Google My Business was recently renamed to Google Business Profile and got new features to ease the way people access their business listings on Google.

Google is turning Business Profiles into a high-performance engine for local growth. For businesses and agencies alike, it’s no longer just a listing—it’s a dynamic platform to reach potential leads, build lasting trust, and capture the massive audience currently using Google Maps to find their next service or product.

1. What is Google business profile?

Managing a Google Business Profile is like running a social media channel dedicated entirely to local discovery and trust. Because Google frequently launches game-changing features under the radar, many business owners miss out on massive growth opportunities. Today, we’re breaking down the most recent, low-key updates to help you turn this free tool into your most effective lead-generation engine.

2. Google now enables new option to connect WhatsApp

In a significant move for local SEO, Google has launched a powerful new feature: the ability to add a WhatsApp contact button directly to your Google Business Profile. Following the sunset of the native ‘Business Chat’ tool in 2024, this integration provides the robust, reliable alternative businesses have been waiting for. It allows you to skip the middlemen and connect with customers on a platform they already use and trust every day.

3. New AI tool to generate and add a menu to your Google Business Profile

Google is leading the AI charge by offering specialized tools for the food and beverage industry to optimize their Google Business Profile (GBP). 

Say goodbye to manual data entry! Business owners can now digitize their entire menu in seconds by simply uploading a photo or a multi-page PDF of their physical menu. This AI-driven feature intelligently identifies dish names, descriptions, and prices, turning a static image into a searchable, SEO-friendly digital menu.

How to sync your menu with AI in 5 steps:

  1. Navigate: From your GBP dashboard, select ‘Edit menu.’

  2. Upload: Click ‘Photos of menu’ and then ‘Select photos’ (or upload your PDF).

  3. Automate: Choose ‘Generate a menu’ to let Google’s AI scan and structure your data.

  4. Audit: Quickly review the extracted items for accuracy.

  5. Launch: Tap ‘Publish and edit’ to go live.

Once published, you can further enhance your profile by adding high-quality photos to specific dishes, making your listing even more irresistible to hungry searchers!

4. New way to display Google reviews and photos in a story format

As always, Google Business Profile gets some small uplifts without some big announcements.

This time, we are seeing a new way of displaying the reviews and the photos posted with the review. It is the good old Story format we all see on Instagram and TikTok, including an option to like that particular photo in the review.

The option is available for some users right now and on the mobile Google Maps app, and it looks like the picture below.

5. Google reviews react emojis

Google just introduced a new GBP feature, allowing businesses to engage and be more social when responding to Google reviews.

On Google Maps, businesses can now react to a particular review using an emoji like a heart, prayer, or fire.

Although the option is not available now on Desktop, you can still reply with the old Like button there.

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