Your Google Business Profile Is Free Marketing: Here’s the 15-Minute Audit Most Operators Skip.
If you set up your Google Business Profile when you first opened and haven’t touched it since, you’re not alone. Most accommodation operators do exactly that. Here’s why that’s costing you bookings, and what you can fix in 15 minutes.
Your Google Business Profile isn’t just a digital business card. It’s one of the first things a potential guest sees when they search for accommodation in your area. It feeds directly into Google Maps, Google Search, and increasingly, AI-powered search tools like Google’s AI Overviews. If it’s incomplete, outdated, or thin on detail, you’re handing traffic straight to the online travel agencies (OTAs).
The good news? A proper audit takes about 15 minutes, it’s free, and the improvements you make can start showing results within days. Here’s where to look.
1. Claim and Verify Your Listing (If You Haven’t Already)
Before anything else, is your listing actually claimed and verified by you?
It sounds obvious, but plenty of properties are running on auto-generated Google listings that no one has verified. That means you can’t edit the content, respond to reviews, or add photos. Google has likely created a basic listing for you based on public data. It exists. You just don’t control it.
Go to business.google.com and search for your property. If it shows as “unclaimed”, claim it. The verification process usually involves a phone call, email, or short video recording, and it’s the most important step in this whole list.
2. Check Your Business Name, Category, and Description
These three things matter more than most operators realise.
Business name: Use your actual trading name, nothing more. Don’t stuff keywords in here (e.g. “Sunny Bay Motel Best Motel in Tauranga”). Google will penalise you for it.
Primary category: This one has a big impact on which searches you appear in. “Motel” and “Holiday Park” are both valid primary categories in Google. Make sure yours matches what you actually are. You can also add secondary categories, for example if you have a restaurant, playground, or self-contained cabins.
Business description: You get 750 characters. Use them. Write naturally about what makes your property stand out, including location, family-friendliness, pet policy, and what’s nearby. This is what guests read when they’re comparing options, so make it count. If your description is blank or one sentence long, fix it today.
3. Confirm Your Contact Details and Location Are Correct
Simple, but surprisingly often wrong, especially if you’ve changed your phone number, email address, or website URL at any point. Check:
- Phone number (and that it’s your direct line, not a third-party booking service)
- Website URL (does it actually load, or does it show an error?)
- Physical address and map pin (drag the pin to the exact entrance if it’s sitting in the wrong spot)
If you’ve got a direct booking engine on your site, make sure your website URL links there, or at minimum links to a page where guests can book without hitting an OTA first.
4. Review Your Opening Hours, Including Special Hours
Incorrect hours are one of the most common Google Business Profile problems. If your front desk runs reduced hours over Christmas or Easter and you haven't updated your profile, Google may show your property as closed when a guest checks online. They don't call to confirm. They just book somewhere else.
Update your regular hours, public holiday hours, and any seasonal closures or restricted periods. Google allows you to set “special hours” for specific dates well in advance. It takes five minutes and can prevent a lot of lost bookings over Easter, Christmas, and other public holidays.
5. Add (and Regularly Update) Photos
This is where most operators underinvest, and it’s one of the highest-impact things you can do. Google recommends at least three photos per room type for accommodation properties. In reality, the more quality photos you have, the better.
At a minimum, make sure you have:
- A cover photo showing your property at its best (exterior, ideally on a nice day)
- Interior shots of your rooms, clean, well-lit, and true to life
- Photos of amenities: pool, BBQ area, playground, communal kitchen, spa, etc.
- A shot of the surrounding area or view if it’s a selling point
Update your photos at least once a year, or whenever you’ve made improvements to the property.
6. Fill In Your Attributes
Attributes are the little tick-boxes that appear in your listing, things like “pet-friendly”, “free Wi-Fi”, “on-site parking”, “accessible rooms”, “EV charging”, and so on. Most operators fill in a handful when they first set up the listing and never revisit them.
Go back and check that everything is accurate and up to date. If you have Qualmark accreditation or other environmental credentials, add them to the sustainability section too.
7. Answer the Questions in Your Q&A Section
The Questions & Answers section lets anyone ask a question about your property, and anyone can answer it, not just you. That means guests, competitors, or random strangers may have already written answers on your behalf. Some of those answers might be wrong.
Check what’s been asked and whether the answers are accurate. Then proactively add the questions guests always ask anyway:
- “Do you have a swimming pool?”
- “Is there parking for boats/trailers/campervans?”
- “Are pets allowed?”
- “What time is check-in and check-out?”
Answering these yourself means you control the information, and it saves your team from fielding the same questions over the phone ten times a week.
8. Check Your Reviews and Respond to All of Them
Your star rating and review count directly influence how high your listing appears in search results. Guests also read your reviews before booking, and they pay particular attention to how you respond to negative ones.
