Why an agency asks you to fill in the brief yourself
An agency asks for a brief because it needs information about the business that it cannot safely infer from public pages. What a service includes, where you actually work and which details are current all need a reliable source.
That does not mean the owner must type every answer alone. Staff, existing documents and an interview can contribute. The important outcome is a clear record of the facts that the business confirms, so the person writing or implementing the work can use them accurately.
What is a marketing brief?
A brief gathers the relevant business facts, goals, audience and constraints for an assignment. It gives the agency something concrete to work from and helps the business see which information is still missing.
Keep three things distinguishable: facts about the business, the proposed plan and approval to make particular changes. Providing an answer about a service does not automatically explain whether a new page is included in the work or ready to publish.
The role of a particular brief depends on the arrangement and documents involved. There is no need to make a universal claim that a brief can never have contractual significance. For day-to-day work, ask both sides to identify what the document records and which decisions require a separate confirmation.
A useful brief can be short. Its quality depends on whether it answers the questions needed for the task, not on how many fields it contains.
Why cannot the agency find everything itself?
Public information is useful for preparation, but it can be incomplete or out of date. An old service page may describe an offer you stopped providing. A directory may use an address from before a move. Research can identify those differences without establishing which detail is correct now.
Google's guidance on hiring an SEO recommends that the supplier learn about the business, its customers and competitors. Asking questions is part of understanding the assignment, rather than evidence that the agency expects you to do its specialist work.
The agency should help make those questions answerable. If a field is unclear, ask why the information is needed and what level of detail will be useful. “Describe your business” may need to become several smaller questions about services, locations and customer needs.
Avoid filling an unknown answer with a plausible claim. “To be confirmed by the service manager” is more useful than an invented service duration that later becomes public copy.
What should you put in a brief?
Start with the details a customer needs to choose, contact or visit the business. The following categories are a practical starting point; they are not a requirement to disclose every internal record.
Name and location. Confirm the real business name, the current location and how customers use it. Say whether people visit you, you travel to them or both. Google's representation guidelines require accurate real-world representation and a precise location or service area.
If existing sources use different address formats, explain whether they describe the same place or an actual difference. Do not assume that punctuation or abbreviation alone means Google treats them as separate businesses. Include relevant arrival instructions where they help a customer, and let the agency choose the appropriate place to present them.
Contact details and hours. Identify the current customer contact routes and the applicable operating pattern. Mention regular exceptions or seasonal changes that matter. Google's guidelines distinguish ordinary hours from special hours and also identify business types for which standard hours are inappropriate.
Services and limitations. Explain what the service includes, what is optional and what you do not offer. If a customer commonly misunderstands a term, describe the distinction in ordinary language. Confirm commercial details through the appropriate business source instead of asking a writer to supply them.
If something is free, record that accurately. A difficulty with a website field is a problem to resolve, not permission to invent a token price. Do not publish a charge merely to make a form accept an entry.
Customers and goals. Describe the situations people bring to you and the practical questions they ask. You can do this without sending identifiable customer records. Explain which services the assignment should focus on and which outcomes you want to evaluate.
Assets and decisions. Identify the approved images or other materials available, anything still needed and who will confirm the result. If an image has not been supplied, say so. A person responsible for obtaining it gives the project a next step without an invented promise about when it will arrive.
Can you provide the answers on a call?
Yes. An interview can be an effective way to gather information when a blank questionnaire is difficult to answer. Agree how the important points will be captured and ask to review the resulting text.
Check names, numbers, exclusions and any sentence that makes a promise. A transcription can preserve the words spoken while missing what a person intended. The confirmation step gives you an opportunity to correct that before the text is used.
A voice message can serve the same purpose if the agency accepts it. Record in a suitable setting where you can give the questions your attention. There is no guaranteed number of minutes needed, and no reason to suggest recording while driving.
Keep the confirmed version somewhere both sides can refer to during the work. When an answer changes, identify the correction so an old draft is not mistaken for the current instruction.
Who should answer inside the business?
Choose people who know the subject. The owner may confirm positioning and priorities, while a colleague knows the appointment process or the services delivered at a particular location. Existing current records may settle factual questions too.
Have one responsible person coordinate the answers. That does not mean this person must know every detail. It means they can identify who should resolve an uncertainty and tell the agency when the information is confirmed.
If two people give different answers, preserve the question long enough to resolve it. Do not silently combine incompatible opening hours or service conditions into a sentence that nobody actually approved.
Avoid treating a brief as a collection of secrets. It should contain what is needed for the assignment. Passwords and verification codes are not business-description answers; access belongs in the service's appropriate permission process.
Keep access and verification separate from the brief
Google's Business Profile access guidance provides roles through individual Google Accounts. Agree the relevant task and role separately from the factual questionnaire.
If the profile needs verification, record that dependency. Google's verification guidance explains that available methods vary and review can sometimes take longer than the stated five-business-day period. Completing the brief does not bypass that process.
The agency can explain what is needed without asking you to place a code in a general project document. Keep the account's official verification process under the appropriate business control.
What if the brief is incomplete?
An incomplete brief is a reason for targeted follow-up, not a verdict that the whole project is ruined. Ask which missing facts affect the next piece of work. Some drafting or research may proceed while a specific service condition remains unresolved.
Keep drafts marked as drafts until the relevant statements are confirmed. Do not let a blank answer become unsupported praise, a guessed price or a claim copied from a competitor.
Review the resulting copy for accuracy and usefulness. Smooth writing does not prove AI authorship; mistakes do not prove human authorship. The question for approval is whether the text says something true and useful about the business.
Before confirming the brief, check the key factual statements, the unresolved items and the person responsible for each. You should understand what is ready to use and what still needs an answer.
The method page introduces the wider approach. The Local visibility guide covers related questions about preparing and evaluating the work.
Frequently asked questions
why an agency asks you to fill in the brief yourself
The agency needs confirmed information about the business, including details that public pages may omit or misstate. You do not have to type every answer personally: knowledgeable staff, documents and an interview can contribute, with the resulting facts confirmed.
what is a marketing brief
It is a record of the relevant business facts, goals, audience and constraints that helps guide the work. Keep factual input distinct from the agreed scope and approval of changes. The role of a particular document depends on the arrangement.
what should i put in a brief for my agency
Include relevant services, locations or service area, contact details, applicable hours, customers' practical questions, goals and who confirms facts or approves changes. Mark unknowns explicitly and provide only information needed for the work.
can i just tell the agency on a call
Yes, if that is an agreed way to provide the information. Ask for a written summary afterwards, correct any misunderstanding and confirm the material that will be used. The call can be a useful source rather than the sole long-term record.
What happens if I fill it in quickly
A short answer can be enough when it is accurate and complete for the task. Missing or ambiguous information needs follow-up. A brief can be corrected; speed alone does not prove that the resulting work will be poor.
Can I send a voice recording instead of typing
Yes, if the agency accepts that format. Record in a suitable setting, avoid unnecessary private information and ask to check the resulting text. The useful result is a clear confirmed record, not a particular input format.
Who at my business should fill the brief in
Use people who know the relevant facts, with one responsible person coordinating confirmation. Staff and current records can help. Where answers conflict, resolve the difference before publishing rather than guessing on somebody else's behalf.