What is Google Business now called?

Google Business Profile is the essential tool for local businesses to appear in Google Search and Maps when customers search for services nearby. It replaced Google My Business in 2021 as part of Google’s ongoing effort to simplify and unify how businesses manage their online presence across its platforms. For local service providers, a complete and accurate Google Business Profile is no longer optional—it’s foundational to being discovered by nearby customers actively looking to hire or buy.

AI Business Sites includes full Google Business Profile setup as part of every website build, ensuring the business’s name, address, phone number, hours, and service areas are correctly listed and synchronized with the website’s schema markup. This integration helps Google verify the business’s legitimacy and relevance, which directly impacts local search rankings. When a business’s profile is complete with photos, posts, and customer reviews, it’s more likely to appear in the “local pack”—the top three map results that receive the majority of clicks for local queries.

Consistency across the website and Google Business Profile strengthens local SEO signals. AI Business Sites’ automated internal linking engine and schema markup on every service and location page reinforce the business’s geographic and service relevance, making it easier for Google to match the business with nearby searchers. Without this alignment, even a well-designed website may struggle to rank locally.

Google Business Profile acts as a digital storefront—often the first impression a potential customer gets. Businesses that maintain active profiles with regular updates see higher engagement, including more calls, direction requests, and website visits. For service businesses competing in crowded local markets, this visibility can be the difference between being found and being overlooked.

• Businesses with complete Google Business Profiles are 2.7 times more likely to be considered reputable by consumers.
• 76% of people who search for something nearby visit a business within 24 hours.
• Local searches lead 28% of users to make a purchase, either online or in person.

By combining a technically sound website with a properly managed Google Business Profile, AI Business Sites ensures clients aren’t just online—they’re visible, trustworthy, and ready to be chosen by local customers at the moment of intent. This dual approach turns search visibility into real-world leads, without requiring the business owner to manage multiple platforms or tools.

AI Business Sites includes automated Google Business Profile (GBP) management as part of its $497/month managed service, turning a traditionally manual task into a seamless, AI-driven workflow. The platform syncs reviews in real time, applies sentiment analysis, and drafts professional responses for owner approval — ensuring timely engagement without constant monitoring. This automation helps businesses maintain active profiles, which directly supports local visibility since consistent review activity signals relevance to Google’s algorithm.

Beyond review handling, the system continuously tracks competitor GBP activity, generating AI-powered competitive-intelligence reports that highlight strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities in the local market. These insights inform content and service adjustments, helping businesses stay ahead in location-based searches. For service businesses relying on local discovery, this integrated approach ensures the Google Business Profile isn’t just listed — it’s actively optimized, managed, and informed by data, all without requiring the owner to log in or manage another tool.

The GBP features work alongside the platform’s broader local SEO foundation, including schema markup, localized service pages, and automated internal linking — elements that collectively strengthen how Google understands and ranks the business in its service area. By embedding GBP management into the core operating system, AI Business Sites removes the fragmentation of juggling separate tools for reviews, listings, and local content, delivering a unified system where every action supports the same goal: being found and chosen by nearby customers.

AI Business Sites includes this full GBP automation — review syncing, AI-assisted responses, and competitor tracking — at no extra cost within the $497/month plan, ensuring local visibility runs on autopilot while the owner focuses on delivering service.

• Real-time review syncing with sentiment analysis and AI-drafted replies for approval
• Competitor GBP tracking with automated intelligence reports on strengths and opportunities
• Fully managed GBP optimization included in the $497/month service — no add-ons or extra fees

Managing your Google Business Profile (GBP) yourself might seem like a cost-saving move, but it often falls short in practice. Most small business owners lack the time to consistently update hours, post weekly offers, or respond to every review within 24 hours—yet Google rewards active profiles with higher local visibility. Without dedicated expertise, critical details like schema markup, service-area targeting, and keyword-rich descriptions get overlooked, weakening your chances to appear in the "local pack" for relevant searches.

AI Business Sites solves this by owning and optimizing your GBP as part of the done-for-you platform. From setup to ongoing management, we handle verification, category selection, photo uploads, and review response automation—ensuring your profile stays accurate, engaging, and aligned with Google’s best practices. This frees you to focus on serving customers while your local presence works continuously to attract them.