Short answer: Google is rolling out a way for its Gemini app to connect to a Google Business Profile, read what is on it (hours, services, reviews, photos and performance figures) and help the owner update it. That means your profile is no longer just something customers see on Maps. It is also the information Google’s own assistant works from when it helps you run the listing. If the profile is thin, out of date or wrong, that is what Gemini sees too.

Below is what Google announced, whether it applies in the UK yet, and what trades owners should tidy up now.

What did Google announce about Gemini and Business Profile?

On 20 October 2026 Google announced new Gemini tools for small business owners. The main pieces are:

• A new business landing page inside the Gemini app, a hub for branding, finances and customer insights.
• Easier connections to Google Business Profile, Google Ads and Google Workspace, plus third-party apps including Adobe, Canva, Dropbox, Shopify, Wix, Zoho and Xero.
• Google’s own example: a single-site restaurant owner who uses Gemini with a connected Business Profile to track local Search and Maps performance and write updates about local events.

Google says these tools are beginning to roll out globally “in the coming days” for all Gemini app users. That is a rollout, not a switch that has already flipped everywhere.

What can Gemini read and change on a connected profile?

Google’s help page, Manage your Business Profile on Google with the Gemini web app, sets out the detail. Once connected, Gemini can read:

• Your business information: hours, contact details, attributes, action links and location details.
• Star ratings, reviews and review photos, plus summaries of what reviews tend to say.
• Performance figures such as impressions, website clicks, direction requests and bookings.
• The search terms customers used to find you.

It can also make changes on your behalf: regular and special hours, photos, attributes, website and social links, action links, drafting or deleting review replies, and creating, scheduling or deleting Update, Offer and Event posts.

Can UK trades use it yet?

Be careful with anything you read that says it is “live in the UK now”. When Google first announced the Business Profile connection in June, its June 2026 post said the rollout excluded the UK and the European Economic Area. The October announcement says “globally” and does not name any exclusions, and the current help page says the feature is available wherever the Gemini web app is supported. Google has not published a UK-specific date.

The quickest way to find out is to test it. Google’s help page lists the conditions:

• You must be 18 or over.
• You must own or manage exactly one verified Business Profile. It is not available if your account manages several profiles.
• You must sign in with a personal Google Account. For now it does not work with a work or school account.
• Gemini’s Keep Activity setting must be on.
• It works in the Gemini web app at gemini.google.com, not the mobile app.

Sign in, ask Gemini how your profile did this month, and add “@Google Business Profile” to the prompt if it does not pick the app up. If you are offered the option to connect, it has reached you. You can disconnect it at any time from Gemini’s connected apps settings.

Want to know where your business shows on Google? We will search for your trade in your area, show you what a customer sees and tell you the three things we would fix first. It is free, with no obligation. Get your free Google check or call 07749 941111.

Why does this make your profile matter more?

Gemini does not decide who wins the map results, and nothing in Google’s announcement says it does. What changes is how much rides on the profile being right. The assistant reads your categories, hours, services and reviews, summarises them back to you and suggests what to post or fix. If your hours are wrong, your service area is out of date or you have not posted for a year, it is working from a poor picture of your business.

Your profile also helps shape the AI answers customers see when they ask for a local trade. We covered how that works in how tradespeople get recommended by ChatGPT and Google’s AI and how to show up in Perplexity and Google AI Mode. A complete, accurate, active profile is the common thread.

There is a second reason to keep posting. In October, Search Engine Roundtable reported Google Posts appearing higher on the local panel, after years at the bottom. It looks like a test, with posts moving up and down, so treat it as a bonus rather than a promise.

What should trades check on their profile now?

Whether or not you connect Gemini, this is the ten-minute check I would do first.

1. Primary category. Is it the closest match to the job you most want? Your main category tells Google which searches you belong in. Our guide to Business Profile categories for trades walks through the choice.
2. Services. List the actual jobs you do, in the words customers use: “boiler service”, “consumer unit replacement”, “flat roof repair”.
3. Service areas. Name the towns you really cover. If customers do not visit your premises, Google’s guidance is to hide your address and use service areas instead.
4. Hours, including special hours. If you take emergency call-outs, say so accurately. Wrong hours are one of the quickest ways to lose a job and a customer’s trust.
5. Real photos. Recent photos of your work, your van and your team. Not stock images.
6. Regular posts. A short update every week or two about a job you have finished or a seasonal check, written for local customers.
7. Who has access. Make sure the business owner is an owner on the profile, not just a former web designer or an old employee. Gemini will only connect for an owner or manager.

If any of that is missing, our Google Business Profile guide for tradesmen covers each step in more detail.

Should you let Gemini edit your profile?

It can save time on routine updates, such as Christmas hours or a weekly post. But it is your business name on every change. Read anything it drafts before it goes live, keep your own wording for review replies, and never let a tool post something you would not say to a customer’s face. Google’s help page does not say whether Gemini asks you to confirm each change, so check what it has done afterwards.

Frequently asked questions

Does Gemini rank businesses on Google Maps?

No. Google’s announcement describes Gemini as a tool that helps owners understand and manage their own profile. Nothing in it says Gemini decides local rankings.

What about Google Business Home?

Google is also testing Business Home, which brings Business Profile, Merchant Center, YouTube and Ads into one place. Search Engine Roundtable reported on 22 October that Google describes it as a closed beta for selected business categories in the US and the UK, so most trades will not see it yet.

I manage more than one profile. Can I use it?

Not at the moment. Google’s help page says the feature is only for people who own or manage exactly one verified Business Profile.

Not sure your profile is giving Google the right picture? Our free Google check shows you what a customer sees when they search for your trade in your area, and the three things we would fix first. Get your free Google check or call 07749 941111.

If you would rather have someone keep your profile, posts and local search in shape for you, book a free 30-minute strategy call with Unavoidable Marketing and we will tell you plainly what we would do first.

Let’s make you Unavoidable.

About the author: Andrew Heppinstall is the founder of Unavoidable Marketing, a Leeds agency that helps UK trades and local service businesses win work through Google Local Services Ads, SEO and paid search. His article “What makes Google ads effective?” appeared on the Business Matters page of PHAM News in September 2026, and his October 2026 article for Electrical Contracting News set out ten marketing tips for electrical contractors.

Sources, read 26 October 2026: Google, “New Gemini tools for small business owners” (20 October 2026); Google, “Save time and grow your business with new Gemini tools” (10 June 2026); Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your Business Profile on Google with the Gemini web app”; Search Engine Roundtable, “Google Moves Google Posts Higher Up On Local Knowledge Panel” (19 October 2026) and “Google Business Profiles New Business Home” (22 October 2026).