A worked example
This is what the free check looks like
Before you hand your details to a stranger, it is fair to see what turns up. Below is a complete check, written the way I would send it to you.
Ridgepost Auto Care is an invented business. The name, the numbers and the screenshots-in-words are made up. The problems are not: every one below is something I find repeatedly on real local listings, which is exactly why they are worth checking on yours.
The one-line read
Ridgepost is easy to find and hard to reach.
Their Google listing is doing most of the work and doing it well. The problem is what happens after somebody decides to call. Two of the five things below cost nothing to fix, and I have said which.
What I found
Five things, worst first
Each one says what I saw, what it is costing, and what fixing it involves.
1. Nobody answers between 12 and 1
What I saw. I called the main number three times over two days, once at 12:20pm. It rang eleven times and stopped. No voicemail, no message, no text back.
What it costs. Lunchtime is when people with a broken car actually get a minute to ring around. A caller who gets nothing moves to the next shop, and you never learn it happened. There is no record of a call that did not connect.
The fix. An auto-text back on unanswered calls, in your own words, so the caller knows they were heard and you have their number. $250 one time. Carrier registration takes about a week and the carriers decide it, not me.
2. Your hours are wrong on Google
What I saw. The listing says closed Saturday. The sign on the door and the website both say open until 2pm Saturday.
What it costs. Google hides you from Saturday searches and shows a competitor instead. Worse, anyone who does drive over on a Saturday has been told you are shut, so they do not come at all.
The fix. Free, and you can do it today. Sign in to your Google Business Profile, edit hours, add the Saturday block. Ten minutes. If you would rather I did the whole listing properly while I am in there, that is the $149 job, but this one bit you should just go and fix.
3. Forty-one reviews, none since March
What I saw. 4.3 stars across 41 reviews. The most recent is seven months old. No owner replies on any of them, including the two that are unhappy.
What it costs. People read the newest review first and the date next to it. Seven months reads as "maybe they are not there any more". Unanswered complaints are the only version of the story a stranger gets.
The fix. A way to ask every customer within a day of the work, so it stops depending on anyone remembering. $350 one time. Asking everybody, never filtering, never paying for reviews. That is Google policy and it is not negotiable.
4. Your phone number is not on your website
What I saw. On a phone, I scrolled past a photo banner, a welcome paragraph and a services list before finding a number. It is in the footer, as text, not tappable.
What it costs. Somebody standing next to a car that will not start is not reading your welcome paragraph. They want a number to press.
The fix. Free if you have website access. Put a tappable phone number in the header on every page. Whoever built the site can do it in fifteen minutes. If nobody has access any more, that is a different conversation.
5. Nothing brings a customer back
What I saw. No email capture anywhere. No reminder when a service is due. Every customer is a fresh acquisition.
What it costs. This is the expensive one and it is invisible, because it shows up as quiet weeks rather than as a complaint. An oil change customer who never hears from you again is worth one visit instead of six.
The fix. Collect emails at the counter and send a service reminder on a schedule. $600 one time, and you own the list.
What I did not find
Worth saying plainly, because a check that only finds problems is a sales pitch.
- Your listing is claimed, categorised correctly and has real photos
- You rank well for "mechanic near me" in your area already
- Your prices are on the site, which most shops will not do
- You do not need a new website. It is fine. Do not let anyone sell you one
How it works
What actually happens
- You send four details. Name, business, email, and a sentence about what is bothering you. Two minutes.
- I look, and I call. Your listing, your site, your reviews, your socials. I ring your number like a customer would, at the times customers actually ring. That is why the form asks permission.
- You get this. Usually inside a week. Written plainly, with the free fixes marked free.
- Then nothing, unless you want something. No follow-up sequence, no monthly check-in you did not ask for. Plenty of people take the findings and fix it themselves, which is a completely reasonable outcome.
Want one for your business?
It is free, it takes me under an hour, and there is nothing to cancel.