Local SEO in the AI era: a Google Business Profile checklist
Someone asks Google for the best sourdough open near them right now. The answer used to be a map with ten pins. Now it is often a sentence written by AI, and that sentence is built from Business Profiles. Here is how to make sure yours is the one it reads, field by field.
By Monolith
Picture a neighborhood bakery on a Saturday morning. A customer two blocks away types, or simply says, "good sourdough open now near me." A few years ago Google would have shown a map and a list. Today it is just as likely to answer in a sentence, name two or three places and explain why. The bakery that gets named is not always the best bakery. It is the one whose information the AI could find, trust and repeat.
That information lives mostly in one place: your Google Business Profile. In August, Google's own Small Business Bulletin put it plainly. Its AI results ground their answers in web pages and Business Profiles, and its generative features pull directly from your profile to recommend local businesses. Your profile is no longer just a listing. It is the script the AI reads from. 3
How Google decides who shows up
Google is unusually open about this. Local results are based mainly on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well your profile matches what someone searched for. Distance is how far you are from them, or from the place they named. Prominence is how well known you are, which Google says includes how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have, with more reviews and positive ratings helping. 1
Two of those you can work on every week. You cannot move your shop closer to every customer, but you can make your profile more relevant and more prominent. Google also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking, so anyone selling a guaranteed top spot on the map is selling something Google says does not exist. 1
What changed: AI reads your profile now
The ranking factors have not changed much. What has changed is who reads the results. More and more often, AI reads them on the customer's behalf. BrightLocal's 2026 survey found the share of consumers using AI tools for local recommendations jumped from 6% to 45% in a year, while Google's share as a place to read reviews slipped from 83% to 71%. People still check reviews. They are simply asking more places to do the checking for them. 4
That makes plain, specific facts worth more than clever wording. An AI assistant can't recommend you for "gluten-free birthday cakes" if the phrase appears nowhere on your profile or website. Google's bulletin gives a tip that sounds almost too simple: type your hours, services and menus as readable text on your website, not just inside images or PDFs. When the profile and the website say the same thing, the AI has two sources that agree. 3
- July 31, 2024Chat is switched offEndedGoogle ends Business Profile chat and call history. Some regions can add a WhatsApp or text link instead.
- Nov 3, 2025Q&A is retiredRetiredGoogle discontinues the Business Profile Q&A API, part of retiring the questions feature.
- Feb 11, 2026AI joins the shortlistSurveyBrightLocal finds 45% of consumers use AI tools for local recommendations.
- Aug 2026Google confirms itConfirmedGoogle says its generative features pull directly from Business Profiles, and Gemini can now help manage yours.
- NowYour moveThis weekWork through the checklist below before the holiday rush.
The Google Business Profile checklist
Here is the whole job on one card. None of it costs money, most of it takes minutes, and every item maps to something Google itself recommends. Work top to bottom: the basics first, because a profile that isn't verified or has the wrong hours undermines everything after it. 12
Get the basics right
- Verify the profile. If Google offers video verification, use it.Must do
- Use your real business name, exactly as on your sign. No keywords or city names added.Policy
- Pick one primary category that describes the core business. Add extras only if they're true.High impact
- Set regular hours, then special hours for every holiday, even if they don't change.Quick win
Say what you actually do
- Write a plain description of up to 750 characters: who you serve, what you do, where.Quick win
- List each service or product by the name customers use when they search.High impact
- Fill in factual attributes such as outdoor seating, wheelchair access or online appointments.Quick win
- Put the same hours, services and menu on your website as plain text.AI ready
Earn and answer reviews
- Ask every customer, with a review link or QR code on receipts and thank-you emails.High impact
- Never ask only the happy ones, and never offer a discount for a review.Avoid
- Reply to every review in your own words, good or bad, within a few days.Weekly
Keep it fresh
- Add real, unfiltered photos of the place, the team and the work every month.Monthly
- Post an update, offer or event at least weekly. Recurring posts can repeat for you.Weekly
- Check Google's automated calls setting and decide on purpose whether it can call you.New
What each field tells the AI
It helps to think of each part of the profile as an answer to a question someone will eventually ask. Here is how the main fields line up with the questions customers put to Google, and to the AI tools that read it. 123
| Profile field | What to do | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | One category for the core business, plus up to 9 more | "Is there a bakery near me?" |
| Description | Up to 750 characters, plain and specific, no promotions | "Who makes custom wedding cakes in town?" |
| Services and products | Real names customers use, no prices or phone numbers in the name | "Who does gluten-free birthday cakes?" |
| Hours and special hours | Regular hours plus every holiday | "Is it open right now?" |
| Attributes | Factual details such as seating or accessibility | "Can I sit and work there?" |
| Reviews and replies | A steady flow, answered in your own words | "Is it actually good?" |
| Photos and video | Real images; videos up to 30 seconds | "What does it look like inside?" |
Reviews: the part you can't fake
Reviews are where most profiles quietly fall behind. BrightLocal found 47% of consumers won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, 74% only care about reviews from the last three months, and 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or higher. Recency matters as much as volume: a hundred reviews from 2022 tell a customer, and an AI, less than fifteen from this autumn. 4
The fix is boring and it works. Ask every customer, every time, with a link or a QR code at the counter, on the receipt or in the thank-you email. Don't ask only the customers you think will be happy: Google's review policy bans selectively asking for positive reviews, and it bans paying for reviews with discounts or freebies. Profiles caught with fake reviews can be blocked from getting new ones and shown with a public warning. That is not a risk worth taking for a few extra stars.
