Google says local listings need more than a name and opening hours for AI search
Google representatives said AI search is turning broad local queries into specific requests, such as a business with a particular service, an available appointment and a location that suits the customer. A listing that supplies only a name and opening hours may not answer enough of that request.
Speaking in a September 24 webinar alongside Adecco's Bonnie White and Uberall's Krystal Taing, Google's Caroline Dissaux described longer, more conversational searches and AI features that break complex requests into related questions. Taing said categories, attributes, services, menus, inventory and availability should be complete and consistent across a company's site, Google Business Profile and other surfaces. Consistency means customers and search systems should not encounter conflicting facts, not that every surface carries identical copy.
Taing said the work of maintaining local information is familiar, but the scale and complexity of getting it right across every location is what has changed, and that this matters for large language models and generative AI. A strong brand-level presence does not establish that an individual branch can meet a specific request, which makes a location-by-location data audit more useful than assuming one national profile represents every store.
On measurement, Taing said Google Business Profile post views and clicks can help teams assess individual posts, but those figures do not establish that a post caused visibility in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Dissaux cautioned that there is no clear-cut metric tying posts directly to AI visibility. Taing also argued that automation can handle volume, but people should still set the strategy, standards and guardrails.
Reported by Search Engine Journal ↗
Topics: AI Overviews, AI Mode, Measurement