The three changes that affect profile owners most today: the app was retired and management moved to Search, verification is now done by video for most new cases in Brazil, and local search now returns AI-generated answers that cite only a handful of businesses.
The app is gone and a lot of people didn’t know
The Google Business Profile app was discontinued, and management moved to Search itself. Now you search your business name on Google, logged into the account that manages the profile, and the dashboard shows up right there.
The practical side effect was mass loss of access. Anyone who managed their profile through the app and didn’t know which account owned it simply lost the ability to edit, and found out months later that the hours had been wrong the whole time.
If you don’t know which account owns your profile, find out today. Google has a built-in ownership request that notifies whoever manages it and gives 7 days to respond, and the process is much easier before it turns urgent.
Verification is now video
The postcard with a code, once the standard, is now the exception. For most new listings in Brazil, Google asks for a video recorded live, with no cuts, right inside the verification screen.
This raised the bar considerably for fake profiles, and it raised the bar for legitimate businesses that operate without a storefront too. People who work from home, use a coworking space, or have a virtual office are now getting rejected much more often.
The solution for these cases is a service-area business, with the address hidden and the service region declared. The full step-by-step guide is in setting up your Google Business Profile.
Local search now gives answers, not just listings
This is the change that changes the work. A growing share of local searches now return an AI-generated answer first, one that answers the question and cites two or three businesses, before the map and before the links.
Getting cited in that answer isn’t necessarily about who has the most reviews. It’s about who has text worth citing: services described one by one in full sentences, a description that explains who you serve, and reviews where customers describe what was done.
A profile where every field is filled in with just one word still ranks in the list, but disappears from the answer. We cover this in what is Google Ask Maps.
What this means for your profile now
Three adjustments cover most of what changed.
- Write your services as sentences, not single words. “Installation” becomes “Split AC installation for homes and businesses, with a 90-day warranty.” That’s what AI can actually cite.
- Reply to reviews with content. “Thank you!” doesn’t add text. “Glad the same-day installation did the trick” does, and it gets indexed.
- Check who owns the account. Before you need to.
- Rewrite your 750-character description. It’s no longer decoration, it’s a source for citations.
- Post your own questions and answers. The 5 questions you get most often by phone become the first 5 questions on your profile.
What hasn’t changed and still decides rankings
Despite all the noise, the three local ranking signals have stayed the same since 2019: relevance, distance, and prominence. No update has touched them.
Your primary category is still the single field with the biggest impact. Review volume and frequency still separate first place from tenth. Consistency between your name, address, and phone number on your profile and across the rest of the internet still builds trust.
If you got the basics right, you don’t need to redo anything because of these changes. You need to write what was already there better. The optimization checklist lists the 17 items in the order that actually moves your ranking.
How to keep up without chasing the news
Product changes show up first in your own profile’s dashboard, as a new field or a notice. Opening your profile once a week catches almost everything that matters before it becomes news.
What’s worth tracking from outside is the Performance panel. A drop in discovery views without a drop in branded searches usually means an algorithm change or a new competitor; a drop in both usually means seasonality in your market.
If you want a snapshot comparing you with 3 Maps competitors today, the free profile audit is ready within 24 business hours and sent via WhatsApp. There’s no charge.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google My Business gone? The name and the app are gone. The product lives on, as Google Business Profile.
Do I need to re-register my profile? No. Existing profiles remain valid.
Did my old profile lose ranking because of these changes? Ranking drops are usually caused by competition, not updates. Check the dashboard before drawing conclusions.
Does video verification apply to older profiles? Google can request re-verification at any time, even for profiles verified years ago.
Where do I manage my profile now? By searching your business name on Google while logged into the owner account.