Google Is Removing Business Profile Q&A: What to Do Now

If you manage a Google Business Profile (GBP), its Questions and Answers section may already look different, or be gone. Owners can still answer some questions, customers now get answers inside Google Maps, and Google has a separate AI tool called Ask Maps. Here’s what Google has actually said, what Ask Maps reads, how to move your customer questions to your website, and how to check what Ask Maps says about you today.

What Happened to Questions and Answers on Google Business Profiles

Google retired the Q&A API in November 2025 and began removing the public section from December.

The API was how outside software tools read and posted Q&A for businesses. Google gave notice on September 15, 2025 and shut it off on November 3, so businesses can no longer read or post questions and answers through Google’s API. Google’s schedule of retired Business Profile APIs lists no replacement for it.

The public Q&A section is a different story. In a December 2025 post in its Business Profile community, Google said owners “can continue to answer existing questions” in the Q&A section. Its help article on editing your profile still describes that section, which it says is “available only for select business categories and regions.” Google hasn’t given a date for when the change will be finished. For the rest of your profile, see our GBP optimization guide.

How Customers Get Answers in Google Maps Now

How Customers Ask Questions Now

In that same community post, Google said customers “can ask their question directly in Google Maps and get an updated, instant answer based on your answers and relevant reviews.”

Separately, on March 12, 2026, Google introduced Ask Maps, a tool in Google Maps that answers questions in plain conversation, using Gemini, Google’s AI. It started rolling out in the U.S. and India on Android and iOS. On August 6, 2026, Google began rolling it out in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Japan and Mexico, along with more than 150 countries and territories in English.

Google has not called Ask Maps the replacement for Q&A. It is a separate feature, and Google hasn’t announced a successor to the Q&A section.

What Changes for You as the Owner

You can still answer. Google’s post says that instead of answering dozens of individual questions, owners “can answer aggregated questions from our customers,” meaning questions Google groups together, and that “your answer will then be used to help respond to other customers asking similar questions on Maps.” Reviews feed those instant answers too, so the basics still matter: clear answers from you and a steady flow of honest reviews from customers.

What Ask Maps Reads When Someone Asks About Your Business

What Google Has Said About Its Sources

For the instant answers in Maps, Google has named two inputs: your answers and relevant reviews. For Ask Maps, Google’s launch post says that to build a trip plan, “Maps analyzes information from over 300 million places, including reviews from our community of more than 500 million contributors.” Google’s help page on AI-powered answers in Maps tells people to “click the links for AI sources,” so answers can include links to the sources behind them.

What Third-Party Sources Report: Profile Details, Photos and Websites

Third-party sources describe a longer list. BrightLocal’s guide, last updated in April 2026, lists profile details such as services, attributes, hours and photos, along with your website. Earlier testing by Mike Blumenthal, published in Search Engine Journal in January 2025, more than a year before the March 2026 launch, looked at “Ask Maps about this place,” an AI feature on business profiles that Google first announced in October 2024. He found that Google “appears to rely first on content in the business profile, GBP reviews, and the business website,” and also used photos uploaded to the profile. Google hasn’t confirmed either list, and although both sources call Ask Maps the replacement for Q&A, Google hasn’t said that. To work through those profile details one at a time, our Google Business Profile guide walks through each section of the profile.

When Your Profile and Website Say Different Things

Google’s help page says plainly that “AI-powered answers can sometimes be incorrect.” If your profile says you close at 5 p.m. and your website says 6, Maps has two different answers to choose from, and so does your customer. Google hasn’t said how Ask Maps handles conflicting details, so don’t leave it to chance: make them match.

How to Move Your Customer Questions to Your Website, Step by Step

Answers on your own website are the part you fully control. Here’s how to turn the questions customers ask most into FAQs they can find.

Step 1: Answer the Questions Google Still Shows You

Where the Q&A section still appears for your business, keep answering existing questions, and answer the grouped questions Google shows you. Sign in to the Google account that manages your profile and look for the Q&A section on your Business Profile; Google’s help article says that’s where owners answer, and that its appearance might change. Google says it uses your answers to grouped questions to respond to similar questions on Maps, and that published answers may be shown in Maps. The section is available only for select business categories and regions, so yours may not have it.