Have you responded to every review, positive and negative? If not, start now. Even a brief, warm response to a positive review shows you’re engaged.
For negative reviews, respond calmly and constructively. Acknowledge the issue, explain what you’ve done, and invite them to reach out directly. Never get defensive in public. And if you’re not actively asking guests to leave reviews, start. A simple follow-up message at checkout can meaningfully increase your review volume over time.
9. Post Updates Regularly
Google Posts let you share news, offers, and updates directly on your listing. Most accommodation operators either don’t know this feature exists or set it up once and forgot about it. You don’t need to post every day, but a couple of posts a month keeps your listing looking active. Ideas include:
- Seasonal promotions or packages
- Local events coming up nearby
- New amenities or upgrades you’ve made
- Reminders about school holiday availability
- Direct booking offers (“Book direct and get free late checkout”)
Posts don’t stay visible for long, so make it a regular habit rather than a one-off. Add it to your fortnightly task list.
10. Check Your Performance
Once you’ve worked through the above, take a few minutes to look at your Google Business Profile Performance (previously called Insights). You’ll find this by going to your Business Profile and clicking Performance. It shows you how many people viewed your listing, what search terms they used, how many clicked through to your website, and how many requested directions or called you. It gives you a baseline to track improvement against and a clear signal for where to focus your energy next.
Do this now
If you do nothing else today, start here:
- Confirm your listing is claimed and your contact details are correct.
- Add or replace at least five photos with fresh, high-quality images.
- Respond to any reviews that are sitting without a reply.
That alone will put you ahead of the majority of properties in your area. The rest can follow over the next few weeks.
Your Google Business Profile is either working for you or against you every single day. Fifteen minutes of attention now can mean more direct bookings, better visibility in AI search, and a stronger first impression for every guest who searches for a place to stay near you.
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SEO is Changing: Why Motels, Hotels & Accommodation Providers Must Adapt to the New AI-Powered Search Era
The way people find accommodation online is changing fast. With AI tools like ChatGPT, Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), and voice-based search assistants growing in popularity, traditional SEO methods are no longer enough. If you're running a holiday park, motel, hotel, or anything in-between it’s time to rethink your online strategy.
Here’s what’s changing—and what you need to do to stay visible, relevant, and bookable.
Keywords Are Dead. Content is King (Again).
Once upon a time, getting found online meant stuffing your page with keywords like “cheap motel in Rotorua” or “accommodation near Queenstown.” That world is gone.
Today’s AI-driven search engines don’t just look for exact keywords—they’re looking for context, credibility, and content that truly answers user intent. In other words, AI is reading your website like a human would.
Example:
If someone types or asks, “What’s the best motel for families near Hanmer Springs with a kitchenette and mountain views?” — AI tools won’t just list the page with the most keywords. They’ll rank content that clearly describes family-friendly features, views, and amenities in a trustworthy tone.
Enter: EEAT – The New Rules of Trust
Google (and AI tools built on web content) are now following something called EEAT:
- Experience
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
If your property's website has thin content, no real story, and looks like it hasn’t been updated in years, you’re sending a signal that you’re not credible.
The content is considered thin or weak - it’s like arriving at a motel and only finding a one-sentence brochure with no photos, no pricing, no location info, and no answers to your questions — you’d probably leave, right? Google does the same.
But by adding real, useful information, you’re not only improving SEO… you’re also helping travellers feel confident enough to book.
Instead, here’s what helps build EEAT:
- Real photos of your rooms and facilities (not just stock photos)
- Clear information about the owners or operators
- Google reviews and guest testimonials
- Blog posts or updates about local events or your area
- Descriptions that sound like you know and love your region
Note: Something you may not know is that we also build websites. Many of our customers have Seekom-built, self managed websites with full control, backed by our expert setup and support. If you’re interested in finding out more, please get in touch.
AI Is Changing the Booking Funnel
AI tools are becoming the "concierge before the booking". People are no longer jumping straight to booking engines. They’re asking tools like ChatGPT or Google’s AI:
- “Where’s a quiet place to stay near the Bay of Islands in July?”
- “Which motels near Fox Glacier have late check-out?”
- “What are the best pet-friendly stays near Taupō?”
These tools scrape the web and summarise results. If your website doesn’t clearly provide useful, human-sounding answers, you’ll be invisible—even if you’re on a third-party booking site (e.g. booking.com, expedia.com etc).
At Seekom, we’ve started to see real traffic and leads coming from AI tools like ChatGPT and other generative engines. Travellers are no longer just Googling — they’re asking questions directly to AI and acting on those answers.
Example:
User:
What’s a good family-friendly holiday park near Rotorua with a playground and thermal pools?
