If someone finds your business on Google Search or Maps tonight and has a quick question, there is a growing chance an AI agent will be the one answering it. Search Engine Roundtable reports that Google is rolling out Google Business Profile AI messaging to more businesses, letting customers text your business from Search and Maps using their phone’s regular messaging app, with an AI agent handling the routine questions.
That can be a real win for a busy owner who cannot answer every message during the lunch rush or while on a job site. It can also go wrong fast if the AI tells a customer you are open when you are closed, quotes last year’s price, or promises a booking you cannot honor. This post walks through what the feature does, how to check whether you have it, how to set it up safely, and how to review what the AI says on your behalf. If you would rather have someone keep your profile accurate for you, that is exactly what our Google Business Profile management service is for.
What Google Business Profile AI messaging actually does now
According to Search Engine Roundtable, Google first offered this feature to some businesses earlier in the year and has made updates since then. Now it appears to be reaching more profiles.
Here is what Google says the feature does, as reported in the article:
- Customers can message your business from Search and Maps, and the conversation happens in their phone’s native messaging app (the same app they use to text friends), not in a separate Google app.
- An AI agent "will answer routine questions from customers, instantly and at no cost."
- When the AI agent does not know an answer, it hands the question off to you.
- You can take over any conversation at any time.
- All of the messages are available in your Business Profile.
The examples shared so far lean toward restaurants. Claudia Tomina, who spotted the rollout and posted about it on LinkedIn, described the AI answering questions like "what are today’s specials?" or "can I book for Saturday?" In Google’s own example, the agent pulls up menu items with photos and prices, then offers open reservation times. An email that Mike Blumenthal shared on X described the offer as early access to an "AI-powered messaging pilot" and talked about letting the agent handle common questions and help with reservations so your team can spend more time running the restaurant.
The article does not say exactly which other types of businesses will get access, so if you run a law office, a plumbing company or a boutique in Huntington, do not assume you are in or out. Just check.
How to tell if your profile already has access
The simplest signal comes from Claudia Tomina’s post: look for a red dot on Messages in your profile. That dot is how Google is flagging that AI-powered messaging is available to you. If you see it, tapping into Messages should bring up a welcome screen that lets you turn the feature on.
A few practical notes:
- Check from the account that owns or manages the profile. If an old employee, a former agency or a relative set up your listing years ago, you may not be seeing what the true owner sees.
- Do not panic if you do not see it. Even Barry Schwartz, who wrote the Search Engine Roundtable article, said he did not see it yet himself. This is a gradual rollout, and Google often opens features in waves.
- Watch your email. Mike Blumenthal received an email invitation, so some businesses are hearing about it that way rather than discovering the red dot first. Make sure the email address tied to your profile is one somebody actually reads.
The RCS fine print that decides who talks to the AI
This is the part many owners will skim past, and it matters. As Claudia Tomina pointed out, the AI agent only works for customers on networks and phones that support RCS.
RCS stands for Rich Communication Services. In plain terms, it is a newer texting standard that supports more than old-fashioned text messages, which is what makes things like photos of menu items and tappable reservation times possible inside a regular texting app.
The catch: for customers whose phone or carrier does not support RCS, the AI does not step in. Their texts go straight to your phone, and standard text rates may apply.
What that means for you in practice:
- You will still get messages that need a human. Turning this on does not mean the AI covers every customer. Some people will reach you directly, and they will expect a reply just as quickly.
- Know which phone those texts land on. If it is your personal cell, decide now whether that is acceptable, especially if you are the one who goes quiet on weekends.
- Factor in text costs. If your phone plan charges for texts, that is worth knowing before volume picks up.
Fix your profile before the AI speaks for you
Claudia Tomina’s advice in the article is the most important line in the whole story: before you turn it on, make sure your menu, hours and services are up to date. The agent can only answer as well as your profile does.
Think of the AI as a new front-desk employee whose only training manual is your Business Profile. If the manual is wrong, the employee will confidently repeat the mistake to every customer who asks. Here is where Long Island businesses most often have stale information.
