Running a successful dispensary means more than just having quality products and knowledgeable budtenders. In today’s digital landscape, your Google Business Profile (GBP) can make or break your dispensaries local SEO performance and ultimately determine whether customers find you or your competitors.
After over 8 years optimizing Google Business Profiles for cannabis dispensaries across Michigan and the US, I’ve learned that most operators are leaving money on the table by not properly leveraging this free but powerful local SEO tool.
Here’s everything you need to know to dominate local search results and drive more foot traffic to your dispensary via Google Business Profiles.
Understanding GBP Restrictions for Cannabis Businesses
Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first. Google Business Profiles for dispensaries operate under different rules than traditional businesses, and understanding these limitations is crucial for success.
What You CAN’T Do:
- Post traditional promotional content like other businesses
- Share consumption images or videos
- Post product photos consistently (sometimes they get approved, sometimes they don’t)
- Incentivize reviews directly through promotions
- Utilize the GBP “offers” to create offers for first time customers
What You CAN Do:
- Publish images and videos of your store interior and exterior
- Share photos and videos of events you’re hosting
- Post images of specials, sales, or promotional materials
- Feature team members and staff
- Show the best-looking elements of your dispensary
The key is focusing on your store’s atmosphere, professionalism, and community presence rather than the products themselves. This will make you appear more trustworthy and could make the difference between someone stopping in to buy from you and not.
Essential GBP Optimization Strategies for Dispensaries
1. Perfect Your Business Information
Your business description is prime real estate. Make sure it clearly communicates:
- Who you are and what you do
- Your exact location (more on this below)
- What makes your dispensary unique
- Your commitment to compliance and customer service
Pro tip: Include relevant keywords naturally, but don’t over stuff them.
2. Maximize Your Service Areas
This is where most dispensaries miss huge opportunities. Don’t just list your city – max out the number of locations and service areas around your dispensary. Include:
- Popular neighborhoods within your city
- Surrounding cities and townships
- Areas where you offer delivery (if applicable)
Think about where your customers actually come from, not just where you’re located. In Michigan, I’ve seen dispensaries in smaller towns capture traffic from major metropolitan areas by properly setting up their service areas.
3. Get Your Location Details EXACTLY Right
This cannot be emphasized enough: your location information must match EXACTLY across all platforms. If your website says “Suite 3,” your GBP must say “Suite 3” – not “#3,” “Ste 3,” or any variation.
This consistency (called NAP – Name, Address, Phone) is a critical local SEO ranking factor. Even small discrepancies can hurt your rankings.
4. Optimize for Multi-Location Businesses
If you operate multiple dispensary locations, link each GBP to its specific location page on your website, not your homepage. This helps Google understand the relationship between your physical locations and your website, improving local relevance signals.
Advanced GBP Strategies That Drive Results
Track Your Success with UTM Codes
Most dispensaries have no idea how much traffic their GBP generates. Add UTM parameters to your website link so you can track GBP traffic separately from organic search traffic in Google Analytics. This helpful tool can set these up for you.
Use something like: yourwebsite.com?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=google_business_profile_location-name
Hours Management: The New Ranking Factor
Here’s something most cannabis operators don’t know: Google now factors your business hours into local rankings. If you’re closed when someone searches “dispensary near me open now”, you’re less likely to appear in the results.
Best practices:
- Keep your hours updated religiously
- Note different hours for pickup vs. delivery if applicable
- Update holiday hours in advance
- Consider extending hours during peak times when competitors are closed
Payment and Service Information
Make your GBP as helpful as possible by including:
- Whether you accept debit cards or are cash-only
- Parking availability and options
- Delivery service availability
- Wholesale services (if applicable)
- Any other services that set you apart
Business Category: Keep It Simple
Always use “Cannabis Store” as your primary category. Don’t get clever with “supplement store” or “vape shop” categories thinking you’ll capture more traffic. Google knows what you are, and using the correct category helps with relevance and compliance.
Content Strategy: What Actually Works
Visual Content That Converts
Since traditional posting is limited, focus on high-quality visual content:
- Store tours: Show off your clean, professional interior
- Team spotlights: Put faces to your brand
- Event coverage: Community involvement builds trust
- Behind-the-scenes: Show your operation’s professionalism
Remember: Quality over quantity. One well-shot video of your store tour is worth more than dozens of random photos.
