Prerequisite check.
Four things must be in place before Module 1 pays off. Two are non-negotiable. One can pause you for up to two weeks if it is not already done. Let's get them done now.
Read this once. Sit with it before you answer.
What is the one missing prerequisite that could keep customers from finding you for two more weeks?
Where you stand right now.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- 1Audit whether you own and have admin access to your Google Business Profile.
- 2Create a free Claude.ai account (a $20/mo paid account avoids usage limits).
- 3Capture baseline screenshots that prove where your profile started.
The idea that outlives the lesson.
Two prerequisites are non-negotiable: confirmed ownership of your Google Business Profile, and a free Claude.ai account. Everything else in the course assumes both are already true.
The whole lesson in five points.
- 01Four things must be in place before Module 1 pays off.
- 02Two are non-negotiable: GBP ownership with admin access, and a free Claude.ai account.
- 03Searching your business name shows one of three outcomes. Only the management panel means you own it.
- 04If no profile exists, or you cannot access it, claiming and verification can take 5 to 14 business days. Better to learn that now.
- 05Baseline screenshots are how your progress becomes visible later.
Stop here if you have to. The course will wait.
Four prerequisites have to be in place before Module 1 starts paying off. Two of them are non-negotiable. One of them may pause you for up to two weeks if it is not already done.
We are going to walk through each one and get them done now. If you have to stop the course at any point in this lesson to handle a prerequisite, that is the right call. Stopping here costs you nothing. Pushing forward without these in place costs you the whole course.
Confirm you own your GBP.
This is the prerequisite that can pause your course. Let me help you confirm where you stand in 30 seconds. Open Google in a browser, make sure you are signed in with the email you would expect to own your business profile, and search your business name. There are three possible outcomes.
A panel appears at the top of results titled "Your business on Google" with Edit profile, Read reviews, and Photos buttons. You own it, you have admin access, and you are done with this prerequisite. Move on.
A profile shows in results with a "Suggest an edit" link but no management panel. A profile exists, but you are not the verified owner from this account. Either you are signed in with the wrong email, or someone else owns it. You need to claim ownership before continuing.
You need to create one, which means a fresh claim and verification. In 2026 that typically involves video verification. Plan for 5 to 14 business days before you can continue this course.
If your profile is not in your control today, pause this course, get the claim or verification done, and come back. The course will be here.
Open a free Claude.ai account.
Go to claude.ai and sign up with Google, Apple ID, or email. No credit card required, no trial period. The free tier is permanent.
Three reasons we use Claude specifically. First, it handles the long, structured prompts this course uses well. Second, the free tier includes the Projects feature, which is the workspace we use in Module 3 to build your GBP co-pilot. Third, Claude carries context across conversations, so you are not starting cold every time.
If you are running several prompts back to back, you may hit free-tier message limits. Take a few hours off or consider upgrading. For most students working one module per sitting, the free tier is enough.
Bookmark the workbook.
The workbook link is this and is also linked below this lesson on the course platform. Click it and bookmark it. Click the Dashboard on your Local Visibility Course navigation to see all of your answers.
The workbook is the throughline of the entire course. Every action item maps to a specific page. Every prompt has a fillable section. Every audit has a checklist. You will use it in every single lesson.
Skip the workbook and the course becomes information. Use it and the course becomes a build. Pick the build.
Take your baseline screenshots.
Take two screenshots of your current Google Business Profile. One of your management panel as it looks right now. One of how your profile shows up when a customer searches for you — open an incognito window, search your business name, and capture what you see. Label both files with today's date.
In Module 8 you compare your performance against this baseline. In Module 13 you look at these screenshots and the difference is visible. Without a before snapshot, all your progress feels invisible. Take 60 seconds now and capture the starting line.
Loading…
Your GBP management panel as it looks today. PNG, JPG, or WebP up to 10 MB.
Loading…
How your profile appears to a customer searching your business name in incognito.
Four prerequisites. GBP ownership confirmed. Claude account opened. Workbook bookmarked. Baseline screenshots saved.
If any one of them is incomplete when you hit Module 1, the course will not work the way it was designed to. Get all four done before you push play on the next lesson.
The vocabulary that follows you.
- Google Business Profile (GBP)
- Your business listing on Google Search and Maps. The asset this course optimizes.
- Admin access
- The level of control that lets you edit your profile directly, shown by the management panel in search.
- Profile claiming and verification
- The process of proving to Google that the business is yours so you gain admin access.
- Video verification
- A verification step where Google asks for a short video to confirm your business is real, common in 2026.
- Baseline snapshot
- A dated screenshot of your profile before you start, used later to measure progress.
Finish all four before Module 1.
04 · Baseline screenshots — upload them in Part 4 above.