Step 2: Collect the Questions Customers Already Ask

Start with the questions you hear most: the ones you’ve already answered on your profile, any saved copy of your old Q&A, phone calls and walk-ins, emails, and the questions that come up in reviews. Write each one the way a customer would ask it, not the way you’d label it internally.

Step 3: Write Short, Direct Answers

Answer each question directly in its first sentence, then add the detail. Use exact hours, prices and policies instead of “call for details,” and keep each answer short enough to read at a glance on a phone.

Step 4: Publish Them Where Customers and Google Can Find Them

Put the answers on an FAQ page, on the service page each question belongs to, or both. Our own FAQ page shows one way to lay them out. If you don’t have a website to put them on yet, our website package builds and runs one for you.

You can also add FAQ markup (schema), a short piece of code that labels each question and answer. It helps Google understand your questions and answers, but it no longer produces a rich result: Google stopped showing FAQ rich results, the expandable questions that used to appear under a search result, on May 7, 2026. Google’s guidance on AI features in Google Search also says no special markup is needed to appear in them.

Step 5: Make Your Profile and Website Say the Same Thing

Finally, check your Google Business Profile information against your website: hours, services, your business description, and attributes (the checkboxes for things like parking or wheelchair access). When the two match, a customer who checks either one finds the same details.

How to Check What Ask Maps Says About Your Business Today

Open Ask Maps on Your Phone or Computer

On an Android phone or an iPhone, open the Google Maps app and tap Ask Maps under the search bar, as Google’s help page describes. On a computer, open Google Maps and choose Ask Maps from the menu; the same page notes that the computer version needs a browser that can show 3D images. Ask Maps has been rolling out in the U.S., which includes Hawaii, since March 12, 2026.

Ask Your Customers’ Questions and Note Each Answer and Its Sources

Take your list from Step 2 and type each question the way a customer would. Google suggests asking more than one version of a question, so try a couple of wordings. For each one, write down the answer and whether it’s right, the sources it links to, and the date. Google also says Maps can personalize AI-powered answers using your own account activity, so what you see may differ from what a customer sees.

Fix the Source, Then Check Again

When an answer is wrong, report it: tap the thumbs-down icon under the answer, pick a reason and describe the problem, as Google’s help page explains. Then click through to the sources it links to. If a wrong detail comes from something you control, such as a profile detail or a page on your website, correct it there. Then ask the same question again on a later date.

What This Means for Your Local Search Plan

The Q&A change moves more of the work onto things you can act on: your answers, your profile details, your website and how you ask for reviews. That’s the same ground local SEO covers, and it overlaps with answer engine optimization, the work of competing to be the answer when people ask search engines, voice assistants and AI tools. For a business owner, the job is to keep those details accurate and consistent, and to check Ask Maps now and then to see how your business comes across.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do customers ask questions about my business now?

In Google Maps. Google says customers get an instant answer based on business owners’ answers and relevant reviews. Ask Maps, introduced on March 12, 2026, also answers questions, but Google hasn’t called it the replacement for Q&A.

Can I still answer questions on my Business Profile?

Where the Q&A section still appears, yes. Google says owners can keep answering existing questions and answer grouped questions from customers, and that it uses answers to grouped questions to respond to similar questions on Maps.

Is Q&A gone from every Business Profile?

Not necessarily. Google began removing the public section from December 2025 and hasn’t given a completion date. Its help article says the Q&A section is available only for select business categories and regions.

Can I change what Ask Maps says about my business?

Google hasn’t published a way to edit an Ask Maps answer. You can report a wrong answer with the thumbs-down icon under it, correct the sources it links to that you control, such as your business details and website, and keep honest reviews coming.

Is Ask Maps available in Hawaii?

Yes. Google began rolling out Ask Maps in the U.S. on March 12, 2026, on Android and iOS, and there is also a version for computers. Google hasn’t said whether Ask Maps can answer questions about every business.