Yes — but it depends which AI, and the difference catches most businesses out. Get it wrong and you optimise the one profile that half the assistants never read.
The short answer
Yes — but it depends which AI. Google’s own AI (AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini) reads your Google Business Profile directly. ChatGPT and Copilot mostly pull local data from Bing, not Google. So your Business Profile matters — and so do Bing Places and consistent listings everywhere. Keep them all accurate and matching.
It depends which assistant is answering
“Does AI use my Google Business Profile” has two answers, and lumping them together is why a lot of local SEO advice quietly fails for AI:
Reads GBP directly
Google’s own AI
AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini draw on Google’s local data — your Business Profile’s hours, reviews, category, location and Q&A feed their answers about local businesses.
Leans on Bing
ChatGPT & Copilot
Their local search runs largely on Bing’s index, so they pull from Bing Places and the wider web — not your Google Business Profile the way Google’s AI does.
The practical upshot: “just optimise my Google profile” isn’t enough. To show up across the assistants your customers actually use, you need your Google and Bing listings right, and matching.
What AI pulls from a Business Profile
Every field is a fact an assistant can lift into an answer. The ones that carry weight:
Category, services and attributes. The specifics that let AI match you to a niche question — “mortgage broker for first-home buyers,” not just “finance.”
Location or service area. Ties you to “near me” and suburb-level questions. A vague or offshore location signal weakens this.
Reviews and your replies. The text — what you did and the outcome — is what gets quoted. (More on that in how many reviews you need.)
Hours, posts and recency. A current profile reads as a live business; a stale one reads as abandoned.
Photo captions. AI reads the caption text, not the image pixels — so caption your photos with real facts, don’t leave them blank.
Proof: local listings decide who gets named
Ask ChatGPT “mortgage broker Orewa” in a logged-out window (June 2026) and it returns a map with business cards — names, star ratings, category and open/closed status — then names brokers including Mortgages with JJ. That’s local listing data deciding who’s in the answer. And because it’s coming through Bing, it’s a live reminder that your Google profile alone doesn’t cover ChatGPT.
How to make your profile work for AI
Complete every field. Primary plus additional categories, full services, hours, service area, attributes. Gaps are missed matches.
Claim Bing Places too. ChatGPT and Copilot’s backend. Most NZ businesses skip it — which makes it an easy edge.
Match your details everywhere. Identical name, address, phone and description across Google, Bing, your site and directories, so AI resolves you as one business.
Earn attribute-rich reviews and reply to them. Specific reviews carry the facts AI matches; your replies add more readable, on-topic text.
Caption your photos. Plain-fact captions an assistant can actually read.
New: you can now manage your profile from Gemini
As of mid-2026, eligible owners can connect their Google Business Profile to the Gemini app to update details, draft review replies and pull insights conversationally. It’s genuinely useful — but here’s the honest part: connecting it gives your own Gemini assistant context about your business. It does not make Gemini recommend you to other people more often.
It’s also owner-only: it needs a single verified profile and a personal Google account, and it’s available in NZ but not the EEA or UK. So it’s a management convenience, not a visibility lever — worth using, not worth mistaking for one.
The honest bit. A complete Business Profile isn’t a switch that makes AI name you. What it does is hand the assistants accurate, consistent facts they can trust and quote. No profile trick guarantees a mention — and anyone who optimises only your Google profile has left ChatGPT, where a lot of your buyers now ask, on the table.
Not directly. ChatGPT’s web and local search runs largely on Bing’s index, so it leans on your Bing Places listing and the broader web rather than reading Google Business Profile the way Google’s own AI does. Your Business Profile still helps indirectly through consistency, but if you care about ChatGPT, claim Bing Places and keep every detail matching.
If you care about ChatGPT and Copilot, yes — they run on Bing, so a claimed, accurate Bing Places listing feeds them directly. Most New Zealand businesses never set it up, which makes it one of the easier edges to grab. Keep the details identical to your Google Business Profile so AI resolves you as one business, not two.
If you’re eligible — one verified profile, a personal Google account, and you’re outside the EEA and UK — it’s a useful way to manage your profile, draft review replies and pull insights conversationally. But be clear on what it does: it gives your own Gemini assistant context about your business. It does not change how Gemini recommends you to other people.
It can. A service-area-only profile with no fixed address weakens your location signal, and if your service suburbs curve around a coastline, the map can compute a pin that lands offshore. Anchoring a real address — which can be hidden from public view — or tightening your service areas gives AI a cleaner, more trustworthy location to work with.
Not sure your profile is doing its job?
Run the free AI Readiness Check — a plain-English snapshot of whether AI can read your business, and whether it names you today.