# Your Google Business Profile is the first thing AI reads. The 20-minute fix.

*2026-09-12* · *How It Works*

> Six fixes to your Google Business Profile, each with the exact place to click: categories, services, description, attributes, hours, and photos. Set aside 20 minutes.

Your Google Business Profile is the box with your name, hours, reviews, and map pin that appears when someone searches for you on Google. It is also one of the first things AI reads about you.

In our Florida studies, Google AI Overviews pulled from Business Profile and map data when it named local businesses, and Gemini drew on Google's local data. If your profile is thin or out of date, those tools have less to work with.

Here are six fixes, each with exactly where to click. Set aside 20 minutes and work down the list.

## How do I get into my profile?

Search your business name on Google while signed into the Google account that manages your profile. Your profile tools appear above the search results. Click Edit profile.

If you do not see Edit profile, you are signed into the wrong account, or nobody has claimed the profile yet. Go to business.google.com to claim it first.

## 1. Categories

Your primary category tells Google, and the AI tools that read Google, what kind of business you are. Get it right before you touch anything else.

Where to click: Edit profile, then the About tab, then Business category.

What to do: pick the most specific primary category that matches the work you want more of. “Air conditioning contractor” is more specific than “HVAC contractor,” for example. Then add secondary categories for the other work you do.

Not sure what your options are? Search for your top competitor on Google and look at the category listed under their name. That shows you what Google calls your trade.

## 2. Services

Services are the list of specific jobs you do. They help match you to a search like “water heater repair” instead of only “plumber.”

Where to click: Edit services in your profile tools, next to Edit profile. If you do not see it, check the three-dot menu.

What to do: add every service you actually do, using the words a customer would type. Give each one a one-sentence description. “Drain cleaning for kitchen and bathroom sinks” tells AI far more than “Drains.”

## 3. Business description

The description is the short paragraph about your business. It is the plainest place to tell AI what you do and where.

Where to click: Edit profile, then the About tab, then Description.

What to do: write it the way you would explain your business to a new neighbor. Say what you do, which towns you serve, and what kinds of jobs you take. Leave out links and slogans, since Google's rules do not allow links there and slogans tell AI nothing.

While you are in Edit profile, open the Location tab and check your service area. The towns listed there should match the towns you name in your description.

> In our Florida HVAC AI Visibility Study, Gemini, which uses Google's own local data, named a specific HVAC company in all 150 of its searches. Your Business Profile is part of the data it reads.

## 4. Attributes

Attributes are the small details about how you do business, like whether you offer online estimates or are veteran-owned. They give AI more facts to match against a customer's question.

Where to click: Edit profile, then the More tab.

What to do: go through every option and switch on the ones that are true. The list depends on your category, so you may see different options than a business in another trade.

## 5. Hours

Hours tell customers and AI whether you are open when the customer needs you. Wrong hours are one of the fastest ways to lose a call.

Where to click: Edit profile, then the Hours tab. Use More hours for things like emergency service if Google offers it for your category, and Special hours for holidays.

What to do: make sure your hours match your website exactly. AI tools compare details across sites, and a mismatch gives them a reason to doubt both.

## 6. Photos

Photos show AI and customers that you are a real, working business. A profile with no photos looks abandoned.

Where to click: Add photo in your profile tools.

What to do: add real photos of finished jobs, your trucks with your name visible, your crew, and your shop if you have one. Skip stock photos. Add a few new ones every month so the profile stays active.

## What about reviews?

Reviews matter a lot, and they take more than 20 minutes, so they get their own post. For today, reply to any recent review you have not answered yet.

## How do I know if it worked?

Google can take a few days to show your edits, and AI tools take longer to catch up. The way to know is to check what the AI tools say about you now, then check again once your changes settle.

Write down what you changed and the date. When you check again later, you will know which changes were in place.

Our free scan checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews for your business in about 60 seconds. Run it before you start so you have a starting point.

**Get your starting point before you make changes.** → [Run Your Free AI Visibility Check](https://getlocalvitals.com/check)

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Source: https://getlocalvitals.com/blog/google-business-profile-20-minute-fix-for-ai
Published by Local Vitals · https://getlocalvitals.com