Someone needs an electrician. Ten years ago they asked a mate. Five years ago they googled it and clicked the first few links. Today, a fair number of them type the question into ChatGPT or read whatever Google's AI puts at the top, and get given three names.
Here is the part that matters. That answer is not built by reading websites. It is built by reading Google Business Profiles — your hours, your photos, your reviews, the services you have listed, whether you have posted anything lately.
So you can have a perfectly good website and still not be in the answer.
What actually happens now
When someone searches for a trade in a suburb, a lot of those searches never reach anyone's website at all. The person gets what they need on the results page — the phone number, the hours, the reviews, the photos — and rings from there.
That means your Google profile is not a directory listing that points at your real business. For a growing share of people, it is your business. It is the whole first impression.
Why AI made this worse for a thin profile
An AI answer has to pick. It cannot show you twenty options, so it names two or three. To do that it needs information it can rely on: what you do, where, when you are open, what people say about you.
If your profile is half-filled, or the hours are wrong, or there are two photos from 2019, there is nothing for it to work with. It is not that you get ranked lower. You just are not in the answer.
The businesses that win here are not the ones with the cleverest websites. They are the ones whose information is complete, consistent and current.
What to fix, in order
1. Claim it, if you have not
Search your business name on Google Maps. If a listing exists that you have never touched, someone — Google, a customer, an old directory — created it. Click Claim this business. Verification is usually a short video these days: your signage, your work vehicle, something showing the business is real.
2. Pick the right main category
This one has more effect than almost anything else, and it is the one most people get wrong. Be specific. "Electrician" beats "Contractor". If you mostly do commercial fit-outs, say so. You can add extra categories underneath.
3. Fill in every field
Services, with real names and short descriptions. Areas you cover. Hours, including public holidays. Whether you do emergency call-outs. Every empty field is a question an AI cannot answer about you, and a reason to name someone else.
4. Photos, and recent ones
Not stock images. Actual jobs, your vehicles, your team. A profile with photos from this month reads as a going concern. One with photos from four years ago reads as a business that may have closed.
5. Reviews, and your replies
Ask. Most happy customers will leave one if you ask at the right moment, which is right after you have finished the job and they are pleased. And reply to all of them, good and bad. People reading a bad review are mostly reading your response.
6. Post something, occasionally
Weekly is plenty. A photo from a job. A note that you are booked out until a certain date. It is a small signal that the business is active, and it is one most of your competitors are not bothering with.
So is the website pointless now?
No, and it would be daft for a company that builds websites to say otherwise, so here is the honest version.
They do different jobs. The Google profile gets you onto the shortlist. The website is where someone decides whether to actually ring you — especially for anything expensive, where people want to see that you are a real outfit with real work behind you.
The profile gets you found. The site gets you hired. Neither replaces the other.
What has changed is the order of effort. If you have neither, claim and fill in your Google profile first. It is free, it takes an afternoon, and it will do more for you next month than a new website would.
The short version
- AI answers for local searches are built from Google Business Profiles, not websites
- An incomplete profile does not rank low — it just does not appear
- Category, services, hours, photos and reviews are the fields that matter
- Recent activity counts, so post occasionally
- Do the profile first. Then the website.
If you would rather not do it yourself, setting up a Google Business Profile properly is included when we build a site. And if you already have a site and just want the profile sorted, that is a small job and we are happy to quote it.
Questions
Quick answers
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. It costs nothing to claim or to keep. The only cost is the time to fill it in properly and keep it current.
How long before it makes a difference?
Usually four to eight weeks for a properly filled-in profile to move in local results. Changing your main category can shift things faster than that.
Do I still need a website?
Yes. The profile gets you into the shortlist. The website is where someone checks whether you are the real thing before they ring. They do different jobs.
What if someone leaves a bad review?
Reply to it, calmly, once. Most people reading reviews are looking at how you responded more than what was said. A business with no negative reviews at all looks fake anyway.
How often should I post on it?
Weekly is plenty. A photo from a job, a note about what you are doing, anything current. It tells Google the business is active.
Next step
Want your Google profile sorted?
It is a small job and it usually pays for itself faster than anything else we do. Have a chat, no charge.