Last checked: 2 November 2026. Google changes Business Profile features and AI search often. We review this page regularly, so check the linked sources before you act.
Short answer: Google says that keeping your Business Profile up to date is one of the SEO basics that also applies to AI Overviews and AI Mode. For local businesses, that profile, your reviews and your website are key sources AI answers can draw on. Complete, accurate, active profiles give AI tools the facts they need to recommend you.
What is a Google Business Profile, and why does it matter for AI search?
A Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business on Google Search and Google Maps, with your address, opening hours, category, photos, reviews and contact options. It is the information Google shows when someone looks for a local business, and Google lists keeping it up to date among the SEO basics for its AI features, AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google doesn’t say exactly how profile information is used in each AI answer.
Google’s guidance on AI features and your website says there are no special optimisations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and lists “checking that your Merchant Center and Business Profile information is up-to-date” among the SEO basics that still matter. In other words, there’s no secret AI setting. The profile you already have is part of the job.
It matters beyond Google too. In its Small Business Marketing Report 2026, published on 21 October 2026, BrightLocal reported that Google Business Profile was the most-cited business directory in its analysis of AI tools answering local business searches, ahead of Yelp, Facebook and Tripadvisor.
What has changed for Business Profiles in the last few weeks?
Several Business Profile changes have appeared since early October 2026, and most of them make your profile more of a conversation starter than a static listing:
- AI-powered messaging is expanding. Search Engine Roundtable reported on 29 October 2026 that Google appears to be opening its Business Profile AI-powered messaging pilot to more businesses. An AI agent answers routine customer questions from Search and Maps and hands harder questions back to you.
- New performance reports are being tested. Search Engine Roundtable reported on 23 October 2026 that Google is testing a revamped performance section with engagement, reviews, search trends and audience data.
- WhatsApp buttons in local results. Search Engine Roundtable reported on 7 October 2026 that Google is showing WhatsApp buttons in local panels alongside call and directions. Google Business Profile Help says verified profiles can add WhatsApp or text messaging, but only in select regions.
- Official sites highlighted in AI answers. On 15 October 2026, Google announced it will test a dedicated section at the top of some AI responses that surfaces the one or two official pages needed to complete a task.
Some of these are tests or gradual rollouts, so you may not see all of them on your profile yet.
How does Google decide which local businesses to show?
Google says local results are mainly based on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. According to Google Business Profile Help:
- Relevance is how well your profile matches what someone searched for, which is why complete, detailed information helps.
- Distance is how far you are from the person searching, or from the location they’re asking about.
- Prominence is how well known you are, based partly on how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have. Google says “more reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking”.
Google also states there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. AI answers are a different format, but Google’s own guidance points to the same foundations, so the work that helps your local ranking is the work that gives AI answers accurate facts about you.
Do reviews affect whether AI recommends my business?
Reviews help Google judge prominence, and they give AI tools real-world detail about what you do and where you do it. Google lists responding to reviews as one of its tips for local ranking, saying positive reviews and helpful replies “can help your business stand out”.
Reviews that mention the actual service and the town or area add useful context. One business owner quoted in the BrightLocal report said they encourage “detailed customer reviews that naturally identify the service performed and the community where the work was completed”. Ask customers to describe their experience in their own words. Don’t script reviews, offer incentives or post reviews yourself: Google’s policies on user-contributed content prohibit fake and incentivised reviews.
Why does my business appear in AI answers one day and not the next?
AI answers change from one search to the next. BrightLocal says it analysed 200,000 AI prompts on ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews across 1,300 locations and found that, even with the same prompts and tools, the businesses recommended weren’t consistent.
Google’s guidance also explains that AI Overviews and AI Mode can use “query fan-out”, running several related searches to build one answer, and that the two features may use different models. So one check by your own business name proves very little. Test a set of realistic questions a customer would ask, such as “emergency plumber open now near Leicester” or “English-speaking accountant in Marbella”, and repeat them every month.
Our guide to how discoverable your business is explains how to run these checks across Google and AI tools.
Should I turn on WhatsApp or AI-powered messaging?
Turn them on only if someone will answer quickly. Chat options make it easier for a customer to contact you from Search or Maps, but a slow or missing reply can cost you the enquiry.
Here’s how the options compare:
| Option | What it does | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone and website only | Customers call or click through to your site | Businesses that take enquiries by phone or online booking | Calls missed outside office hours |
| WhatsApp or text chat | Adds a chat button to your profile, where available | Businesses whose customers already message them on WhatsApp | Google says if you add both, only the text option is shown |
| AI-powered messaging | An AI agent answers routine questions and hands off the rest | Businesses with lots of repeat questions on hours, prices or bookings | Only as accurate as your profile; reported to work only on phones and networks that support RCS |
The point is simple: an AI agent can only answer from the information you give it. If your hours, services or prices are out of date, it will repeat the mistakes to your customers.
Rob Mobsby, Creative Director at Everything Digital, says: “I would 100% recommend WhatsApp integration and messaging. It allows businesses to talk and interact with customers 24/7. It provides comfort and trust with customers when you have consistent touch points.”
What do most small businesses get wrong?
Most small businesses set up a profile once and then leave it. BrightLocal’s survey of 1,002 US small business owners found that 85% have a Google Business Profile but only 35% say it’s active. In the same survey, 65% said they were working on AI visibility, which BrightLocal’s co-founder and CEO Myles Anderson noted is more than are keeping their Business Profile active.
