Struggling to get Google Business Profile working for my pest control leads

I've been trying to optimize my Google Business Profile for pest control services but it's not pulling in the leads I expected. I added photos of my Termidor treatments and updated the description with keywords like ant control and rodent exclusion, but reviews are trickling in slow. Someone in the Pest Control Professionals group mentioned using posts for seasonal tips, like bed bug prevention, but I'm not sure if that's helping. Watched a Tommy Mello video on his Instagram about local SEO, and he swears by claiming the profile early. Any tips on what categories to pick or how to respond to those review prompts? Also, saw a post on r/pestcontrol where a guy said ignoring photos kills your ranking.

Google hates pest control guys because of all the scam complaints from homeowners thinking we're ripping them off with fake infestations. It's BS, we work hard.

Just post pics of dead roaches with funny captions, gets clicks every time.

Same here, took me months to build up from zero.

Feels like starting over every season.

Try adding your service area manually, like specific neighborhoods, and encourage clients to mention the pest type in reviews. Use the Q&A section to answer common questions about termite swarms.

Damn Google changes their rules every other month, just got hit with a verification loop on my pest van location.

Respond to every review within 24 hours, even the bad ones. For positives, thank them and mention the specific treatment like using Talstar P. That boosts your star rating visibility.

i hear ya, my profile was dead until i started that.

yep, same struggle after a slow winter.

Haha, mine looks like a ghost town, probably because I keep forgetting to update the hours for emergency wasp nest calls.

Man, the grind is real with these profiles.

Link it to your website if you have one, and use schema markup for pest services to help search rankings.

Post weekly updates on common pests, like how to spot carpenter ant damage, and tag local areas without geo-tagging too hard.

Get on Nextdoor too, cross-promote with Google for better local reach on termite alerts.

What kind of response rate are you seeing on those seasonal posts?

LOL just rename it to 'Bug Murderers Anonymous' and watch the leads flood in.