Google Business Profile Categories: How LocalPanda's AI Selects the Perfect Categories for Local SEO
Optimize your Google Business Profile categories with LocalPanda's AI tool. Automatically select primary and additional categories for better local search rankings and visibility.
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·5 min read
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Let’s have a coffee and a real chat.
I've seen the same story play out a hundred times. I meet a business owner - a tree trimmer who’s trying to rank in Denver, a personal injury lawyer in Las Vegas who’s ranking in a very competitive area, and a plumber in Minneapolis. What do they have in common? They feel like they’re shouting into the void, invisible to the very people they’re trying to serve.
Nine times out of ten, when we pull up their Google Business Profile, I can point to the problem in five seconds. It’s a tiny setting, a little dropdown menu that most people set once and forget - their business categories…
And they’re almost always wrong!
For years, getting this right was a mix of guesswork and luck. But that’s all changed - with LocalPanda, you can now optimize your primary and additional GBP categories with AI. This isn't some far-off, futuristic concept. It's a real-world tool that’s levelling the playing field, and it’s the most exciting thing to happen to local SEO in years. Stick with me, because I’m going to show you how this one simple shift can change everything for you.
How Incorrect GBP Categories Hurt Your Local SEO Ranking
Why do I get so worked up about this? Because your GBP Categories are the language you use to speak to Google. They are the single most important signal you send about who you are and what you do. Get it right, and Google puts you in front of your perfect customer. Get it wrong, and you're a ghost.
Think about it like this. Your primary category is your headline. It's your core identity. If you run a high-end Italian restaurant, your primary category damn well better be "Italian restaurant," not just the generic "Restaurant." That one choice determines if you even get invited to the party when someone searches for "best pasta in my neighbourhood."
But the real magic, the area where fortunes are made and lost, is in your additional categories. These are the details that seal the deal. For that Italian place, additional categories like "Pizza delivery," "Private dining room," and "Restaurant with patio" are absolute gold. They don't just add keywords; they tell a story. They help you show up on Google Maps ranking when someone does a hyper-specific search like "patio for a birthday dinner." In a city as competitive as Toronto, being generic is a death sentence. Being specific is how you thrive. Poor category choice is the number one reason businesses fail to achieve the local search visibility they deserve.
The Old Way Was Brutal (And I'm So Glad It's Over)
Before the current wave of AI tools, building a local SEO strategy around categories was painful. The "best practice" was to do a manual competitive analysis. I still have nightmares about the spreadsheets.
I would literally spend a full day pretending to be a customer. I’d search for "plumber," look at the top three guys in the Local Pack, and write down their categories. Then I’d search "water heater repair" and do it again. And again for "drain cleaning." I was trying to reverse-engineer their success.
The problem? It was educated guessing at best. I was assuming the top-ranked business had a perfect strategy, but maybe they were just lucky. Maybe they were ranking despite their categories, not because of them. I was copying someone else's homework without knowing if the answers were right.
This old method is especially useless now. Modern search engines don't just match keywords anymore; they use semantic search to understand context, nuance, and intent. They know that "fix leaky pipe" and "emergency plumber" are related. A list of categories copied from a competitor just doesn't provide the rich, contextual signals that Google’s AI is looking for now. I was building a strategy for a game that was no longer being played.
How to Use AI Tools like LocalPanda for GBP Category Optimization
- LocalPanda’s competitor map shows you categories that your competitors are using as follows:
All your competitors’ categories show up easily for you to compare. As you can see here, the common primary category is “Chiropractor” and as you’ll scroll down you’ll notice other common additional categories like “Wellness center” and “Alternative medicine practitioner”. This will give you a good idea as to what categories might pertain to your business.
- Next, to optimize your GBP categories further, you can go to the GBP Locations and see the AI category recommendations for each of your locations. To do so, first click on “Optimize” in the Categories section.
- After you click on “Optimize”, a modal will open up where you can see your Primary and Additional Categories, click on “Generate Recommendations”
- Finally, you can go add the chosen categories by going to your GBP - click on “Manage in GBP” which will take you to GBP to add your categories (primary and additional)
You can optimize your GBP Categories and Locations here - Optimize GBP Categories
Seriously, What Are You Waiting For?
We're entering a new era of search where AI gives you the answer directly. This means just being on a list isn't enough. Google needs to see you as a truly authoritative and trustworthy source. This is where the concept of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) becomes your North Star.
Your GBP categories are the foundation of your E-E-A-T. If your categories say you're a "Vegan restaurant," Google's AI will then look for confirmation. Are your menu items vegan? Do your reviews mention vegan food? Are your photos of plant-based dishes? Does your linked website talk about your vegan philosophy?
When all these signals align, you create a powerful, coherent entity. AI helps you find the right categories to build this foundation. It ensures the story you're telling with your categories is the same story being told by every other part of your online presence. This holistic approach is no longer optional. It's the only way to build the trust required to rank at the top of a modern, AI-powered customer journey.
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