Hours, including holidays and seasonal changes
Long Island hours are rarely the same all year. East End shops and restaurants shift between summer and off-season schedules. Many businesses close early around Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Contractors and landscapers change their availability with the weather. If your profile still shows July hours in November, an AI agent will happily tell a customer you are open until 10.
Set your regular hours, then add special hours for every holiday and closure you know about. Make updating them part of your routine, not something you remember after a customer shows up to a locked door.
Prices and menus
In Google’s own example, the AI pulled up menu items with photos and prices. That is great when the menu is current. It is a problem when it shows a dish you dropped in the spring or a price from before your last increase. A customer who was told one price by "you" (because that is how they will see it) and charged another is not going to blame Google.
Go through every menu item, product and service price listed on your profile. Remove anything you no longer offer. If your pricing varies a lot (for example, a contractor who quotes every job individually), consider whether listing firm prices on your profile makes sense at all.
Services you do and do not offer
If your profile lists a service you stopped offering, the AI may tell customers you still do it. If it leaves out something you do offer, the AI may say you do not, or simply hand off a question it could have answered. Review your service list line by line, and make sure your business description is accurate and specific.
Booking and reservation details
The AI offering open reservation times is one of the headline features in Google’s example. Before you rely on that, make sure whatever availability the AI is working from actually matches your real book. A double-booked Saturday night is worse than a customer who had to call.
While you are at it, make sure your profile matches your website. If your site says one set of hours and your profile says another, customers get confused and so does every system trying to describe your business. Getting this consistent is a basic part of local SEO, and it now directly affects what an AI tells your customers.
Turning it on without handing over the keys
Once your profile is clean, the setup itself appears simple: you turn the feature on from the welcome screen in Messages. The source article does not detail every setting inside, so we will not guess at specific controls. Instead, here is how to approach it so you stay in charge.
- Pick an owner for messages. Decide which person on your team is responsible for watching handoffs and taking over conversations. If the answer is "everyone," it usually ends up being no one.
- Read the fine print first. Claudia Tomina recommends it, and she is right. Make sure you understand the RCS limitation, where non-RCS texts go, and anything Google says about how the agent uses your information.
- Start during a slower stretch. Turning it on right before a holiday weekend means your first week of learning happens at your busiest time. Pick a quieter period if you can.
- Test it yourself. Ask a friend or family member with an RCS-capable phone to message your business with common questions: hours, prices, whether you take reservations or offer a specific service. Then have them ask something unusual. See what the AI says and when it hands off.
That last step is the one most owners skip. Five minutes of testing will tell you more than any article, including this one.
Reviewing AI replies for accuracy, week after week
Because all messages are available in your Business Profile, you can read exactly what the AI told your customers. Use that. AI tools sometimes produce answers that sound confident but are wrong, a problem often called "hallucination." We wrote a full guide on how to catch AI hallucinations before they cost you, and the same habits apply here.
A simple weekly review looks like this:
- Read a sample of AI-handled conversations. You do not need to read every one, but read enough to spot patterns.
- Flag anything about hours, prices, availability or promises. These are the answers that create real problems when they are wrong.
- Trace each mistake back to its source. Most bad answers will come from bad or missing profile information. Fix the profile, and the AI’s future answers should follow.
- Note the questions the AI keeps handing off. If customers keep asking something the AI cannot answer (parking, whether you are kid-friendly, whether you serve a particular town), that is a sign your profile is missing information customers care about.
- Follow up with anyone who got a wrong answer. A quick, honest message ("Sorry, our hours changed, here is the correct info") saves the relationship and often the sale.
This is the review-and-sign-off approach we recommend for any AI that talks to customers. The AI handles the repetitive work, and a person stays accountable for what goes out under your name. If you want the longer version of that idea, see our post on why human-in-the-loop AI beats full automation.