The Small Business Advantage
Mark your business as “small business” where Google asks. This can help with local preference algorithms and appeals to customers who want to support local businesses over large chains.
Review Management: The Foundation of Trust
Respond to EVERY Review
Good or bad, respond to every single review. This shows potential customers that you care about feedback and are actively engaged with your community.
For positive reviews: Thank them specifically and mention something personal about their experience.
For negative reviews: Stay professional, acknowledge their concern, and invite them to discuss it privately.
Getting More Reviews (The Right Way)
You can’t directly incentivize Google reviews, but you can get creative:
- Train budtenders to provide exceptional service that naturally leads to reviews [they can ask for them too]
- Create internal contests for team members who get mentioned by name in the most reviews
- Make the review process easy by providing clear instructions and links so they can easily navigate through
Never, ever buy fake reviews. Google’s getting better at detecting them, and the penalties can devastate your local rankings.
Handling Fake Reviews
If you receive obviously fake or competitor reviews, appeal them through Google’s review removal process. Yes, it’s tedious and annoying, but protecting your reputation is worth the effort.
Technical Considerations for Cannabis Businesses
The Iframe Problem
If your dispensary menu runs on an iframe system, you’re severely limiting your GBP’s effectiveness. Native e-commerce menus allow Google to crawl your product pages, improving your chances of ranking for strain-specific and product-specific searches.
Direct Menu Integration
Include direct links to your menu in the “Order Now” button functionality. Don’t send people to a third-party platform first – make it as easy as possible for customers to browse and purchase.
Link All Social Media Accounts
Connect all your social media profiles to your GBP. This creates additional authority signals and gives customers multiple ways to engage with your brand.
Building Authority Through Strategic GBP Link Building
Here’s a local SEO strategy most dispensaries completely overlook: actively building links to your Google Business Profile and Maps listing.
Most cannabis operators think of link building as getting other websites to link to their homepage or product pages. But smart dispensary owners also focus on building links directly to their GBP because it sends powerful local relevance signals to Google.
Why GBP Link Building Matters
When other websites link to your Google Business Profile or Maps listing, you’re essentially telling Google: “This business is legitimate, established, and worth talking about in this local market.” These links carry different weight than traditional backlinks, but they’re crucial for local search dominance.
The cannabis advantage: Since many traditional businesses ignore this strategy, it’s often easier for dispensaries to gain a competitive edge through strategic GBP link building.
Getting Your GBP and Maps URLs
First, you need the right links to promote:
Your GBP URL: Go to your Google Business Profile dashboard and copy the “Share profile” link. It should look something like: https://business.google.com/website/your-dispensary-name
Your Maps URL: Search for your business on Google Maps, click “Share,” and copy the link. This gives you the direct Maps listing URL that customers use to find directions.
Pro tip: Create shortened, branded versions of these URLs using your domain (like yourdispensary.com/map) that redirect to your Maps listing. This looks more professional and gives you tracking capabilities.
Strategic Link Building Opportunities
Local Business Directories: Don’t just submit your website URL – include your GBP and Maps links in the appropriate fields. Many directory sites have specific fields for Google listings.
Chamber of Commerce & Business Associations: When you join local business organizations, make sure they link to both your website AND your GBP in their member directories.
Local Event Listings: When sponsoring or participating in community events, provide organizers with your Maps link for easy location finding.
Social Media Profiles: Include your Maps link in social media bios and location fields. This makes it easy for followers to find your physical location.
Email Signatures: Add your Maps link to employee email signatures with text like “Visit our dispensary” or “Get directions.”
Local News and PR: When engaging with local media, provide your Maps link along with other business information. Journalists often include these for reader convenience.
Cannabis-Specific Opportunities
Industry Publications: Cannabis trade publications often allow GBP links in business profiles or advertorial content.
Cannabis Event Listings: Include your Maps link in any cannabis event directories or industry calendars.
Vendor Partnerships: If you work with compliant vendors or service providers, ask them to include your Maps link in any case studies or client spotlights.
Community Advocacy: When participating in cannabis advocacy or education efforts, include your Maps link to show local business support.
What NOT to Do
Avoid spam tactics: Don’t blast your GBP link across irrelevant sites or forums. Quality over quantity always wins in local SEO.
Don’t buy GBP links: Just like with regular link building, purchased links to your GBP can hurt more than help.
Skip the link farms: Low-quality directory sites that exist solely for SEO purposes can actually damage your local rankings.
