If you run a local business, Google may now be answering your customer's question before they ever land on your website, using your own Google Business Profile as the source.
A new study from the AI-tracking firm Profound found that citations of google.com within Google's AI Mode jumped 8.4x in about two months, making Google's own domain the second most-cited source in AI Mode results overall. Almost all of that growth came from two places: Google Business Profiles and product knowledge panels. In plain terms, when someone searches using AI Mode, Google is increasingly pulling the answer straight from its own listing data instead of sending the searcher out to a business website.
For local, location-dependent businesses, this shows up as an inline panel: hours, photos, address, and reviews, displayed right inside the AI Mode answer. The study found this effect is strongest in hospitality and travel, home services, restaurants, real estate, and healthcare: the exact categories most local businesses fall into. A customer can get their question answered (is it open, what does it look like, is it any good) without ever clicking through to a business's actual site.
That's a meaningful shift. It means your Google Business Profile isn't just a listing that feeds the map pack anymore; it's becoming the actual storefront a growing share of customers see first, sometimes the only thing they see. If it's out of date or thin, you can lose the customer before your website even enters the picture.
Check your hours today, including holiday and seasonal exceptions. An AI panel showing wrong hours can cost you a customer who never even reaches your site to find the correct ones.
Refresh your photos regularly. AI Mode panels lean heavily on GBP images, so stale or sparse photos make a worse first impression than you'd expect.
Keep reviews coming in and respond to them. Both volume and recency factor into how trustworthy your profile looks when it's the only thing a customer sees.
Make sure your category and business description are specific and accurate. Vague or outdated descriptions get summarized poorly when AI is doing the summarizing for you.
Treat your profile like a second website that needs regular upkeep, not a form you filled out once and forgot about.
The bigger takeaway: as AI search answers more questions without a click, your Google Business Profile is carrying as much weight as your website, sometimes more, for local visibility. It deserves the same ongoing attention you'd give your homepage, not an occasional glance.
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