Google’s AI is choosing customers for you – is your profile ready?

James Hussey

You can usually tell when a business has not looked at its Google Business Profile in a while.

The opening hours are wrong, the photos are years old and the last review response sounds like it was written during lockdown. For a long time, that did not really matter. As long as the phone number worked and the website link was there, most businesses got by perfectly fine.

Now though, it feels like Google is paying much closer attention to those profiles than it used to.

It’s been suggested that Google Business Profiles are effectively becoming part of the AI search process. Instead of simply showing users a list of nearby companies and letting them figure it out themselves, Google is increasingly trying to summarise, recommend and narrow choices before people even click through.

You can already see signs of it in normal search results. Someone searches for a service, and Google immediately highlights businesses that seem the best fit, pulling information from reviews, services, updates and profile content. This changes the role of a business profile quite a bit.

It is no longer just there to reassure people after they find you. In some cases, it is helping Google decide whether you get surfaced in the first place.

The frustrating part is that a lot of businesses are probably losing visibility without realising why. Their profile is technically complete, but it has not been touched in two years. Services are missing. Photos are outdated. Reviews sit unanswered. None of those things seem serious on their own, but together they paint a picture of a business that looks inactive.

Meanwhile, competitors who are regularly updating photos, replying to reviews and adding fresh information appear far more current and trustworthy.

What makes this shift difficult is that it is happening quietly. Most business owners are busy running the actual business, not monitoring how AI interprets their Google listing.

However, if search keeps moving in this direction, keeping your profile active and accurate will probably stop being optional. It will simply become part of staying visible online.

If you need any help optimising your Google Business profile, please get in touch with us at Engage Web.

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James Hussey

Digital Marketing Executive at Engage Web

Having once gone to school in the Burnage area of Manchester known for being the childhood home of Noel and Liam Gallagher, “Some Might Say” that James is a “Supersonic” presence within Engage Web, happily turning his hand to “Whatever” tasks his role throws at him.