ChatGPT:
For a family-friendly stay in Rotorua, consider Cosy Cottage Thermal Holiday Park. It offers family-friendly cabins and campgrounds, a children’s playground, swimming pool and thermal hot pools. The property also features on-site BBQ facilities.
- Suitable for families
- On site thermal attractions
Visit Cosy Cottage Thermal Holiday Park (A link to the website Cosy Cottage Booking Screen)
Why was this holiday park recommended?
Because their website clearly mentions:
- Family-friendly units, campgrounds and facilities
- Geothermal hot pools
- Guest-focused content
AI Is Not the Future — It's Now
If you’re not already showing up in AI results, your competitors are. The new digital front desk is not just Google—it’s ChatGPT, voice assistants, and AI-generated summaries that travellers trust more and more.
How Seekom Is Helping Properties Get GEO-Ready
At Seekom, we’ve been preparing for this shift to AI-powered search and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) for some time. Our in-house SEO and GEO specialists understand how AI tools interpret and recommend content — and we’re already helping motels, hotels, and holiday parks across the globe adapt to this new reality. Whether it’s auditing your website content, updating your listings, or rewriting your property descriptions to better serve AI and voice search, we have the tools, data, and experience to future-proof your online presence. From content strategy to implementation, we make sure your property gets found — not just on Google, but across the new generation of AI-driven platforms.
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How to maximise your online visibility with schema tags
In the fast-paced landscape of digital marketing, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for short-term rental businesses, motels, hotels and campgrounds. One powerful tool to enhance your online presence and improve search engine visibility is the use of schema tags (also known as schema markup or structured markup). But what exactly are schema tags and how can they benefit your business?
Schema tags are pieces of code designed for Google and other search engines to read that can be added to your website to improve the way it’s represented in search engine results lists. Using schema tags helps search engines understand the content and context of your site, leading to better visibility and more accurate search results – an online win-win for your business.
How to add schema tags
You can manually add schema tags using Google Tag Manager or, depending on the compatibility of your website, use other third-party plugins. If you’re not the technical sort and your website is fully managed by Seekom, our web team can help (find out how below).
Schema tags are different from meta tags in that schema tags tell search engines how to understand the information provided by giving them the context behind it. A schema tag does this by explaining what the piece of information is, whether that be the address of a hotel, or its website, so the search engine understands its relevance.
The benefits of local business schema tags
Local business schema tags are details about your business, including your location, hours of operation, contact information, website or social media platforms, and reviews, which search engines use to optimise your online presence.
Here are just a few of the ways local schema tags can benefit your business:
- Enhanced local SEO: By adding local business schema tags you increase your chances of appearing in local search results. This is particularly important for short-term rentals, as most travellers search for accommodation in specific locations.
- Rich snippets: Schema tags can enhance your search listings with rich snippets, which display additional information like star ratings, pricing, and availability. These enhanced listings can attract more clicks and boost the flow of traffic to your site.
- Improved user experience: Providing search engines with detailed information helps ensure potential customers find accurate and relevant information about your business. This can improve the user experience and increase the likelihood of bookings.
- Voice search optimisation: As voice search becomes more prevalent, having structured data like schema tags can help your business be found more easily through voice-activated devices, as they often rely on structured data to deliver precise answers.
Seekom’s commitment to your success
At Seekom we’re dedicated to helping our customers maximise their online potential. That’s why we’re excited to announce the start of a new project aimed at enhancing the digital presence of our fully-managed plan customers through the implementation of schema tags.
Starting soon, Seekom customers on our fully-managed plan will have schema tags created and added to their websites by our expert team to give you the online edge. This will give you the following advantages:
- Bespoke schema tag implementation: We’ll create and integrate schema tags specific to the type of business you operate, ensuring that the most relevant information is highlighted to search engines.
- Continuous updates: As part of your fully-managed plan, we will continuously monitor and update your schema tags to keep up with changes in your business
information and the latest SEO best practice. - Hands-free optimisation: Let us handle the technical details while you focus on delivering excellent guest experiences. Our seamless implementation process means minimal disruption to your operation.
How to get started
If you’re a Seekom customer on a fully-managed plan, you don’t need to take any immediate action. Our team will be coding and executing the schema tag for you through Google Tag Manager.
For those not yet on the fully-managed plan, now is the perfect time to upgrade and take advantage of this and other exclusive benefits designed to boost the online presence of your hotel, motel, campground or any other service you offer.
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4/234 Wakefield Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011
Phone (NZ) : +64 4 974 9588
Phone (UK) : +44 20 3835 5939
Support: support@seekom.com
Websites: webhelp@seekom.com
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Copyright 2025 © Seekom Limited (NZ owned)