Anderson’s view is that “AI rewards fresh information that stays consistent across all the sources it draws on”. The common mistakes follow from that:
- Opening hours that don’t match the website or Facebook page
- A vague primary category, or services missing from the profile
- Old photos and no recent posts or updates
- Unanswered reviews, especially negative ones
- A different business name, phone number or address on directories
- A website that doesn’t explain services, prices and areas served
Rob Mobsby, Creative Director at Everything Digital, says: “Google Reviews are the most common fault, along with business changes. Often you create your Google Business Profile and then never look at it again, but you might have moved, changed opening times or added services and solutions. Now, in certain industries, you have to consistently make sure your details are correct.”
Checklist: get your Business Profile ready for AI answers
Work through this list once, then repeat the checks every month:
- Verify your profile. Google says verification makes your business more likely to show in results.
- Choose the most accurate primary category. Add secondary categories only for services you really offer.
- Fill every relevant field. Include address or service area, hours, special opening hours, attributes, services and products.
- Match your details everywhere. Use the same business name, address, phone number and hours on your website, social profiles and directories.
- Reply to every review. Thank people for good reviews and answer complaints calmly and helpfully.
- Ask for detailed, honest reviews. Invite customers to mention the service they used and where, in their own words.
- Add fresh photos and posts. Show your premises, team at work or products, and post updates and offers.
- Decide on chat. Turn on WhatsApp, text or AI-powered messaging only if you can respond fast and your profile is accurate.
- Make your website the official source. Keep clear pages for each service and location, with prices or price ranges where you can. See our guide to optimising content for AI search.
- Test real questions monthly. Ask Google, AI Mode and ChatGPT the questions your customers ask, and note who gets recommended.
What about businesses in Spain and the US?
The same principles apply in every market, but the details differ. Chat options are only available in select regions, so check what your profile offers before you plan around it. The BrightLocal survey covers US business owners only, so treat its figures as a US picture rather than a UK or Spanish one.
If you’re in Spain and serve both Spanish and English-speaking customers, make sure your website explains your services clearly in both languages and that the details match your profile. We cover local visibility on the Costa del Sol on our Marbella digital marketing page.
Summary
- Google says Business Profile accuracy is part of the SEO basics for AI Overviews and AI Mode, and there’s no special AI setting.
- Local results depend mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and reviews feed prominence.
- BrightLocal found Google Business Profile was the most-cited directory in AI answers to local searches.
- AI recommendations vary from one search to the next, so test realistic questions regularly.
- New features such as AI-powered messaging and WhatsApp buttons only help if your information is accurate and you reply quickly.
The businesses most likely to be recommended are the ones that keep their profile, reviews and website accurate, consistent and active every month.
Need help getting recommended locally?
Everything Digital helps small businesses in the UK, Spain and the US get found in Google and AI search. Our content and SEO/GEO team can audit your profile, reviews and website together, and our web team can make your site the clear official source. Compare options on our digital packages page, read our complete guide to GEO, or book a call to review your local visibility.
FAQs
Does Google Business Profile affect AI Overviews?
Google lists keeping your Business Profile information up to date among the SEO best practices that apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. It doesn’t say exactly how profiles are used in each answer.
Can I pay Google to rank higher in local results?
No. Google Business Profile Help says there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Ads are separate and labelled as sponsored.
How many reviews does my business need to appear in AI answers?
Google doesn’t give a number. It says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking, so aim for a steady flow of genuine, recent reviews.
Do I need special schema or an llms.txt file for AI search?
Not for Google. Google’s guidance says you don’t need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special schema to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
Is Google Business Profile AI-powered messaging free?
Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google describes the AI agent as answering routine questions at no cost. It was reported to work only on phones and networks that support RCS, with other messages going to your phone.
How often should I update my Business Profile?
Check it at least monthly, and update it straight away when hours, services, prices or contact details change. BrightLocal’s research found AI recommendations shift over time, so regular activity matters.
Do AI tools other than Google use my Business Profile?
It can draw on it as one source. BrightLocal’s analysis found Google Business Profile was the most-cited business directory across the AI tools it studied for local searches, so an accurate profile helps beyond Google itself.
Sources
- Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”, last updated 10 December 2025, checked 2 November 2026: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features
- Google Business Profile Help, “Tips to improve your local ranking on Google”, checked 2 November 2026: https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en-GB
- Google Business Profile Help, “Chat with customers from your Business Profile”, checked 2 November 2026: https://support.google.com/business/answer/15013580?hl=en-GB
- Google, “More ways to connect with the web from Search”, Hema Budaraju, 15 October 2026: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/updates-ai-mode-overviews-explore-web/
- BrightLocal, Small Business Marketing Report 2026, chapter 3, Rosie Murphy, 21 October 2026: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/smb-report-confident-visibility/
- Search Engine Roundtable, “Google Business Profiles AI-Powered Messaging Expands”, Barry Schwartz, 29 October 2026: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-business-profiles-ai-powered-messaging-42419.html
- Search Engine Roundtable, “Google Business Profiles Tests New Advanced Performance Reports”, Barry Schwartz, 23 October 2026: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-business-profiles-new-performance-reports-42367.html
- Google, Prohibited and restricted content policy (user-contributed content), checked 2 November 2026: https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/7400114?hl=en-GB
- Search Engine Roundtable, Google local panel WhatsApp button, 7 October 2026: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-local-panel-whatsapp-button-42230.html
