Last week I spent a morning on our own Google Business Profile. I set our real hours, cleaned up our service areas, and posted our latest issue. Then I matched everything on Bing.

It felt like housekeeping. Days later, Google made it look a lot more important.

On October 20, Google added a business hub to the Gemini app. One of its connections is your Google Business Profile. That means Google's own AI can now read your listing, and with your permission, help you change it.

What changed this week

The new hub is a business page inside the Gemini app. It groups tools for building your brand, checking your finances and understanding your customers. Google says it is rolling out globally to all Gemini app users, and it named no price.

The part that matters most for local businesses is the Business Profile connection. According to reports on Google's announcement and help pages, Gemini can:

  • Read your reviews, customer questions and performance, like searches, calls and direction requests.
  • Write posts and draft replies to reviews in your voice.
  • Change your opening hours and publish posts. Review anything before it goes live.

Two limits to know. It works with a personal Google account, not a work or school one. And it isn't available if your login manages more than one verified profile, so most agency logins won't see it.

Why your profile matters to AI

Your Google Business Profile is already the single biggest source AI uses for local answers. In a BrightLocal study of more than 1,300 business locations, it made up about 28.5% of all citations across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews. The next biggest directory, Yelp, was under 10%.

So when someone asks AI for a plumber, a dentist or a caterer near them, your listing is often where the answer comes from. Wrong hours, an old description or a thin services list get repeated back to customers.

Now Google's own AI can see that listing up close. That is a reason to make sure it's right before you hand it the keys.

What to let Gemini do, and what not to

Treat Gemini like a sharp new assistant on their first week. Let it read, summarize and draft. Keep the final say on anything customers will see.

Let itCheck it firstKeep for yourself
Summarize your reviews and spot patternsDrafted replies to reviewsChanging your hours
Report on calls, searches and directionsNew posts and offersDeleting anything
Find gaps in your listingYour business descriptionAnything during a holiday or emergency

The rule is simple: AI can save you time, but your name is on every word. One wrong holiday hour can send a customer to a locked door.

Do this week: a 15-minute profile tune-up

Search your business name on Google and click Edit profile. Then:

  • Hours. Set your real hours. Add holiday hours now for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
  • Description. Say what you do, who you serve and where, in plain words. If you serve customers in Spanish, say so, and add a line in Spanish.
  • Services. List each service by the name customers use, not your internal name.
  • Service areas. List the real cities and counties you cover.
  • One post. Share one update: a tip, an offer or a recent job, with a photo.
  • Match everywhere. Copy the same name, hours and areas to Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and your website.

The last step is the one most people skip. AI trusts a business more when every listing says the same thing.

How often should you post?

Google doesn't give a number. What it does say: posts older than six months are archived unless they have a date range. So a profile that hasn't posted since spring looks quiet to customers, and to AI.

My rule of thumb:

  • Weekly is ideal. One short update: a tip, a recent job, a customer question answered.
  • Monthly is the minimum. Never let your profile go a month without something new.
  • Use the scheduler. Google lets you schedule posts and set them to repeat, so you can plan a month in one sitting.

One warning from Google's own rules: posts with a phone number in the text can get rejected. Put your number on your profile, not in the post.

Tool I'm Using: Gemini's business hub

This week's tool is the one in the news, and I hit its first limit right away. I opened Gemini, went to Connected Apps, and Google Business Profile wasn't there. Our profile runs through a work account, and for now the connection only works with personal Google accounts.

If you manage your profile from a personal Gmail, you can try it today. Connect your profile and ask:

"Summarize my reviews from the last three months. List the top three things customers love and the top three complaints."

It takes about five minutes, and it turns a pile of reviews into a to-do list. The complaints tell you what to fix. The praise tells you what to say more often in your posts and description.

Two notes. The rollout is still in progress, so you may not see it yet. And it won't connect if your login manages more than one verified profile. Agencies and multi-location owners will have to wait.

The bottom line

Your Google Business Profile used to be a listing. Now it's the file AI reads before it recommends you, and soon the panel AI helps you run. Spend 15 minutes on it this week. It's the cheapest AI visibility work there is.

Sources