When a parent searches “daycare near me,” the results they see in the first thirty seconds are the only ones that matter. The top three listings in Google’s local pack receive roughly 70% of all clicks. Everything below it is an afterthought.
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is how you earn a spot in that pack. And here’s the uncomfortable truth: most daycares in Ontario have done the basics on their GBP (claimed it, added a phone number, uploaded a logo) and then done almost nothing else. That means ranking in the top three isn’t actually competitive — it’s just unclaimed.
Below are seven optimizations that, in our experience running GBP for partner centres, move daycares from somewhere on page two to the top of page one within 60–90 days. None of them are technical. All of them are free.
1. Use the right primary category — and layer secondary categories
Your GBP category is the single strongest signal Google uses to understand what you are. Most daycares set theirs to “Day care center” and stop.
That’s the right primary category, but Google lets you add up to 9 secondary categories, and most competitors aren’t using them. Add all that apply:
- Preschool
- Nursery school
- After school program
- Montessori school (if applicable)
- Summer camp (if applicable)
- Child care agency
Each secondary category is another search query you’ll surface for. A parent searching “Montessori near me” only sees you if “Montessori school” is on your profile.
2. Fill out every single field — especially services and attributes
Google’s algorithm visibly favours “complete” profiles. Completeness is measured by how many available fields you’ve filled in, not just the core ones.
Fill in:
- Services — list every program you run as a separate service (Infant, Toddler, Preschool, Kindergarten, Before/After School). For each, add a short description and a starting price. Yes, even if your pricing is “Contact us for fees” — list a minimum.
- Highlights — “Identifies as women-owned,” “LGBTQ+ friendly,” “CWELCC participating”
- Amenities — “Outdoor play area,” “Free parking for parents,” “Wheelchair accessible entrance”
- Hours of operation — set real ones. If your centre closes at 6pm sharp, don’t list 6:30pm to seem more accommodating.
- Service area — list every neighbourhood you realistically enroll from
- Opening date — surprisingly, this improves ranking for “established” centres
A completed profile can add 15–25 spots to your ranking by itself. This is the single highest-ROI hour of work you’ll spend on local SEO.
3. Upload photos weekly (not once)
Google heavily favours GBPs with recent photo activity. The algorithm reads frequent uploads as a signal that the business is active and engaged.
Upload at least one new photo per week. Rotate between:
- Classroom activities (faces obscured or turned, per your privacy policy)
- Outdoor play
- Your educators (with permission)
- Seasonal events
- Meal service
- Physical space (entrances, hallways, common areas)
- Your exterior in different seasons
Photos also convert. A parent choosing between two centres is far more likely to book a tour with the one that shows 40 authentic photos vs. the one with 5 stock-looking images.
4. Collect reviews systematically (and respond to every one)
Reviews are the second-strongest ranking factor after category relevance. Specifically: volume of reviews, recency of reviews, and keyword content of reviews.
The mistake most centres make is asking for reviews inconsistently and only from happy parents. Instead:
- Ask every parent who completes a successful trial week for a review. Every one.
- Make the ask easy — send a text with a direct link to your review form
- Reply to every review, positive or negative, within 48 hours
- In your replies, naturally mention your services (e.g., “Thank you — we’re so glad the infant room has been a great fit for your family”)
- When negative reviews come in, respond publicly with grace and specifics. A well-handled negative review builds more trust than a string of generic five-stars.
Target: 2–4 new reviews per month, minimum. Centres hitting that number consistently rank above centres with higher total review counts but no recent activity.
5. Use Google Posts weekly
Google Posts are the small content updates that appear on your GBP in search results. Almost no daycare uses them. They’re free, they show up prominently, and they count as activity signals.
Post weekly. Rotate:
- Events (Open House this Saturday, Graduation, Family BBQ)
- Educational content (“This month our toddlers are exploring…”)
- Enrollment updates (“Now accepting infant applications for September”)
- Behind-the-scenes (“Meet Ms. Priya, our new lead RECE in the preschool room”)
Each post shows as a card on your GBP for 7 days (events) or 6 months (offers, updates). Cumulative posting builds visibility in a way competitors aren’t touching.
6. Claim local citations and keep them consistent
Your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) should be identical across every directory you appear in: Yelp, Facebook, HiMama directory, Winnie.com, Bright Horizons listings, regional childcare portals, your Chamber of Commerce, etc.
Inconsistency (abbreviated street names, different phone formats, old addresses) actively hurts your Google ranking because Google interprets it as uncertainty about which listing is correct.
Run a free NAP audit through a tool like Moz Local or BrightLocal. Fix every inconsistency. This one tactic moved one of our multi-site clients from position 4 to position 1 in their primary market within 45 days.
7. Add a physical appointment booking link
GBP now lets you add a booking link that shows up as a prominent “Book” button on your profile. Most parents looking at daycare GBPs want to book a tour — and a one-click button beats “call us to schedule” for roughly 60% of parents who’d rather avoid a phone call.
Link to Calendly, Acuity, Setmore, or your own booking tool. Track how many tours come from that link. In our partner centres, the booking button accounts for 20–35% of all tour requests within three months of adding it.
The 60-day playbook
Week 1: Complete all profile fields, fix category hierarchy, fix NAP consistency. Weeks 2–4: Upload 2–3 photos per week, post weekly, set up review collection workflow, add booking link. Weeks 5–8: Maintain the cadence. Respond to every review and every question. Analyze which search queries are driving profile views through GBP insights.
By day 60, you should see measurable movement in local pack rankings. By day 90, most of our partner centres are in position 1–3 for their primary neighborhood queries.
One final note
GBP is what Google uses to display you in local search results. It is not the same as SEO for your website. Both matter, and they reinforce each other — your GBP pulls heavily on signals from your website, and your website benefits from the authority and click-through that a well-ranking GBP produces. This article covers the GBP half. We’ll tackle the website half in a later post.
Our Marketing & Enrollment Management service runs full GBP optimization and ongoing posting for partner centres as part of our standard monthly retainer. Schedule a call to see your current GBP ranking and what it could be.
