When an AI tool or Google Maps describes a local business, a huge amount of what it says traces back to one source: the Google Business Profile. It's the structured, verified, machine-readable record of what you are, where you are, and what you do. Google's own AI features read it directly, and other tools lean on the same Maps data. If you want to influence what AI says about you, this is where you start, and it costs nothing.
The catch: a profile that's claimed but half-empty barely helps. The fixes below make it pull its weight.
Get the categories right
Your primary category is the most important text choice on the whole profile. Pick the most specific one that fits, then add every relevant secondary category. A med spa that lists only "Spa" is invisible for "medical spa" searches. The categories are how Google and AI decide which questions you're even eligible to answer.
Fill in every service and attribute
List your services explicitly, each with a short description. Add the attributes (women-owned, by appointment, wheelchair accessible, languages spoken, and so on). Each one is another fact the AI can match against a customer's question. Blank fields are missed matches.
Photos, and keep them coming
Profiles with current, real photos get more views and more trust. Add your exterior, interior, team, and work. Refresh them. A profile that hasn't added a photo in two years reads as stale to both customers and algorithms.
Post regularly
Google Business Profile posts (offers, updates, events) signal an active business and add fresh, readable text Google can index. Even a couple of posts a month beats a profile that's gone quiet.
Reviews, and your replies to them
Reviews are rocket fuel for local visibility, and the words inside them matter: when reviewers mention specific services, that language helps you surface for those exact searches. Reply to every review, good or bad. Replies show the business is present and give Google more text tying you to your services.
Keep it consistent with everything else
Your name, address, and phone number on the profile must match your website and every directory exactly. Inconsistency makes AI hedge, and hedging means it leaves you out of the answer. Consistency is boring and it's one of the highest-return things you can fix.
The uncomfortable test
Search your own business name on Google right now. Is there a complete profile panel on the right, with your categories, hours, photos, and recent posts? Or is there nothing, or a thin shell? If a potential customer, or an AI, went looking for you today, that's what they'd find. For a lot of good businesses, the answer is sobering, and entirely fixable.
Want to see how your profile stacks up?
The free AI Visibility Check looks at how AI tools currently describe you, including what they pull from your Google presence, and the three fixes I'd make first. No call, no obligation.
Get the free checkCommon questions
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes, completely. You verify ownership, then fill in categories, services, hours, photos, and posts. It's the highest-return free thing a local business can do for visibility on Maps and in AI tools.
Do AI tools use Google Business Profile data?
Yes. Google's own AI features draw on Business Profile data directly, and other AI tools rely on Maps and structured local data when recommending businesses. A complete, active profile is one of the strongest signals you can send.
What's the most common Google Business Profile mistake?
Leaving it half-finished: one category, no services, few photos, no posts, no review replies. A claimed-but-neglected profile badly underperforms a complete one because the AI and Maps have less to work with.