Phone numbers in posts, if Google can verify them
Until a change that Search Engine Roundtable reported on 25 September, Google's help said that a Business Profile post may not contain a phone number. The page now says that, to prevent fraud and abuse, Google may remove posts with unverified contact details: phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles. The safest route is the “Call now” button, because it uses the verified number from your profile.
On 6 October Search Engine Roundtable reported a second adjustment, this time to the listing itself. According to Google, time-limited promotions, prices and direct calls to action do not belong in it. Google leaves open which fields of the listing that covers. In posts, offers remain allowed. So the autumn promotion goes into a dated post, and the listing stays factual.
New attributes for dishes
Dishes on the menu in your profile can now be marked gluten-free, dairy-free, halal or kosher. Vegetarian and vegan were already there. Lisa Landsman of Google announced it on LinkedIn, and Search Engine Roundtable reported it on 13 October. You set an attribute in the profile's menu editor, on the individual dish. Google leaves open which countries the new attributes cover.
Because the attributes sit on individual dishes, they need a menu that is set up in the profile as a list of dishes. A menu uploaded only as a photo is left out. How to make a menu readable for Google and AI on your own website too is covered in SEO for cafés and restaurants in Lüneburg.
Two observations without a word from Google
An AI summary in the profile
On 17 September Search Engine Roundtable showed a Business Profile in Google Search with an AI Overview on top. A button below it opened a chat in the style of AI Mode. Ben Fisher spotted it, and the author of the report takes it for a test that Google has been running in variations for a while. Part of the summary was out of date. The author named the reason himself: his own company's website was just as old.
All reviews only after signing in
On 30 September Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google Maps asks signed-out users to sign in before they can see all reviews of a profile, sort them or write one. Whether this is a test and in which countries it runs remains open. You can check it in a minute by opening your own profile in a private browser window and scrolling through the reviews.
A deadline worth knowing: four days
Alongside the news there is a rule in Google's help that applies to every business. For certain suggested edits to your profile, Google may contact you by email, and you then have four days to accept or reject the suggestion. Without an answer, Google may publish the change automatically if other publicly available information confirms it, such as your business website. Changes Google made itself appear in blue in the profile editor.
What this means for a local business
Two of these points lead back to your own website. Google uses it to cross-check a suggested edit, and an AI summary condenses what it says. Opening hours, phone number, address and services on the website should therefore match the profile. If you run a restaurant or café, set up the menu in your profile as dishes and mark where one of the new attributes applies.
Emails from Google about your Business Profile deserve a look, including in the spam folder, so that the four days are enough. How to go through your profile point by point is in the Business Profile checklist.