A clean, repeatable audit template lets you deliver a $500 to $2,000 audit in under 4 hours. Here is the template we recommend for freelancers. 5 sections, 40 plus check items, and a scoring rubric that turns the audit into a sales tool, not a deliverable that disappears.
Section 1: Google Business Profile (10 items)
Verified ownership. Most specific primary category. Up to 9 relevant secondary categories. Complete business description (750 characters). Hours including holidays. Photos (10 plus, owner uploaded). Logo and cover photo. Service or product list filled. At least 1 Google Post in last 30 days. Q&A section seeded with owner answers. Score each pass as 1, fail as 0. Total out of 10.
Section 2: Reviews and engagement (8 items)
25 plus total reviews. 4.3 plus average rating. 5 plus reviews in last 90 days (velocity). 80 percent plus owner response rate. Detailed reviews (40 plus words on average). No reviews older than 60 days without response. No flagged reviews pending. Review request system in place (text, email, signage). Total out of 8.
Section 3: Website signals (10 items)
HTTPS enabled. Mobile responsive. Page load under 3 seconds. NAP (name address phone) on every page footer. NAP matches GBP exactly. LocalBusiness schema with most specific subtype. FAQPage schema on at least 2 pages. Service area cities mentioned in copy. Embedded Google Map on contact page. Internal links to service pages from homepage. Total out of 10.
Section 4: Citations and off page (7 items)
20 plus consistent citations across major directories. NAP consistent on top 12 directories (GBP, Bing, Apple Maps, Yelp, BBB, Yellow Pages, plus 6 niche directories). Listed in local chamber of commerce. Listed in at least 2 niche specific directories. At least 3 backlinks from local sources (newspapers, bloggers, partners). Brand mentioned in at least 1 local Reddit or Facebook community. No duplicate listings. Total out of 7.
Section 5: AI and competitive (5 items)
Business cited by ChatGPT for primary local query. Business cited by Perplexity for primary local query. Business appears in Google AI Overview for primary local query. Business ranks in top 3 of local pack for primary query. Business ranks in top 3 for at least 1 service specific query. Total out of 5.
Total scoring and delivery
Add up all 5 sections (max 40). 32 plus is excellent (low ticket sale). 24 to 31 is average (clear improvement opportunities). Below 24 is a high opportunity prospect (premium retainer pitch). Deliver the audit as a 5 to 8 page PDF with the score on page 1, section breakdowns on pages 2 to 6, and your specific 90 day plan on the final pages. The plan is the upsell.