Keeping response times fast when the AI hands off
The AI answering routine questions instantly is the easy part. The hard part is everything it cannot answer, plus every text from a customer whose phone does not support RCS. Those all come to you, and the customer on the other end has just experienced an instant reply. A long silence after that feels even longer.
Ways to keep handoffs quick without chaining yourself to your phone:
- Turn on notifications on the right device. Make sure the person responsible for messages actually gets alerted when a conversation needs them.
- Set coverage hours. Decide who watches messages during open hours, and what happens after close. Even a commitment to reply first thing in the morning is better than random timing.
- Prepare saved answers for your common handoff questions. Custom quotes, special requests and complaints come up again and again. Having a starting point for each reply makes them faster to write without sounding robotic.
- Know when to move to a call. Some conversations (an upset customer, a complicated job, a large catering order) are better handled by phone. Offer that early.
The goal is not to let AI replace your team. It is to clear the routine questions off their plate so they can give real attention to the conversations that need a person. Our guide to AI customer service without losing the human touch goes deeper on striking that balance.
Who should turn it on now, and who should wait
This feature is free, according to Google, but free does not mean right for everyone on day one.
It is likely a good fit if:
- You get lots of repetitive questions (hours, specials, availability, whether you take reservations).
- Your profile is already accurate and someone keeps it updated.
- You have a clear person responsible for handoffs.
Consider waiting if:
- Your hours, prices or services change often and your profile tends to lag behind.
- Nobody on your team can commit to checking messages and reviewing the AI’s answers.
- Your work involves quotes, legal or medical questions, or anything where a wrong answer creates real liability. In those cases, test carefully and pay close attention to how the AI handles questions it should not answer.
Waiting is not falling behind. A clean, accurate profile today makes the switch easy whenever you are ready, and it helps your visibility in Search and Maps whether you use AI messaging or not.
Your first week with AI messaging
If you see the red dot, here is a simple plan for the first week:
- Day one: Audit your profile. Hours, special hours, menu or services, prices, description and booking details. Fix everything that is out of date.
- Day two: Read Google’s fine print on the welcome screen, then turn the feature on.
- Day three: Run test conversations from an RCS-capable phone, including a few tricky questions.
- Days four through seven: Check messages daily, read what the AI said, and fix any profile gaps you find.
- After week one: Move to a weekly review, and update your profile any time something changes, before customers start asking.
If you do not see the feature yet, do steps one now anyway. An accurate profile is the foundation for this feature and for every other way customers find you on Google.
If you want a second set of eyes on your profile before an AI starts answering for you, or help setting up a review routine your team will actually follow, reach out to MJW Media. We are happy to take a look.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my Google Business Profile has AI-powered messaging?
According to Search Engine Roundtable, look for a red dot on Messages in your Business Profile. Tapping into Messages should show a welcome screen that lets you turn the feature on. Some businesses have also received an email invitation, so check the inbox tied to your profile. Google is rolling it out gradually, so not every business has it yet.
Does the AI agent answer every customer who messages my business?
No. The AI agent only works for customers on phones and networks that support RCS, a newer texting standard. Texts from everyone else go straight to your phone, and standard text rates may apply. You should plan to answer those messages yourself.
Is Google Business Profile AI messaging free?
Google describes the AI agent as answering routine questions at no cost, and the early access email shared online also says no cost. Keep in mind that texts from customers without RCS go directly to your phone, where standard text rates may apply depending on your plan. Read the fine print on the welcome screen before turning it on.
What happens if the AI gives a customer the wrong hours or price?
The AI answers based on your Business Profile, so most wrong answers come from outdated profile information. All messages are available in your profile, so review them regularly, fix the information at its source, and follow up with any customer who got a wrong answer. Keeping hours, special hours, menus and prices current is the best prevention.
Can I take over a conversation from the AI?
Yes. Google says you can take over conversations at any time, and the AI hands off questions it cannot answer to you. Assign one person to watch for handoffs so customers are not left waiting after getting an instant first reply.