Tracking Your Success
Use UTM parameters on your GBP links to track which sources drive the most profile visits and ultimately conversions. Set up something like: your-maps-url?utm_source=chamber&utm_medium=directory&utm_campaign=local_links
Monitor your Google Business Insights to see increases in profile views, direction requests, and website clicks as your link building efforts take effect.
The Long-Term Local SEO Impact
Building links to your GBP isn’t just about immediate traffic – it’s about establishing your dispensary as a legitimate, well-connected local business in Google’s eyes. This authority signal helps with all your local rankings, not just your Maps placement.
Remember: The goal isn’t to get hundreds of GBP links. Focus on getting 10-15 high-quality, relevant links from trusted local sources. That’s often enough to see meaningful improvement in your local search visibility.
Most of your competitors aren’t doing this. That’s your opportunity.
B2B Cannabis Considerations
While this guide focuses primarily on dispensaries, B2B cannabis businesses often have more flexibility with their GBP posts. Manufacturers, processors, and service providers can typically post more traditional business content, making GBP an a possible marketing channel, though not necessarily as effective as it is for local brick and mortar businesses.
If you’re a B2B cannabis business, you can often:
- Post about new services or products
- Share industry insights – simply share your blogs you are already creating here.
- Promote events and webinars
- Highlight case studies and partnerships
Questions and Customer Engagement
Respond quickly to all questions posted on your GBP. Fast response times are both a ranking factor and a trust signal for potential customers.
In the cannabis industry, customers often have compliance concerns or specific product questions that require knowledgeable responses.
Protecting Your GBP: Security Threats You Need to Know About
Here’s something most dispensary operators don’t think about until it’s too late: Google Business Profile security.
Cannabis businesses are increasingly targeted by scammers trying to gain access to business profiles. Once they have access, they can change your business information, delete positive reviews, post inappropriate content, or even suspend your profile entirely.
The most common attack vector? Email requests asking for access to your GBP. Basically phishing for GBPs.
The Golden Rule: Verify Before You Trust
If you don’t recognize the EXACT email requesting access to your profile, DO NOT give them access. Period.
Scammers often use professional-sounding emails that appear to be from:
- SEO agencies you’ve never worked with
- Google support (spoiler: Google rarely emails directly about this)
- “Marketing specialists” offering to help improve your rankings
- Former employees or contractors you may have forgotten about
Red Flags to Watch For
- Generic email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) claiming to be from agencies
- Urgent language about “fixing critical issues” with your profile
- Requests for access before any formal agreement or contract
- Emails with poor grammar or spelling
- Anyone asking for access without explaining specifically what they plan to do
Best Practices for GBP Security
- Keep a tight list of who has access to your profile
- Use two-factor authentication on your Google account
- Regularly audit who has access and remove anyone no longer working with you
- Document all legitimate requests for access with proper contracts
- Train your team on these security protocols
If Your Profile Gets Compromised
If you suspect your GBP has been hacked:
- Change your Google account password immediately
- Remove unauthorized users from your business profile
- Check for any changes to your business information
- Monitor for fake reviews or inappropriate posts
- Contact Google Business support if necessary
The cannabis industry already faces enough challenges with digital marketing restrictions. Don’t let a preventable security breach add to your problems.
Common Mistakes That Kill Local Rankings
- Inconsistent NAP information across platforms
- Using wrong business categories to try to game the system
- Ignoring negative reviews instead of addressing them professionally
- Outdated hours especially during holidays or special events
- Generic business descriptions that don’t differentiate your dispensary
- No local content strategy for visual posts
- Linking to homepage instead of location-specific pages for multi-location businesses
- Granting profile access to unverified individuals or agencies
The Bottom Line
Your Google Business Profile isn’t just a listing – it’s often the first impression potential customers have of your dispensary. In an industry where trust and professionalism are paramount, a well-optimized GBP can be the difference between a customer choosing you or driving to your competitor down the street.
Local SEO for dispensaries is increasingly competitive. The dispensaries that invest time in properly optimizing their GBP, creating quality content, and actively managing their online reputation will continue to capture more market share.
The fundamentals matter more than any fancy strategy. Get these basics right, stay consistent, and watch your local search visibility improve.
Want to see how your dispensary’s GBP stacks up? Take 10 minutes to audit your profile against this checklist. Your future customers (and your bottom line) will thank you.
