How to post on Google Business Profile, and what replaced Q&A

1. How to post on your profile, and where customer questions go now
2. Why posts and questions matter less, and differently, than many guides say
3. What our recorded answers show about posts, offers and questions
4. How to post and answer questions on your profile, step by step
5. Questions owners ask
6. How we got these numbers
7. Sources
8. See it on your own website

How to post on your profile, and where customer questions go now

Owners usually ask two things about their Google Business Profile, the free listing that shows a business on Google Search and Maps. How do I post on it? And how do I add questions and answers to it? The first has a simple answer. The second changed in the last year, and many older how-to articles are now wrong.

Posting: updates, offers and events

Google lets you post three kinds of content from your profile ¹:

• An update shares news about your business. It can carry a description, a photo or video, and a button that links to a page where the customer can act, such as booking or learning more ¹.
• An offer promotes a sale or deal. It needs a title and dates, and Google adds a View offer button. You can add a coupon code, a link, and terms and conditions ¹.
• An event promotes something happening at your business, with a title and start and end dates ¹.

Customers see posts in the Updates or Overview tabs of your profile on phones, and in a From the owner section on computers ¹. The step-by-step instructions are at the end of this guide.

Questions and answers: being replaced

For years, profiles had a questions-and-answers section. Google says it grew so large that customers struggled to find timely answers to their own question ². That section is being retired. Google discontinued the tool that let software read and post questions and answers on November 3, 2025 ³.

In December 2025, Google told Business Profile owners in its help forum what comes next. Customers can ask their question directly in Google Maps and get an instant answer based on the owner's answers and relevant reviews ². Instead of answering many separate questions, owners may be asked to answer grouped questions from customers, and Google uses those answers for similar questions ². Google said owners can still answer existing questions in the Q&A section of their profile, and that published answers may still be shown in Maps ².

In March 2026, Google launched Ask Maps in the US, a feature where people type a question and Gemini, Google's AI model, answers it from what Maps knows about places, including reviews ⁴. Google Maps also sends some users questions about places and asks them to answer ⁵.

So if you searched for how to add Q&A to your profile, the honest answer is this. You can no longer plant your own questions the old way. You can answer the questions Google shows you, keep your profile complete, and publish clear answers on your website, where people and AI assistants can read them.

What is worth publishing at all

A post earns its place when it tells a customer something true and useful that they didn't know. That means a real change, such as new hours, a new service or a new town you serve. It can be a useful explanation, such as what a tune-up includes. Or it can be a genuine offer with clear terms. A post written only to keep up a posting schedule usually tells customers nothing.

Why posts and questions matter less, and differently, than many guides say

Nobody has shown that posting more improves your ranking

Google's page of tips for improving your local ranking lists verifying your business, keeping your information complete and accurate, replying to reviews, and adding photos and videos. Posts aren't on the list. Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and popularity ⁶.

Outside tests point the same way. In a 2021 test, the agency Sterling Sky added a weekly post to three listings for nine weeks and saw no measurable change in local rankings ⁷. It is a small, older test, but we found no stronger public evidence either way. In Whitespark's 2026 survey of 47 local search experts, how often a business posts ranked 148th of 187 factors for the map results and 173rd of 187 for visibility in AI search ⁸. Those are expert opinions, not measurements. The same experts rated posting frequency higher, 78th of 120, for turning profile visitors into customers ⁸.

That fits what posts are for. They help a customer who is already looking at your profile decide to call. They are not a lever for being found.

Posts go out of date, and your facts shouldn't

Google archives posts older than six months unless the post has a date range ¹. Offers and events end on their dates. So a post is the wrong home for anything a customer needs all year, like your service area, your hours or the jobs you do. Those belong in the profile's own fields and on your website.

This matters for AI answers too. Google lists keeping your Business Profile information up to date among its best practices for appearing in its AI features ⁹. It says nothing about posting.

Google reviews every post, and some get rejected

After you publish, Google checks the post against its content policy. A post can show as Live, Pending or Not approved, and only a live post appears on Search and Maps ¹. Google may remove posts with unverified contact details, including phone numbers and email addresses ¹⁰. Instead, attach a Call now button, which uses the verified phone number on your profile ¹⁰.

The features differ from profile to profile

Google rolls features out by country, by type of business and over time. For example, posts pulled automatically from social media into a featured spot are only for some food and drink businesses ¹. The question features in Maps are only available in certain countries and regions ⁵. Before you follow any guide, this one included, open your own profile and check what it offers today.

An FAQ on your website is now for readers, not for a special search display

Many older guides say to add FAQ code to your site so Google shows your questions in its results. Google stopped showing that FAQ display in Search results in 2026 ¹¹. A page of real questions and answers is still worth having, because customers and AI assistants read it. Just write it for people. Google describes helpful content as content made primarily for people, not to manipulate rankings ¹².

