Many businesses see their Google Business Profile as a checklist and leave it untouched. Google’s new Ask Maps feature takes it as a conversational dataset to generate useful answers about a business.
The questions Ask Maps answers are what make change meaningful. When someone asks for a 24 hour locksmith who can get into a car right now, you get an answer right away. That is one question with many criteria to consider.
Demonstration as one of the answers depends on having accurate and up-to-date business data. While Google hasn’t said how it chooses businesses to recommend on Ask Maps, it’s clear that the data it pulls from is very important.
What Google Says About Asking Maps
Google calls Ask Maps a useful tool for asking detailed, real-world questions and receiving interactive responses through a personalized map.
Google describes this feature as drawing new information about the world. It accesses over 300 million sites and reviews from over 500 million contributors. Answers are personalized based on signals like places you’ve searched or saved in Maps.
The announcement does not include any details about how Ask Maps selects or ranks businesses within the response.
Requires Multiple Variable Queries on Business Data
The Ask Google Maps examples provided cover many scenarios. For example, finding “lighted tennis court available tonight” requires checking several factors at once: the court must exist in the database, be public, have lights, and be open at the time of your search.
Each scenario relies on a different layer of spatial data, making them all highly interconnected. Business and location data appear directly from the list. Services such as lighting may be based on geospatial information, updates, images, or other data from Maps. Whether a place is available tonight depends on the exact hours of operation.
None of this explains how Ask Maps measures those areas, but it does show the kind of data an answer might need. Therefore, a profile that is a good fit for a traditional search query may not be detailed enough to reflect a query with multiple criteria.
Profile Completeness Gap
Both Google’s local ranking guide and independent survey data point to the same idea. Having complete and timely business information is essential. According to Google, businesses that keep their information up-to-date are more likely to be matched with relevant local searches.
Whitespark’s Local Search Ranking Factors survey gathered data from nearly 50 experts, who rated the importance of various factors that influence local ranking. Many of the signals of high scores are related to whether the business data is authentic or current.
Whitespark offers local SEO software and services, and the survey reflects expert information rather than being directly verified by Google. It has been conducting this research in various ways since 2008, making it one of the most enduring references in the field.
In the BrightLocal breakdown, experts say openness during the search is the key to the local package. Reviews carried more weight in the 2026 survey than in 2023, rising from 16% to 20%.
Research also shows that it is not necessary to fill in all fields. Respondents indicated that other inputs, such as keywords in the Business Profile description and the number of questions asked via Google Q&A, do not significantly affect the ranking of site packs. Instead, the most important signs are those that show that the business is authentic, effective, and accurately represented.
It’s about quality over quantity, focusing on signals that show Google your business is authentic and viable.
What Local SEO Experts See
Although Google hasn’t shared much about how it ranks locations, local search experts continue to find clues.
Mike Blumenthal, founder of Near Media, tied the change to data. Speaking on the Whitespark Local Update Podcast, he said:
“I think Google always likes more data, and apparently Q&A was out of control.”
He added that Google relies on businesses to provide that data. That support lasts only as long as the data remains usable.
Greg Sterling, founder of Near Media, shared a similar view of where the answers are coming from. In his Local Dialog newsletter, he discussed Google’s in-profile chat feature, a precursor to the Ask Maps button.
He stated that the information was “taken from GBP, user reviews, the company’s website, and third-party sources.” That’s in line with the features that Whitespark’s survey rated highly for AI search visibility.
Darren Shaw, founder of Whitespark, took this point to heart. In a post about Google’s AI Mode, you wrote that this type of discovery extends to enterprise-controlled sources. In his words, it comes from “what the rest of the internet says about you.”
None of this is officially verified by Google. It is based on observations from people who monitor local search closely, and is similar to the survey data shown.
What is Still Unknown
One question that arises from all of this is something that Google has yet to answer. How does Ask Maps decide which businesses to include in an answer? And how does the business profile compare to reviews, websites, or third-party sources?
Until Google shares more details, any claims about the rating process on Ask Maps should be seen as educated guesses.
We don’t know the status of the public Q&A feature. Google ended the Q&A My Business API in November, as noted in its developer log. It has yet to explain what the new Q&A experience will look like. Currently, businesses do not have a structured way to manage Q&A.
Making money is another unknown. At launch, Google didn’t mention advertising on Ask Maps, and executives chose not to comment on potential ad placement.
Looking Forward
Ask Maps is in its early stages on mobile, and a desktop version is coming.
As it starts, your job is to watch emerging businesses and see what you can learn from them. Look out for common features like accurate hours, recent reviews, complete property information, and a website that explains their offerings.
In the past, a thin or old profile could result in a weak listing that could be ranked. Now, with Maps providing AI-assisted feedback, it can make the difference between being admired and left out.
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Featured image: CL STOCK/Shutterstock
