What Google's AI Is Telling Your Customers About You

Hi H Client!

Google and ChatGPT are doing more of the talking for landscape companies before anyone picks up the phone, and three changes this month shape what they say about you.

Google now answers questions about you

When a homeowner or a property manager pulls you up on Google Maps, they can tap "Ask" and type a question, something like "do they build paver patios?" or "do they work in my town?", and Google writes the answer for them on the spot. It builds that answer from your Business Profile, your reviews (and your responses to your reviews!) and other information that it has about your company, so the more complete and current those are, the better the answer. That means what your reviews say, and what you say in your responses to them, matter even more than they did before.

 New this month, Google added a tab to Business Profiles called Collected Info. Google sometimes calls or texts a business with an automated message to confirm hours or services, and whatever your team says can be added to your profile. This tab shows what was collected and when, so anything wrong can be deleted. Deleting an item clears it from Google's records, and anything already showing on your profile itself gets corrected separately, which your Project Manager can help with. It's rolling out to some types of businesses first, and we'll be watching for it on yours. If someone in your office gets one of those calls, just let your Project Manager know.

We're testing ChatGPT ads

People ask ChatGPT for recommendations every day, and ChatGPT now lets local businesses place a sponsored recommendation in those conversations. We're starting a trial with a couple of clients. If you'd like to be one of them, reach out to your Project Manager. We'll share the outcome and the results with everyone in a couple of months.

Google turned on a new ad setting, and we're turning it off

In September, Google moved some search campaigns onto a setting called AI Max on its own. It lets Google show your ads for searches that we didn't choose, and send people to whichever page on your site it picks. We'd rather keep your budget on the searches and pages that we chose, so we're switching it off wherever it was automatically turned on. Nothing for you to do here.

If any of this raises a question or more curiosity, your Project Manager is the fastest way to an answer.

Until Next time,

Anna Halstead

Co-Owner, Halstead Media Group