customer reviews
- Publishing new Google Posts
- Minor edits to existing text that was already populated
- Small photo additions when a strong photo set already exists
What to Do If Your Score Still Has Not Updated
- Confirm the change is actually live on your Google Business Profile by viewing your profile directly in Google Maps or Search — not just inside Search Atlas.
- Allow sufficient time for Google to process the edit and for Search Atlas to complete its next data sync before expecting the score to reflect the change.
- Check that the field you edited is one that Search Atlas tracks as part of the score calculation — not all optional fields carry equal weight.
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.