GBP Audit gives you a structured, data-driven analysis of your Google Business Profile so you can benchmark performance, identify gaps, and uncover growth opportunities — all in one place. GBP Audit is available on paid plans only; trial users will not have access until their paid subscription begins.

## **🔑 Plan Requirements and Feature Access**

GBP Audit is **not available on the trial plan**. Access is unlocked automatically when your paid subscription begins.

- If you are on an active trial, GBP Audit will appear locked or unavailable — this is expected behavior, not a bug or a stalled report.
- GBP Audit is included on the **Growth, Pro, and Enterprise plans**. Your access activates as soon as your trial ends and your paid plan starts. For the most up-to-date plan comparison, visit the Search Atlas pricing page.
- If your paid plan is already active but you still cannot access GBP Audit, contact Search Atlas support to verify your plan status.

## **🛠️ Troubleshooting: Locked or Stalled GBP Audit**

If GBP Audit appears locked or shows a stalled report:

1. Confirm your trial has ended and your paid plan is active by going to the **top-right avatar → Billing → Plans & Top-ups**.
2. If your paid plan is active and access is still blocked, contact Search Atlas support to verify your plan status.

## **📊 What You Can Do with GBP Audit**

## **Audit Any Location**

- Audit connected locations
- Audit external businesses by searching or using a business URL

## **Comprehensive Performance Insights**

Each audit includes:

- GBP Score
- Average Rank
- Citations
- Ratings & Reviews
- Photos
- Post counts
- Heatmap rankings
- Detailed insights across key performance factors

**Note:** After connecting a new location, the GBP Score may take up to 24 hours or more to finish calculating. If you see a loading or calculating state, this is expected — check back the following day before contacting support.

## **Performance Matrix (Connected Locations Only)**

Get access to the GBP Performance Matrix for connected locations to better understand strengths, gaps, and opportunities. The Performance Matrix displays a side-by-side view of your profile's key signals (such as completeness, engagement, reviews, and ranking factors) and highlights where you are performing well versus where there are gaps to address. It requires a connected location because it pulls live data from your verified GBP connection to populate the strength and gap analysis.

## **Competitor Benchmarking**

See how your business stacks up against competitors in your area.

**Note:** Benchmark competitors are drawn from your configured search area and should reflect local, same-industry businesses. If you see competitors located far outside your area, this usually points to a location-matching issue (common for service-area businesses) — contact Search Atlas support. If competitors are nearby but clearly in a different industry, this is a known category-filtering gap, not an account configuration issue — see [GBP Audit Showing Distant or Irrelevant Competitors](https://help.searchatlas.com/en/articles/15954360-gbp-audit-showing-distant-or-irrelevant-competitors) for both cases.

## **Detailed Recommendations**

Receive a structured audit report with actionable recommendations to help improve visibility and performance. Recommendations cover areas such as profile completeness, citation consistency, review generation, photo and post cadence, keyword coverage, and competitive positioning. Each recommendation is prioritized based on potential impact, and you can act on them directly by updating your GBP, syncing changes through Search Atlas, or passing them to the GBP Agent for guided optimization.

## **🧭 How to Use GBP Audit**

## **Step 1: Navigate to GBP Audit**

Go to: **Local → GBP Audit** (Generate New Audit Report)

## **Step 2: Generate a New Audit**

Click **Generate New Audit Report**. You will see two options:

- **Choose a connected Google Business Profile**
- **Add Manually** — enter the business name, Google Profile URL, or search area (e.g., United States), then find the local business by name.

Click **Generate Report** to begin.

## **Auditing an External Business**

To audit a business that is not connected to your Search Atlas account:

1. From the **Generate New Audit Report** dialog, choose **Add Manually**.
2. Enter the business name, paste the Google Business Profile URL, or specify a search area (e.g., a city or country) to narrow results.
3. Select the correct business from the search results, then click **Generate Report**.

External audits return publicly available data such as the GBP Score, Average Rank, Citations, Ratings & Reviews, Photos, Post counts, Heatmap rankings, and competitor benchmarking. However, the **Performance Matrix** and certain deeper insights are not available for external businesses, as those require a verified GBP connection to pull live data.

## **Step 3: Wait for Processing**

An audit may take approximately **5–6 minutes** to complete, as citation data is gathered in the background. Search Atlas is actively improving the experience to progressively load data so you can start reviewing insights sooner.

## **Step 4: Access Your Audit Report**

Go to **Audit Reports**. Reports are listed newest first. Click **View Report** on any entry.

Available actions inside the report:

- Download PDF
- Delete Report
- ← Back to GBP Audit
- View on Google Maps
- Export Report
- Optimize via GBP Agent

## **Step 5: Review Report Sections**

Navigate through the following sections inside the audit:

- GBP Core Metrics
- Performance
- Keyword Analysis
- Competitors
- Audit Checklist
- Insights & Recommendations

Each section provides visibility into performance metrics, competitive positioning, and optimization opportunities.

## **⏱️ Audit Processing Time**

An audit may take approximately **5–6 minutes** to complete, as citation data is gathered in the background. Search Atlas is actively working to progressively load data so you can start reviewing insights sooner.

## **⚠️ Known Limitations and Troubleshooting**

- **GBP Score still calculating:** After connecting a new location, the GBP Score may take up to 24 hours or more to finish calculating. A loading or calculating state is expected — check back the following day before contacting support.
- **Post counts lower than expected:** Post counts displayed in the audit reflect posts synced to Search Atlas. If your post count appears lower than expected, posts may still be syncing. Contact support if the discrepancy persists after 24 hours.
- **Distant competitors:** Benchmark competitors should reflect businesses within your configured search area. If you see competitors located far outside your area, contact Search Atlas support.

## **🤖 Coming Soon**

Additional enhancements in development include:

- Competitor photo & post data
- Exportable reports
- Optimization with Agent

**🎯 You now know how to generate and review a GBP Audit report and understand which plans include access. If you are on a trial and want to unlock GBP Audit sooner, upgrade your plan or contact Search Atlas support to confirm when your paid plan activates.**