As internet searches transition from SEO to AI, many business owners are wondering whether keeping up with their Google Business Profile is worth the effort. The answer is a definite “yes,” especially if your brand focuses on brick-and-mortar business in a localized area.
The AI boom is changing everything. Smart home devices are changing how we interact with our appliances. It's changing how we navigate our cities. It's even changing how we search online.
Google searches are expected to decrease 25 percent by 2026, according to the industry experts at Gartner. Likewise, searches on AI platforms are up 300 percent. While search engines could be influenced by keywords, SEO, and paid ads, AI searches prioritize authority and trusted content.
If AI is rising and Google is falling, is there any point to business owners investing in their Google Business Profiles? Digital marketers say yes, especially if a business relies on local, brick-and-mortar customers.
Research shows that 46% of all Google searches seek local information, yet many small businesses are invisible to customers actively searching for their products and services, according to the brand visibility experts at Marketing Insight Innovators. Statistics indicate that 73% of local searches result in customers visiting a business within five miles, giving businesses a significant opportunity to gain clients by optimizing their Google Business Profile.
What does this mean? It means improving your Google Business Profile helps you elevate your online visibility and poor search result placement. Once-invisible businesses that format their profiles correctly should start appearing in service-related and product-related searches within weeks, as well as searches for their competitors.
Google Business Profiles serve multiple functions within the search engine's infrastructure. The platform acts as a credibility checkpoint, since physical location carries significant weight within the algorithm. It provides a standardized format for quick customer information access and serves as a collection point for customer reviews. And very frequently, it and functions as a reference point for mobile users seeking local business information in-the-moment for an immediate transaction ..
And they're becoming important for AI searches, too. Google has begun featuring AI-generated summaries that give searchers a snapshot of your brand. And it pulls this information from your profile and your customer reviews, so it's important that your profile information is accurate and compelling.
Has it been a while since you've visited your Google Business Profile? Or maybe you never set one up in the first place? The professionals at Marketing Insight Innovators offer optimization services, but explain how to do the basics yourself by taking the following steps:
While AI searches are increasing in importance, Google searches aren't going away anytime soon. More than 90 percent of Internet searches start on Google, so it's important for your business to show up in local search results. Complete profiles typically make it 70 percent more likely that a customer will stop in, and 50 percent more likely you'll make a sale.
So do Google Business Profiles matter? The answer is yes, for your bottom line.
