Short answer: your Business Profile is the most direct record of your business that Google holds, and local AI answers appear to draw on it, along with reviews and your website. Google hasn't published exactly how. So the sound move isn't a trick; it's making the profile complete, accurate and consistent with your website, and keeping reviews coming in the right way.
If you don't have a website yet, start with Does a Small Business Still Need a Website in 2026?. For the wider shift to AI answers, see Why Your Business Needs to Show Up in AI Search.
What Google officially says about local results
Google's Business Profile help says local results are "mainly based on" three factors:
- Relevance: "how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for." Detailed information helps Google match you.
- Distance: "how far each business is from the customer who's searching."
- Prominence: "how well-known a business is." Links to your business from other sites, review count and ratings all contribute.
It adds a plain statement: "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google."
Its tips are practical: verify the business ("so it's more likely to show up in search results"), keep information accurate and complete, including hours and attributes, reply to reviews, and use photos and videos to show what you offer.
What AI answers appear to do, and what's only observation
Here is where honesty matters. We couldn't find a Google statement listing which Business Profile fields feed AI Mode or how they're weighted. What exists is observation from local SEO specialists.
Whitespark's May 2026 guide, based on examples and screenshots of individual searches, reports that AI Mode results include facts "pulled from Google Business Profiles or other sources," that reviews "have emerged as one of the key sources," and that results can be unreliable, in one case drawing on a former tenant's policy. It also notes that two users in the same location can see different results. Whitespark sells local SEO services, and most of its evidence is single-query screenshots, so treat this as a signal, not proof.
The practical reading is modest: if AI answers pull from your profile, reviews and website, then errors and gaps in those places can end up in the answer.
The checklist
Every item below is grounded in Google's own guidelines, except where marked.
| Field | What Google's guidance says | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | Use your real-world name as on signage, website and stationery. Taglines, hours, phone numbers and location details don't belong in it | Adding keywords or "Best Plumber in Town" to the name |
| Categories | "Use as few categories as possible"; choose ones that describe what the business is | Listing every service as a category |
| Address / service area | Accurate real-world address; P.O. boxes and mailboxes aren't acceptable. Service-area businesses that don't serve at their address should hide it | Showing a home address, or a virtual office |
| Hours | Regular customer-facing hours, plus special hours; inaccurate hours can keep a profile from showing | Never updating holiday hours |
| Phone | A number that connects to the individual location and is under your control | A central call-centre number, or one nobody answers |
| Website | A working link to your own site; no links to other businesses or redirect pages | Pointing at a social page or a dead URL |
| Photos and video | Use them to show what you offer and tell your story | An empty gallery, or old images |
| Reviews | You can ask customers via a link or QR code; reply to reviews; offering free or discounted goods for reviews is "strictly prohibited" | Buying or incentivising reviews; never replying |
| Consistency across the web (specialist recommendation, not a Google rule) | Whitespark advises keeping name, address and phone consistent across your website, profile and listings | A different phone number on your site and your profile |
A 30-minute audit
- Search your own business name on a phone. Does the profile show, and is everything on it correct?
- Compare three things side by side: your profile, your website footer and your top directory listing. Do name, address, phone and hours match?
- Check categories. Is the main one right, and are there only a few?
- Read your last ten reviews and your replies. Reply to any you've ignored, briefly and personally, without promotions.
- Set up a review request routine: a link or QR code on invoices, receipts or at the counter. Don't offer rewards.
- Check hours for the next public holiday and add special hours.
- Write down the questions customers ask most and make sure your website answers them in plain language.
What this won't tell you
Nothing here guarantees you'll appear in an AI answer or a local pack. Google says you can't pay for better local ranking, and AI results can differ by user. Rules and features change, so check Google's pages periodically. A complete, consistent profile is the foundation; it isn't a shortcut. For what Google itself says about eligibility for its AI features, see What Google Actually Requires to Appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode, and for tracking whether any of this is working, How to Measure Your AI Search Visibility Without Fooling Yourself.
Common questions
Do I need a website if I have a Business Profile?
A profile is useful but isn't a full destination. It helps for relevance when it links to a site that answers customers' questions.
Can I put keywords in my business name?
Google's guidelines say the name should match your real-world name and that unnecessary information isn't permitted.
Can I offer a discount for a review?
No. Google says offering free or discounted goods or services for reviews is strictly prohibited.
How often should I update my profile?
When anything changes: hours, phone, services, or address. Check holiday hours before each holiday.
Will fixing my profile get me into AI answers?
We can't promise that. It removes errors and gives AI systems and customers accurate information.
Velocity Branding builds SEO and AI search visibility for small businesses and startups across the US and South Africa.
Want a second opinion on whether your profile, website and listings tell the same story? Book a free strategy call for a local visibility review.