Improve Your Google Business Profile for Local Search and AI

What Exactly is a Google Business Profile?

A Google Business Profile (formerly called Google My Business) is the listing that appears when someone searches for your business by name, or looks for a type of business in a specific location.

It shows your business name, address, phone number, opening hours, photos, reviews, and a short description of what you do. It also appears in Google Maps when someone searches for a nearby service. For most local businesses, it receives more views than the website itself.

In recent years, Google has begun using information from Business Profiles to generate AI-powered summaries and recommendations directly in search results. When someone asks Google “find me a reliable plumber in Cork” or “best café near me,” AI is increasingly deciding which businesses to surface — and it draws from the content in your profile to make that decision.

A well-optimised profile gives Google the right information to recommend your business in both standard local results and AI-generated responses.

 

How the Optimisation Works

Step 1 — Your current profile is reviewed across all key areas: completeness, category accuracy, service listings, photo quality, review count, and how your business description reads to both humans and AI systems.

Step 2 — Your primary and secondary business categories are updated to accurately reflect what you do and who you serve. This is one of the most direct signals Google uses to match your profile with relevant searches.

Step 3 — Your business description, services, and product listings are rewritten or improved to clearly communicate what you offer, who you serve, and where you operate — language that both Google and AI tools use to match you with the right queries.

Step 4 — Your photo coverage is assessed and specific recommendations are provided. Profiles with recent, relevant images consistently outperform those without — and photos are a visible signal to potential customers before they ever click.

Step 5 — Additional profile features that most businesses ignore — including Q&A, Google Posts, and attributes — are reviewed and updated where relevant, giving Google further signals about the nature and quality of your business.

 

Why Your Google Business Profile Matters

For local businesses, a Google Business Profile often drives more enquiries than the website itself.

When someone searches for a local service, the map results and profile panel appear before organic website listings. If your profile is incomplete, inactive, or missing key information, Google is less likely to show it — and more likely to show a competitor’s profile that has more to offer.

As AI-powered search becomes standard, the stakes are higher. When Google’s AI surfaces local options for a user, it selects businesses based on the quality and completeness of their profile data. A profile with accurate categories, a clear description, relevant services, and recent photos is far more likely to be recommended. One with gaps is not.

The businesses appearing in AI-generated local results are getting exposure without spending on advertising. A well-optimised Google Business Profile is one of the few genuinely free marketing assets a local business can control — and most businesses are not using it fully.

 

The Profile That Looks Fine but Does Nothing

Most business owners have a Google Business Profile. Most of them set it up once and forgot about it.

An incomplete or outdated profile does not just sit quietly. It signals to Google that your business is less active, less relevant, and less trustworthy than competitors who are maintaining theirs. Profiles with missing hours, no recent photos, incorrect categories, or a vague business description are consistently ranked below profiles that have taken the time to complete them — not because those businesses are better, but because Google has more information about them.

For AI search, the gap is wider. AI systems need clear, structured information to make a recommendation. If your profile does not explicitly describe what your business does, which services you offer, and where you operate, AI tools cannot surface you as a relevant result — even if you are the best option in the area.

Visibility in AI search is not about being bigger. It is about giving Google what it needs. Most businesses simply have not done that yet.

 

What We Will Do During Your Google Business Profile Improvement

• Full review and audit of your current profile against all key optimisation criteria
• Update your primary and secondary business categories to accurately reflect your services
• Rewrite or improve your business description for clarity, local relevance, and alignment with AI search signals
• Review and update your services, products, and business attributes
• Assess your photo coverage and provide specific recommendations for what to add or update
• Review your Q&A section and add answers to common questions where relevant
• Review your Google Posts activity and recommend a simple approach to keeping the profile active
• Provide a written summary of all changes made and any remaining actions you can take independently

 

You Need This Task When

• Your business appears in local searches but rarely in the top three map results
• Your Google Business Profile is incomplete or has not been updated in more than six months
• Customers tell you they had trouble finding you online
• You are investing in local SEO or Google Ads but your profile has never been reviewed
• AI-generated search results are not surfacing your business for relevant local queries
• A competitor with a smaller or newer business consistently appears above you in map results

 

What We Need From You to Improve Your Google Business Profile

To carry out the optimisation, the following access and information is required.

• Owner or manager access to your Google Business Profile (we can guide you through granting access if needed)
• Your website URL
• A list of your main services and the locations you serve
• Your correct business hours, including any seasonal or irregular variations
• Any recent, high-quality photos of your business, premises, team, or work you would like included

If any of the above is unclear or not yet in place, this can be confirmed during a short call before the work begins.

 

When You Should Improve Your Google Business Profile

The right time to optimise your Google Business Profile is before you invest in any other local marketing activity.

If you are planning to run local SEO campaigns, Google Ads, or any form of local promotion, your profile is the place potential customers land when they search for you by name or by category. If it is incomplete, that traffic converts at a lower rate than it should — and some of it simply does not reach you at all.

With AI search becoming a significant driver of local discovery, optimising your profile now positions your business ahead of competitors who are slower to adapt. The businesses appearing in AI-generated local recommendations today are those whose profiles give Google the clearest, most complete picture of what they offer. That window is still open — but not indefinitely.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there any cost to maintain a Google Business Profile? No. Google Business Profiles are free to create and maintain. The cost of this task covers the specialist work of reviewing, structuring, and improving your profile content — not any paid Google product.

How long before I see a difference? Most profile changes take effect within a few days. Ranking improvements in local search and AI results typically become visible within two to four weeks of a thorough optimisation, though this varies depending on your location, competition, and how incomplete the profile was before.

I already have good reviews. Do I still need to do this? Yes. Reviews are one signal Google uses — but not the only one. Category accuracy, service completeness, photo recency, and the quality of your business description all affect where and how often your profile appears, including in AI results where content quality carries significant weight.

 

Want Your Google Business Profile Improved Correctly?

Optimising a Google Business Profile goes beyond filling in the basics. Categories need to be chosen with search intent in mind. The business description needs to work for both standard search and AI-generated results. Photo and activity signals need to reflect an active, credible business.

At 10x Marketing Lab, the optimisation is carried out by a specialist who understands local search and how AI-powered tools surface local businesses. Every change is made with a clear purpose, and you receive a written summary of what was done and why — so you understand exactly what is working on your behalf.