Online Presence Audit: A 30-Minute Checklist for Small Business Owners

By the Oski Marketing team · Updated 5 October 2026 · 6 min read

An online presence audit is a quick check of what a customer sees when they look for you: Google search and Maps, AI assistants, your website on a phone, your contact routes, reviews and social profiles. Set aside 30 minutes, use the seven checks below, score each one out of 3, and fix the lowest scores first.

How to run it. Use your phone, in a private or incognito browser window, with location on. That is closest to how a local customer finds you. Have a notepad or the scoring table at the end of this article open, and time yourself: roughly four minutes per check.

Pretend you are a new customer with a real problem, such as a leaking radiator on a Tuesday evening or a last-minute haircut on Saturday. Every time something makes you hesitate, write it down. Those hesitations are what lose you work.

1. What do people see when they search your business name? (4 minutes)

Search your exact business name, then your name plus your town. You are checking that the right business comes up, with the right details.

• [ ] Your website or Google Business Profile is the first result.
• [ ] Phone number, opening hours and address or service area are correct.
• [ ] The business does not show as closed or "temporarily closed".
• [ ] Nothing from an old address, old phone number or previous business name appears.
• [ ] There are no other businesses with confusingly similar names nearby.

2. Do you show up on Google Maps and other maps? (5 minutes)

Now search the way a new customer would: your service plus your area, such as "electrician Enfield" or "nail salon Walthamstow". Then check the other maps people use.

• [ ] You appear in the map results for your main service near your base.
• [ ] Your Google Business Profile name matches your real-world name. Google's guidelines say it should reflect the name used on your shopfront, website and stationery.
• [ ] The primary category is right and services are listed.
• [ ] There are recent, real photos, including a logo and cover photo, as Google's photo guidance suggests.
• [ ] You have claimed your listing on Bing Places, which Microsoft offers free, and on Apple Maps through Apple Business.

3. Do AI assistants know who you are? (4 minutes)

Ask two or three AI assistants (for example ChatGPT, Google's AI Mode or Copilot) the questions your customers ask. Try "Who is a reliable [trade] near [postcode]?" and "What are the opening hours of [your business name]?"

• [ ] You are mentioned for at least one relevant question.
• [ ] The facts about you are correct: services, area, contact details.
• [ ] No outdated information appears, such as an old address.

If you are missing or the details are wrong, our guide on checking whether AI recommends your business explains what feeds those answers and how to improve them.

4. Does your website work on a phone? (5 minutes)

Open your website on your phone from the search results and try to do what a customer would do.

• [ ] It loads quickly enough that you would not give up.
• [ ] The phone number is visible at the top and tapping it starts a call.
• [ ] Within five seconds you can tell what you do and where.
• [ ] Text is readable without zooming and buttons are easy to tap.
• [ ] Prices, or at least "from" prices or how pricing works, are easy to find.

For a more objective speed check, run your homepage through PageSpeed Insights. Google's PageSpeed Insights documentation explains that it reports real-user data where available, and lists "good" thresholds of 2.5 seconds or less for Largest Contentful Paint, 200 milliseconds or less for Interaction to Next Paint, and 0.1 or less for Cumulative Layout Shift.

5. Do your contact routes actually work? (5 minutes)

This is the check most businesses skip, and the one that matters most. Test every route a customer could use.

1. Fill in your website contact form with a test enquiry. Did it arrive? Where? Did the "customer" get a confirmation?
2. Ring your number from a phone that is not in your contacts. Does it ring through, go to a clear voicemail, or send a text back?
3. Send a message through your Google Business Profile, Facebook and Instagram. Who sees it, and how fast?
4. Email the address listed on your website and profiles. Does it bounce?

If you can, repeat one test after hours. Our 9pm test walks through an evening version in more detail.

6. What do your reviews say? (4 minutes)

Read your last ten Google reviews and any platform reviews customers are likely to see.

• [ ] You have reviews from the last three months.
• [ ] You have replied to most of them, especially any negative ones.
• [ ] Replies are polite, specific and never share customer details.
• [ ] You know where to find your review link. Google explains how to create a review link or QR code from your Business Profile, and reminds businesses that offering incentives for reviews is not allowed.

7. Are your social profiles helping or hurting? (3 minutes)

Look at each social account a customer might find.

• [ ] The last post is recent, or the account is clearly archived.
• [ ] The bio says what you do, where, and how to book or call.
• [ ] Profile picture and name match your other profiles.
• [ ] Links in the bio work and go to the right page.

How do you score the audit?

Score each check from 0 to 3, then add them up.

Total out of 21. Under 10: fix contact routes and listings before spending any money on ads. 10 to 16: you have a base; work through the lowest scores. 17 or more: you are in good shape, so look at growth, such as content, reviews and paid ads.

What to do this week

• Run the audit once, on your phone, and write down your score for each check.
• Fix anything that stops a customer reaching you today: wrong numbers, wrong hours, a broken form.
• Claim or update your Bing Places and Apple Business listings.
• Reply to any unanswered reviews from the last three months.
• Put a reminder in your calendar to run the audit again in three months.

For fast fixes once you have your scores, see our 25 quick wins for your online presence. If you would rather someone else ran the audit, we do exactly this at Oski Marketing before recommending any spend.