Done-for-you service
If you are invisible on Google Maps, that customer never existed.
Most Korean businesses maintain Naver Place and leave Google Maps empty — or claimed once, years ago, and never touched since. Visitors from abroad and Android users see the gap and walk to the shop next door. We take over the profile: claim it, make the details consistent, and keep reviews and photos moving.
What decides Google Maps ranking
Google names three factors for local results. One cannot be changed at all, which is why the work concentrates on the other two.
| Factor | Meaning | Can we move it? |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How well the profile matches the search | Yes — categories, information, content |
| Distance | How far the searcher is from you | No |
| Prominence | How well known the business is | Yes, but it takes time |
Distance being fixed matters. Rank differs by where the search happens, so a "number one" claim that does not name a location is not a claim you can verify.
Claiming the profile comes first
Claiming is free and takes about thirty minutes. We take it on for what goes wrong around it, not for the claim itself.
- Check whether it already exists — Google auto-generates profiles, and former staff leave orphaned ones. Creating a second makes a duplicate and both rank worse
- Ownership and verification — postcards take about two weeks; video verification needs preparation
- Primary category — one choice governs what you surface for. We set it against what the business actually earns from
- Ownership stays on your account — profiles created on an agency account do not come back when the contract ends
Google Business Profile optimisation — the actual work
The real work starts after the claim. Item by item:
| Item | What we do | Cadence |
|---|---|---|
| NAP consistency | Name, address, phone rendered identically across site, Naver and Google | Once + on change |
| Categories, attributes | Primary and secondary categories, service list, attributes | Once + quarterly |
| Photos and posts | Exterior, interior, menu, treatment photos; updates | Monthly |
| Review replies | New reviews answered, complaints handled | Weekly |
| Information updates | Hours, holidays, temporary closure | As needed |
| Rank tracking | Local keywords measured across a geo-grid | Monthly report |
Review management — asking, and replying
Reviews feed prominence directly. There are rules about how you get them, and crossing that line costs the profile.
- Asking is allowed — the review link from the profile, sent by receipt, messenger or an in-store QR code
- Paying is not — Google prohibits reviews written for money, discounts or free products
- We reply to all of them — a profile with replies under complaints reads better than one without
- Factually wrong reviews go through the reporting process — removal is not guaranteed
Sanctions for policy violations do not stop at deleting reviews. They range from suspended account privileges to account termination.
Rank tracking across the catchment, not one point
Map rank depends on where the search happens. First place outside your door can be invisible two blocks away.
- The catchment is divided into a grid and rank measured at each point
- Measured on 'area + category' terms — how far your coverage reaches
- Re-measured monthly on the same grid so changes are comparable
"We rank first" is not measurable. "Top three across 60% of the catchment" is.
What comes first differs by industry
| Industry | Priority | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants, cafés | Menu, prices, exterior/interior photos, hours | English information if visitors matter |
| Clinics | Specialty category, hours, parking | Medical advertising rules apply |
| Salons | Treatment photos, booking link, service list | Photo refresh cadence drives results |
| Repair services | Service area, phone connection | Service-area businesses display addresses differently |
| Hotels, tourism | English information, exterior photos | Almost all visitors use Google Maps |
What this is not
- Promises of rankings within days — rank is distance, relevance and prominence, and distance cannot be edited
- Bulk review generation or rating work — Google detects it, and detection suspends the profile
- Autocomplete manipulation — same reason
- Naver Place management (ask separately)
Google states plainly that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. If someone guarantees one, that sentence is worth reading first.
How it runs
| When | What happens | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Audit — profile state, consistency, reviews, competitor coverage | Audit report |
| Weeks 2-4 | Foundation — claim, ownership, NAP, categories, initial photos | Completion report |
| Monthly | Operation — photos, posts, review replies, rank tracking | Monthly report |
The foundation takes two to four weeks. Ranking movement takes longer and depends on how contested the area is.
Doing it yourself versus handing it over
| Task | Yourself | With us |
|---|---|---|
| Claim and verification | Free, ~30 minutes | Included |
| NAP consistency | Free, 1-2 hours | Included |
| Photos and posts | 30-60 min monthly | Included |
| Review replies | 5 min each | Included |
| Catchment rank measurement | Not practical | Included |
Claiming and the basic cleanup are worth doing yourself. The value of handing it over starts with the monthly operation and measurement.
What kind of provider Trina is
Scored against the same criteria you would use on anyone else.
| Item | Trina |
|---|---|
| Type | Profile operation |
| Review generation | No — policy violation, risks the profile |
| Ranking guarantees | No — distance cannot be adjusted |
| Account ownership | Stays on the client account |
| Measurement | Geo-grid across the catchment |
| Start | An audit report — read it, then decide |
Frequently asked questions
What decides Google Maps ranking?
Google names relevance, distance and prominence. Distance cannot be changed, so the work is relevance and prominence: categories, attributes, reviews and consistent information.
Is claiming the profile the same as listing on Google Maps?
Yes. A Google Business Profile is what appears on Google Maps and in Google Search. The older name, Google My Business, refers to the same thing.
Is Naver Place not enough?
Naver dominates domestic search, but Google Maps is the default map on Android and effectively the only map foreign visitors use in Korea. They are separate entrances, not substitutes.
How long does it take?
The foundation work takes two to four weeks. Ranking movement takes longer and depends on how contested your area is. We do not promise a number-one position in days.
Can I just claim the profile myself?
Yes, and often you should. Our work starts after that — category selection, information consistency, review flow, and the monthly operation and measurement.
Will you get us more reviews?
We do not write them. Google prohibits it and detection suspends the profile. We build the path that gets real customers to leave one, and reply to the ones that arrive.
We have several locations — can you handle that?
Yes. Each location keeps its own profile while naming conventions and categories stay consistent. Past ten locations we move to bulk management.
How is this different from the Trina product?
Trina is a product that runs content marketing automatically. This is a service a person delivers. Map profile work involves photos, reviews and on-site details that automation does not replace.
We check what state the profile is in and how far across your catchment it ranks. Read the report, then decide.
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