A Google Merchant Center audit is a structured review of everything that decides whether your products show on Google and how well they perform. It is the first thing to do when you take over an account, when sales from Google drop or before a big season.
This is the checklist we use, in the order we use it.
1. Account and business settings
- Website verified and claimed by the account.
- Business name, address and customer service contact complete and consistent with the website.
- Correct users and access levels: the store owner should be an admin.
- Google Ads and other Google accounts linked where they should be.
2. Policies and trust
- Return and refund policy configured in Merchant Center and published on the site.
- Shipping costs and delivery times configured and matching the checkout.
- No account warnings or suspensions. If there are, start with our guide to fixing a misrepresentation suspension.
- Contact page, secure checkout and working payment methods.
3. Product issues
- Number of products approved, limited and disapproved, and the main reasons.
- Price and availability mismatches between feed and website.
- Missing or wrong identifiers: GTIN, MPN, brand.
- Image issues: low resolution, placeholders or promotional overlays.
4. Feed quality
- How the feed is generated and how often it updates.
- Titles: do they start with what the product is and include brand, model and key attributes?
- Descriptions: complete, accurate, without promotional text.
- Product categories and product types assigned.
- Optional attributes filled where relevant: color, size, material, condition.
- Custom labels in place for margin, best sellers and seasonality.
5. Visibility and performance
- Free listings enabled.
- Which products get impressions and clicks, and which never show.
- How campaigns in Google Ads use the feed: are products grouped in a way that makes sense?
6. Processes
- Who checks the account, and how often.
- What happens when a product gets disapproved.
- How seasonal changes like sale prices are handled. Before November, add our Black Friday 2026 checklist.
What to do with the results
Sort the findings into three groups: what blocks products today, what limits performance and what is nice to have. Fix the first group before touching anything else.
If you prefer specialists to run the audit, our Google Merchant Center agency starts every project with one. Not sure whether you need an agency or a consultant? Read Google Merchant Center consultant vs agency.
FAQs
How often should I audit Merchant Center?
A full audit once or twice a year, plus a short review before each big season and after any change of platform or theme.
How long does an audit take?
It depends on the size of the catalog and the number of issues. A small, clean account takes much less than a large one with suspensions.
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