Google Business Profile

Google says local results depend chiefly on relevance, distance and popularity, and its help page explains popularity under the heading prominence, which draws on how many websites link to a business and how many reviews it has. Google also says you cannot request or pay for a better local ranking. That leaves accuracy and completeness as the work: the right primary category, correct hours, the services actually offered, real photos and a name that matches the signage and the licence.

Reviews feed prominence but don't guarantee a position, so asking customers for honest reviews is worth doing, while buying or incentivising them breaks Google's review policies. Reply to reviews in the language they were written in. Set special hours for Ramadan and public holidays before they begin, because a profile showing the wrong hours loses customers on the days that matter.

Create the profile and own it with a Google account that belongs to the business, and give the agency manager access, so that a change of agency never means losing the listing. Check the owner list in the profile settings: if the only owner is a former employee or a previous agency, fix that first.