Manage your Google Business listings

Manage your Google Business listings alongside your social activity with the free Google My Business app. Make updates to your business location, monitor and engage with reviews from customers in Hootsuite Streams, and export reviews for specific business locations to a CSV file for further analysis.

Google displays a business profile when someone searches for it in Google Search and Google Maps. The listing can include a description, address, opening hours, posts, reviews, website, and FAQ.

Before you begin

Before installing the app, your Google Business Profile must be claimed and verified with Google. Learn about how to verify your business on Google.

Updates to business listings, such as address and hours of operation, must be made on the Google Business site.

Install the Google My Business (GMB) app

1. Go to More, and then select App directory.
2. Search for Google My Business, select it, and then select Install.
3. Select from one of the following options:
   • Add streams to a new tab.
   • Add streams to an existing tab, and then select the tab name from the list.
     
4. Select Finish. The selected streams are added to Streams.
5. In Hootsuite, go to More, and then select Streams.
6. Select Login to Google My Business in each stream.
7. Select the Google account that owns the listing you want to manage, enter your password, and then select Next.
8. Select Allow to authorize the app connection.
9. Select the listings and locations to display in the stream, and then select Confirm.
   Hootsuite displays unverified listings here as well. You must verify them in GMB in order to manage them through the GMB app in Hootsuite. Select the link next to an unverified listing to find out how to verify it.

Add more app streams

Once the GMB app is installed, you can add multiple app streams for managing different locations or listings in separate streams.

1. In Hootsuite Streams, select the board where you want to add the app stream, and then select Add Stream.
2. Select Apps from the list on the left.
3. Select the Google My Business stream type you want to add (Posts, Questions, or Reviews).
   
4. When you're finished adding streams, close the Add Stream window.

Publish a post

You can create and publish posts to your business listings to provide updates on what’s new with your business. Posts remain live in searches for seven days. Posts older than seven days are only visible to the business owner. If your business is not verified yet, the published post is only visible to you. You cannot currently schedule posts to GMB.

1. In Hootsuite Streams, go to a My Posts stream, and then select New Post.
   
2. Select the listing to post to.
3. Type the body of the post and optionally, include text and links. Posts have a limit of 1,500 characters, Google recommends between 150 and 300 characters.
4. Attach an image to the post. You can select an image from Google Drive or Google Photos.
   Image size must be between 10 KB and 5 MB. Recommended image resolution is 720 x 720 pixels.
5. Optionally, select a call to action from the list and enter a destination link for the button.
6. Select Post Now.

Respond to a review

You can respond to customer reviews on your Google Business Profile right inside Hootsuite. Customer reviews, and your replies, are publicly visible on your Google Business Profile.

Tip: Toggle the Unanswered option to hide reviews that have already received a response so you can easily identify and prioritize the reviews that have not been answered yet.

1. In Hootsuite Streams, go to a Reviews stream to monitor what customers are saying about your business.
2. Select Reply below a review, and enter your response.
3. Select Post reply.

Select Edit or Delete on your response in the stream to make changes at any time.

Export customer reviews

You can export your Google My Business reviews to a CSV file for deeper analysis, reporting, and record keeping.

Select Export. Hootsuite automatically downloads a CSV file to your computer containing reviews for all of the business locations in your Google My Business Reviews stream.

The CSV file includes the following fields for each review:

• Location name
• Location ID
• Reviewer
• Star rating
• Comment
• Date and time of creation

Manage locations within a stream

Update the locations that are displayed and managed within one stream.

1. In Hootsuite Streams, go to any GMB stream, and then select Settings in the top right.
2. Select Manage Locations, and then select or deselect the locations you want to manage in that stream.
3. Select Confirm. The stream refreshes with the relevant locations, posts, reviews, or questions.

Troubleshoot

If you experience issues publishing or working with the Google My Business app, try the following:

1. Clear your cache or use a private browsing mode (see Troubleshoot display issues).
2. Uninstall and reinstall the Google My Business app (see Install or uninstall apps.