Does your Business Profile matter for AI search?

What the profile is

A Google Business Profile is the free listing that appears in Google Search and Maps. It holds your business name, categories, hours, phone, website, photos and reviews, and Google can verify that the business is yours.

What we saw

On October 4, 2026, we put 11 customer-style questions to Google AI Mode and Perplexity. AI Mode’s local answers came from Maps profiles with reviews. Perplexity confused Westward with a firm that has a similar name.

That was a small check, so treat it as a pointer. It does suggest one thing: a profile with your exact name, service area and a few real reviews is another place that says clearly who you are.

Reviews

Reviews matter to people and, in what we saw, to the local answers. Ask happy customers and give them a direct link. Never buy or fake reviews, because that breaks Google’s rules and can put your profile at risk.

Our own profile is verified and rated 5 stars, but as of October 7 it has one review. That is thin, and we are not hiding it.

If you only have an hour

Spend it on three things. Check that your business name, phone number and hours are right and match your website. Make sure the categories describe what you actually do. Then send your review link to the five customers who were happiest with your work.

Those are small jobs, and they are the ones a machine reading your profile can see most clearly.

Beyond Google

Other tools may read other listings, such as Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and Yelp. We have not confirmed which AI tools use which, so the safe approach is to keep the same details on each. Setting up more of these listings is on our own to-do list.

Step by step

1. Claim and verify your profile if you have not.
2. Choose the categories that match what you do.
3. Make hours, phone and website match your site exactly.
4. Set a service area if you travel to customers.
5. Add real photos and a short, plain description.
6. Ask for reviews and reply to the ones you get.