An offer is advertising, with the same rules

Under federal law, advertising must be truthful and not misleading. When an offer has conditions, the Federal Trade Commission says the ad should disclose the terms clearly and conspicuously ¹³. A post that says $50 off with the real limits hidden is a risk, not a promotion. State rules can add more, so check yours.

What our recorded answers show about posts, offers and questions

Between September 2 and October 14, 2026, we asked ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI Mode to recommend a local contractor 47,209 times. 41,561 of those answers were about a specific job, such as AC repair or a roof inspection, in towns around Tampa Bay, Florida. Each question was asked in a fresh conversation with web search on. These are observations of answers, not experiments. They show what the answers said and linked, not what causes a recommendation.

Assistants didn't mention profile questions or posts

We searched every answer for a mention of a Business Profile's questions and answers, or of Google's Ask Maps. The number we found was 0. Just 1 answer mentioned a business's Google posts. Assistants may read these things without saying so, so this doesn't prove they are ignored. But in what customers were shown, posts and profile questions played no visible part.

Where the answers linked tells you which pages did the work. In 74% of Google AI Mode's 9,819 job answers, the links included a business's Google listing. In 98% of ChatGPT's and Claude's 31,742 job answers, the links included at least one contractor's own website. For AI Mode, your profile is often what the customer sees. For the other two, your website is what gets read.

Offers showed up, and Claude warned about stale ones

In 14 Google AI Mode answers, all between September 12 and September 27, an Available Offers and Deals section appeared beside the business cards. It listed things like money off a new system, a referral reward or a free quote, each tied to one business. In 9 of those answers, the offers carried conditions such as “terms apply” or “not combinable.” We can't tell from the answer text whether these came from Business Profile offer posts, company websites or somewhere else. It is a small number, but it shows that an offer can reach the answer itself.

Across job answers, offers came up in 3.5% of AI Mode's answers, 2.7% of Claude's and 1.4% of ChatGPT's. We found these with word rules and checked a random sample by hand: 19 of 20 described a real offer, discount or member perk.

Claude sometimes questioned an offer. In 36 of the 393 Claude job answers that mentioned one (9.2%), it told the customer to confirm the terms or warned that the offer may have ended. In a hand-checked sample, 17 of 20 were sorted correctly. Several pointed to promotions whose end dates had already passed on the company's own page.

Ask whether the discounts apply to parts as well as labor.

What this means for you: an expired or vague offer doesn't just go unused. A careful assistant may tell the customer not to trust it.

The questions customers were told to ask you

Here is the most useful finding for anyone deciding what to publish. In 17,601 of 31,742 ChatGPT and Claude job answers (55%), the assistant told the customer to ask the company something before booking. That was 51% of ChatGPT's job answers and 61% of Claude's. Google AI Mode did it less, in 12%. We checked a random sample of these sentences by hand: 20 of 20 were instructions to ask or confirm something with the business.

These are the questions customers were sent to ask, by the number of answers that raised each one:

• The price, or what the quote includes: 4,589 answers
• A license or proof of insurance: 4,413 answers
• Whether the company pulls the permit: 3,400 answers
• How soon the company can come out: 2,125 answers
• The warranty on the work: 1,243 answers
• Whether the company serves the customer's town or address: 489 answers

Ask whether the quote includes a permit, removal of the old unit, and any duct or electrical work.

The listing doesn't mention chandeliers specifically, so ask whether they do them.

Every one of these is a question you can answer before the phone rings. Each answer that tells the customer to ask is one more step between that customer and choosing you.

Answers did read FAQ pages. In 78 answers, an assistant cited or linked an FAQ page, 52 of them from ChatGPT and 23 from Claude. In a hand-checked sample, 11 of 20 were a contractor's own FAQ. The rest were city, county or utility pages. The assistant used them to confirm things like emergency service or a specific job.

What assistants weighed in our earlier study

Before this research, we studied assistant conversations from late July to August 2026 across eight trades. For each business an assistant considered, we recorded the reasons it gave for naming it or leaving it out. Of the 1,251 different reasons we recorded, 0 were about posts or questions and answers on a Business Profile. Social media presence or activity came up in 22 conversations and cost a business its place in 3.

The facts a good post or answer can state came up far more often:

• How fast the business can come out came up in 657 conversations and cost a business its place in 185 of them.
• Whether the business serves the area asked about came up in 554 conversations and cost a business its place in 350.
• Published prices or a stated diagnostic charge came up in 366 conversations and cost a business its place in 49.
• A warranty or guarantee came up in 150 conversations and cost a business its place in 16.

One conversation can involve several reasons, so these counts overlap and should never be added together. They show what assistants said they weighed, not what would change who gets named. The pattern is still clear. Assistants looked for facts about the job, the area, the timing and the price. They didn't look for activity.

