Your customers have changed how they search. You may not have noticed yet.
They used to type two or three words: “bakery Wilmington.” Now they ask Google a full question, the way they’d ask a friend: “Where can I get a gluten-free birthday cake by Saturday, somewhere with good reviews?”
And Google answers. Not with a page of links, but with a written recommendation and a short list of businesses.
Here’s what matters to you: when Google’s AI recommends a local business, much of what it knows comes from your Google Business Profile. Your categories. Your services. Your hours, photos, and reviews. If those details are thin, outdated, or missing, the AI has nothing to work with. You simply don’t make the list.
Look at it this way: your Google Business Profile is now your résumé. And AI is doing the first round of hiring.
What changed in search
Google now answers local questions in a few new places:
- AI Mode. A conversational search where people ask follow-up questions. For local questions, it shows businesses with profile details right inside the answer.
- AI Overviews. The written summary that sometimes appears at the top of regular search results.
- Ask Maps. A new feature in Google Maps, rolling out in the US and India, where people type questions and get AI-generated suggestions on a map.
In all three, your Business Profile is often the first thing a customer sees, before they ever visit your website.
Researchers testing AI Mode found that businesses ranking well in the regular map results (the “local 3-pack”) tend to show up in AI answers too.
The bottom line: the work you put into your profile now pays off twice. Once in Maps, and again in AI search.
Why a résumé is the right way to think about it
A hiring manager skims a résumé for one thing: does this person fit the job? A blank section, an old phone number, or a vague summary gets the résumé tossed.
AI reads your profile the same way. It’s trying to answer one question: does this business fit what the customer asked?
If someone asks for “a plumber who handles older homes and can come today,” the AI looks for proof. Does your services list mention older homes? Do your hours show you’re open? Do your reviews mention same-day visits? Every detail you add gives the AI a reason to choose you.
The 5 profile sections most owners leave blank
In the profiles I review, these five gaps come up again and again. Each one is a simple step to fix.
1. Services. Many owners list their main service and stop. List every service you offer, each with a short plain-English description. If you do bathroom remodels, kitchen remodels, and small repairs, list all three. A service that isn’t listed can’t be matched to a question.
2. Products. Not just for retail. A cleaning company can add “Move-out cleaning package.” A consultant can add “AI readiness audit.” Products show up visually on your profile and give AI more specifics to work with.
3. Attributes. These are the small tags like “Wheelchair accessible,” “Women-owned,” “Veteran-owned,” “Free Wi-Fi,” or “Online appointments.” They take two minutes to set, and they answer exactly the kind of questions people now ask AI (“veteran-owned contractor near me”).
4. Business description. You get 750 characters. Use them. Say what you do, who you serve, where, and what makes you different. Write it for a person first. Skip the keyword stuffing; it reads badly to humans and AI alike.
5. Questions and answers. Google is shifting how questions work on profiles. In some places, an AI “Ask a question” feature now answers for you, using what’s on your profile and website. That means the answers to your most common customer questions need to live somewhere Google can read them. Put them in your services descriptions and on an FAQ page on your website.
Your 20-minute self-check
Set a timer. Open your Business Profile (search your business name on Google while signed in) and walk through this list:
- Is your primary category the most specific one that fits? “Personal injury attorney” beats “Lawyer.”
- Are your hours correct, including holiday hours? The holidays are coming. Set them now.
- Is every service listed, with a description?
- Do you have at least three products or packages?
- Have you claimed every attribute that applies?
- Does your description say who you serve and where?
- Have you added a new photo in the last 30 days?
- Have you replied to your last five reviews?
- Do your name, address, and phone match your website exactly?
- Does your website have an FAQ page answering real customer questions
Every “no” is a gap the AI can see. Every “yes” is a reason it might recommend you.
Then try one more thing. Ask Google, in full-sentence form, the kind of question your best customer would ask. See who shows up. If it’s not you, look at the businesses that did. Compare their profiles to yours. The differences are usually obvious.
A note on reviews
Reviews deserve their own article (it’s coming in November). For now, know this: AI doesn’t only count stars. It reads what customers wrote. A review that says “They fixed our furnace the same day” tells the AI exactly when to recommend you. So when you ask for reviews, ask customers to share what you helped them with, not just whether they were happy.
When to bring in help
On the other hand, not everyone has 20 minutes to spare, let alone time to keep a profile fresh every month. Profiles also change without you knowing. Google can update details it finds online, and members of the public can suggest edits. A wrong phone number or closing time can sit there for weeks, and now AI repeats it to every customer who asks.
That’s why I created KAFE Local, our Google Business Profile management service. We set up and complete your profile, keep it fresh with posts and photos, reply to reviews, and check it every month for changes you didn’t make.
If you’d like a second set of eyes on your profile, book a call. We’ll walk through it together and show you where the gaps are.
Your customers are already asking AI for recommendations. Make sure your résumé is ready when they do.
Sources to link in the post
