A friend of mine was spending a few thousand dollars a month on Google ads and couldn’t figure out why the phone wasn’t ringing. So I pulled out my phone and Googled him the way a customer would. His hours were wrong. His photos were three years old. And a one-star review he’d never even seen was sitting right at the top — with no response. Meanwhile, his competitor’s profile was wide awake, and that’s the one AI served up first.

He was paying to send people to a storefront with the lights off.

In this episode I walk through the single most underused (and completely free) PR tool you already own — your Google Business Profile — and the five simple moves that turn a dead profile into a working one. Plus two bonus habits I’m experimenting with myself that almost nobody talks about.

This episode is part of the Publicist in Your Pocket podcast by PR Shield — the show that gives business owners, founders, and creators the PR moves they couldn’t afford to hire.

🔗 Get the free GBP Optimization Checklist, expanded show notes, and tools inside the PR Shield community.

📋 Topics covered:

• The friend who was paying for ads while his profile sat dark

• Why reputations now have to be managed, not just earned

• The silo between PR and SEO is dead

• The 5 free moves that wake up your Google Business Profile

• Why reviews are the most visible part of your PR strategy

• Two bonus habits: your own daily map directions, and becoming a prolific reviewer

• The 15-minute tonight plan

⏱️ Chapters:

• 0:00 — The friend paying for ads with the lights off

• 1:30 — Your most underused PR tool

• 2:15 — Move 1 & 2: claim it, complete it, feed it photos

• 3:30 — Move 3: treat reviews like the storefront they are

• 4:15 — Move 4 & 5: Posts, Q&A, and who else is reading

• 5:15 — The free checklist

• 5:45 — Two bonus moves most people won’t tell you

• 7:15 — Your one action step

• 7:45 — The manifesto

Free resource mentioned in this episode: The GBP Optimization Checklist — free inside the PR Shield community.

About Cyndee Harrison

Cyndee Harrison is an award-winning publicist and the founder of PR Shield® and Synaptic, a Michigan-based reputation studio. Her work is built around a clear belief: credibility is currency — and no founder, creator, or small business owner should have to defend a reputation they earned alone.

Through PR Shield, Cyndee helps business leaders get more visibility with less vulnerability, offering a collaborative community, affordable technology tools, and access to dedicated professional publicists.

Get started at prshield.com or tune into the Publicist in Your Pocket podcast wherever you listen.

🌐 prshield.com | publicistinmypocket.com

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LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cyndeeharrison