How to post and answer questions on your profile, step by step

These steps follow Google's own instructions as of October 2026. Menus change, so if your screen looks different, look for the same words.

1. Check what your profile offers today

Search for your business name on Google while signed in to the account that manages your profile. Look for the Posts option, any questions Google shows you, and the Q&A section if your profile still has one. Note what you see and the date. Features differ by country and business type ⁵.

2. Pick something real to say

Start from a change or a question, not a calendar. Good reasons to post for a contractor include:

• New or holiday hours, or a week you are fully booked.
• A new service, or a new town you now serve.
• Storm-season or peak-season availability, said honestly.
• A short explanation of what a common job includes, such as a tune-up or a roof inspection.
• A genuine offer, with its dates and conditions.

3. Create the post

1. Go to your Business Profile and select Posts, then Add post ¹.
2. Choose Update, Offer or Event ¹.
3. Add the details: a clear title, a description and a real photo of your work. For an offer or event, add start and end dates ¹.
4. Add a button, such as Book or Learn more, that opens the page on your site where the customer can act. For calls, use the Call now button rather than typing a number ¹⁰.
5. Schedule it for later or set it to repeat if you like, then select Post ¹.

4. Write offers you can stand behind

Put the real conditions in the offer itself: what it covers, who qualifies, and when it ends. The FTC asks for terms to be clear and conspicuous ¹³. Google's offer posts have a place for terms and conditions ¹. Remove or update the same offer on your website when it ends. In our answers, a careful assistant warned customers about offers whose dates had passed.

5. Check that it went live and the button works

Open Posts again and check the status. Only a Live post shows on Search and Maps. If it says Not approved, the question mark next to the status shows which policy it broke ¹. Then open your public profile on a phone, tap the button and make sure it lands on the right page.

6. Put lasting facts in lasting places

Anything a customer needs all year goes in your profile's own fields and on your website: services, service area, hours, phone number. A post is archived after six months unless it has a date range ¹. Google asks businesses to keep their profile information up to date for its AI features ⁹. If a post announces a new service, add that service to the profile and the website the same day.

7. Answer the questions Google gives you

If your profile still has questions waiting in its Q&A section, answer them plainly, as the business. If Google asks you grouped questions about your business, answer those too. Google says those answers help respond to customers asking similar questions in Maps ². Answer only what is true for your business today, because you can't control when that answer is reused.

8. Publish answers to the questions customers were told to ask

Use the list from our findings as your starting point. On your website, for each main job, say how you price it and what the quote includes. Give your license number, say whether you pull permits, and say how soon you can usually come out. State your warranty and list the towns you serve. A plain FAQ page or a short section on each service page both work. Write it for a homeowner, not for search engines ¹².

9. Reply to reviews that ask or answer questions

Reviews often contain the questions other customers have, such as whether you showed up on time or explained the price. Google says helpful replies to reviews can help your business stand out ⁶. Google also said Maps answers draw on relevant reviews ². A clear, polite reply adds your facts next to the customer's.

10. Judge by calls, not by how often you post

Drop any fixed quota, like three posts a week, that pushes you to repeat yourself. Post when there is something to say. Watch your calls, booking requests and the clicks on your post buttons. No one can promise that a post will change your ranking or get you named in an AI answer. Clear, current facts in the right places give customers and assistants fewer reasons to look elsewhere.

Questions owners ask

How do I post on my Google Business Profile?

Open your Business Profile on Google, select Posts, then Add post. Choose an update, an offer or an event. Add a title, a description, a photo and, if you like, a button that links to a page on your website. Offers and events need dates. Select Post, then check later that its status says Live.

How do I add Q&A to my Google Business Profile?

You can no longer add your own questions the old way. Google discontinued its Q&A tool for software in November 2025 and is moving questions into AI answers in Google Maps. You can still answer existing questions in your profile's Q&A section and any grouped questions Google asks you. Publish answers to common questions on your website too.

How often should I post on Google Business Profile?

There is no proven number. Google's own tips for local ranking don't mention posts, and a public test found no ranking change from weekly posting. Post when something real changes, such as hours, services, areas or a genuine offer. Remember that posts older than six months are archived unless they have a date range.

Do Google Business Profile posts help with AI answers?

Nobody has shown that they do. In our recorded answers from ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI Mode, assistants almost never mentioned a business's posts. They did look for facts about the job, the area, timing, price and warranty. Keep those facts current on your profile and website, and use posts for news and offers.

Can I put my phone number in a Google post?

It is better not to. Google says posts with a phone number in the description might be rejected, and it may remove posts with unverified contact details. Add a Call now button instead. It uses the verified phone number on your Business Profile, so customers reach the right line.

See it on your own website

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Source: Merchant Context: the current website offer · checked 2026-10-14.

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