Replies count too. 89% of consumers expect owners to respond, and half are put off by copy-and-paste replies. A short, specific reply that mentions what the customer ordered or the problem they had does more than a template ever will. Answer the bad ones calmly and offer to fix things offline. Future customers read those replies, and so does the AI summarizing your reviews. 4
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| "Thanks for the review!" | "So glad the rye held up for the picnic, Dana. See you Saturday." |
| "We're sorry for any inconvenience." | "You're right, that order should have been ready at 9. Call me at the shop and I'll make it right." |
| "Thank you for your feedback." | "Thanks for flagging the parking. We've added a note about the lot behind us to our profile." |
AI shortcuts that save an afternoon
You can use AI to do most of this faster, as long as you stay the editor. Google says Gemini can now help manage a Business Profile, from updating details to drafting replies, and that nothing is published without your review and sign-off. Any chat assistant can help with the writing too. A few prompts that work well: 3
- "Here are my services and what makes us different. Write a 700-character Google Business Profile description in plain language, no hype, no prices."
- "Turn this list of what we sell into service names a customer would actually search for."
- "Draft a short, specific reply to this review. Mention what they ordered. Don't sound like a template."
- "Give me a one-month shot list of real photos for a neighborhood bakery: the team, the ovens, the morning line."
- "Compare my website's hours and services with this profile text and list anything that doesn't match."
- Day 1: BasicsVerify, fix the name, pick the primary category, set hours and holiday hours.Done whenEverything matches your sign and website
- Week 1: WordsWrite the description, list services and products, fill in attributes.Done whenEvery service a customer asks about is named
- Week 2: ReviewsPrint a QR code, add the link to receipts and emails, reply to every old review.Done whenNo review older than a week without a reply
- Week 3: PicturesShoot real photos and one short video. Post your first weekly update.Done whenPhotos from this season are live
- Week 4: HabitPut a 20-minute weekly slot in the calendar for posts and replies.Done whenThe slot has survived a busy week
One last check: search for yourself the way a customer would, on a phone, away from the shop. Ask Google, and ask an AI assistant, for what you sell in your neighborhood. If the answer gets your hours wrong or leaves you out, the checklist above shows where to look first.
Want the bigger picture on getting named by ChatGPT and other AI assistants, not just Google? Our guide covers it.
Monolith's take: your Google Business Profile is now the script that AI reads from. Verify it, name what you really do in plain words, keep holiday hours current and ask every customer for a review. It's free, it takes an hour to start and 20 minutes a week to keep up, and it's the highest-return marketing work most local businesses aren't doing.
How do I improve my Google Business Profile ranking?
Does Google's AI use my Business Profile?
How many reviews does a local business need?
Read for this feature. The numbers match the markers in the text.
- Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Googlesupport.google.com
- Google Business Profile Help: Edit your Business Profilesupport.google.com
- Google Business Profile Community: Small Business Bulletin, August 2026support.google.com
- BrightLocal: Local Consumer Review Survey 2026brightlocal.com
Want your profile, website and AI search presence tuned together? That's what our SEO work covers.
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