Hello and welcome back. It is a pleasure to have you here. I am currently sitting in the studio in West Perth, and the air is just starting to cool down after another classic WA stinger. It feels like the right time to stop the busy work, grab a cold beverage, and talk about the little box that basically runs your local reputation.
If you are a regular listener, you will know we have a fairly relaxed vibe here. We recently wrapped up episode seven of Raising the Bar, and frankly, I think we both needed a beer by the end of it. We spent the session wading through the reality of the Google Business Profile in 2026. It is a topic that is half-technology and half-human psychology, but it remains the most important free tool in your arsenal.
The asset you are probably ignoring
Whether you call it a Google Business Profile or you are a bit old school and still call it Google My Business, this is the map and info box that appears when someone searches for your brand. It is your digital shopfront. In 2026, it is one of the very few human touchpoints left in marketing.
The most basic advice I can give you is also the one most people fail at: claim your profile and save your password. It sounds simple, but we constantly see marketing managers move on and take the login details with them, leaving the business owner locked out of their own asset. If you are serious about running your marketing well, you need to keep those details under lock and key.
“The most important tip I can give any business owner is save your password, you knob.” – Mel Strutt
Why your statistics are starting to shift
If you have been checking your monthly Google reports and noticed a decline in web visits or clicks since late 2025, do not panic. We have been tracking this across our clients, and about 30% of traffic has moved away from traditional Google search and toward AI bots like ChatGPT or Gemini.
This is a massive shift, but it does not mean your profile is useless. It means the way people find you is becoming more conversational. Instead of searching for ‘Perth marketing agency’, they are asking AI, “Who is the best marketer in Perth and why?” The AI then feeds on your Google reviews and the articles you post to your profile to generate that answer. One aspect of 3BY2’s managed marketing service offering is helping clients transition this content to their own websites to ensure these bots can scrape the data accurately.
The indoor plant theory of marketing
I have often said that a Google Business Profile is like an indoor plant. It is not a set and forget tool, it is a core part of your marketing strategy. You have to keep feeding it with content, photos, and updates.
“It’s like an indoor plant, but even better because you can’t overwater it. The problem is underwatering.” – Mel Strutt
Google rewards businesses that stay active. If it is a public holiday in Albany or a long weekend in Perth, update your hours. There is nothing more frustrating for a customer than driving to a business that says it is open on Google, only to find the doors locked.
You should also be treating your profile like a social media page. Every time you write a blog post for your website, load it onto your profile. If you have a professional photo of your team, get it up there. Do not let the public be the only ones uploading imagery, or you might end up with a half-eaten meal or a blurry street view as your primary brand image.
The new rules for reviews and Q&As
Reviews are the lifeblood of your credibility. Interestingly, having a 4.8 or 4.9 rating with a few hundred reviews is often more believable than a perfect 5.0. It shows you are a real business dealing with real, sometimes unreasonable, humans.
If you get a bad review, respond promptly and authentically. For B2B marketing services, credibility is built through how you handle the tough conversations in public. Avoid the scripted, corporate responses.
“You hear a lot of people say, I checked their Google reviews, but I love the way they actually responded to something. I love when I hear that.” – Mel Strutt
One major change for 2026 is that Google has retired the traditional Q&A feature on profiles to stop marketers from manipulating results. It is being replaced by AI-driven prompts like “Ask about this business”. Because of this, our team is currently making changes to client Q&A content so AI can read and index it.
Verification is a hurdle worth jumping
Setting up a profile is free, but verifying it has become a bit of a mission. Gone are the days of just waiting for a postcard in the mail. Now, Google often requires video verification.
Mon recently had to do this for a client, which involved a literal sprint up a set of office stairs while filming street signs and office plaques to prove the business actually existed. It is annoying, but it protects the integrity of the platform. It stops dodgy international companies from faking a local Perth presence.
If you are a bricks-and-mortar business in WA, you simply cannot afford to ignore this tool. Claim it, feed it, and make sure that when someone asks an AI bot about your services, the data it finds is the data you put there.