2 August 2026
AI-Powered Customer Messaging on Google Business Profiles: What Melbourne Businesses Need to Know
Google just wired AI directly into your business listing. If your Google Business Profile data isn’t complete and current, that AI is about to give your customers wrong answers—and you won’t know it happened until they stop calling.
In July 2026, Google rolled out an update integrating Gemini AI into Google Business Profiles (GBP). This integration allows businesses to manage their profiles conversationally and enables AI-powered customer messaging. For local businesses in Melbourne, this means that customers can receive instant answers to common questions directly through your GBP listing, all without waiting for a human response.
However, there’s a catch: the quality of these AI-generated responses heavily relies on the accuracy and completeness of your profile data. If your information is outdated or lacking, the AI will struggle to provide helpful answers. This can lead to frustrating experiences for potential customers and ultimately damage your business’s credibility.
The Business Implications
The AI message button draws exclusively from your GBP data to respond to customer inquiries. If your profile contains stale business hours, missing service descriptions, or outdated pricing information, you risk generating generic or incorrect answers. Such responses can erode customer trust and impact your bottom line.
Additionally, Google’s new enforcement dialog for review authenticity means businesses must take a close look at their review practices. The platform is tightening policies around incentivized reviews, which means if you’re currently offering any form of incentive in exchange for reviews, you need to stop immediately. Instead, consider legitimate alternatives, such as sending post-service WhatsApp messages with direct review links or QR codes at your premises.
On a positive note, the upcoming connection between GBP and Google Analytics will allow for direct attribution from local searches to website conversions. This means you can measure how well your profile optimization translates into tangible business outcomes like website visits and sales—something that hasn’t been easily achievable until now.
Actionable Steps to Improve Your Google Business Profile
To ensure your GBP is ready for the AI integration, consider taking the following steps:
- Audit Your GBP: Review every field in your profile this week. Check services, hours, pricing, descriptions, and FAQs. Ask whether an AI, drawing only on this information, would provide accurate and helpful answers to your customers.
- Add Common Questions: Compile a list of the 10 most common questions your team receives by phone or message and add them to the FAQ section. This gives the AI better context for responding effectively.
- Update Business Hours: Ensure that your business hours reflect current public holiday closures and any seasonal variations.
- Revise Review Practices: If you offer any incentives for reviews, stop that practice immediately. Replace it with more genuine efforts like WhatsApp messages or QR codes directing customers to your review page.
- Set Up UTM Parameters: Establish UTM parameters on your GBP website URL (utm_source=google&utm_medium=local&utm_campaign=gbp) to create a baseline for measuring the upcoming Google Analytics connection.
Conclusion
Ensuring your Google Business Profile is accurate and up-to-date is no longer just a good practice; it’s essential for your business’s success. With AI now integrated into customer messaging, the quality of your profile data directly impacts customer engagement and trust.
If your GBP hasn’t been audited in the last 30 days, or if you’re not sure whether your profile data is accurate enough for AI to use it, a short Discovery Call can help you identify what needs updating and how to prioritize it. We can walk you through what the new AI features mean for your business and show you practical next steps.
Stay ahead of the game and ensure that your customers receive the best experience possible through your Google Business Profile.
Original research: Digital Arka