Google deepens Gemini with Business Profile data and notebooks

Google pushed Gemini deeper into local business management by adding a direct Google Business Profile connection and Business notebooks inside the app. Once a business is connected, Gemini can pull in reviews, customer questions and performance data, turning the AI interface into a working layer for day-to-day profile upkeep.

That changes the first audit any marketer or SMB owner should run. Hours need to be right, categories need to be tight, attributes need to match reality, review responses need to sound like the brand, and access controls need to be cleaned up before too many people can touch the profile. If Gemini can surface gaps, draft replies and update hours from the same interface, sloppy data stops being a minor local SEO problem and starts becoming a workflow problem.

The Business notebooks feature is the bigger tell. It keeps chats, sources, the Business Profile and the website together in a persistent context, which makes Gemini less like a one-off assistant and more like an operating surface for local work. That matters when someone wants to ask how the business performed this month, draft a response to a bad review, update holiday hours or spot missing profile fields without bouncing between tabs and logins.

The rollout began this month and is going global, with the exception of the EEA and the UK. Google is releasing it gradually rather than flipping it on everywhere at once, which fits the company’s broader push across AI Mode and Search. The direction is clear: business discovery and management are moving toward a blend of profile data, reviews and conversational actions instead of relying only on map pack rankings or a static website.

For local brands, that makes Google Business Profile feel less like a listing and more like a live knowledge system. The upside is speed: quicker edits, faster review handling and a cleaner way to spot profile gaps. The downside is dependence, because inaccurate categories, stale hours or messy permissions can now shape how a business is read, compared and acted on inside Google’s AI surfaces. Local SEO is not going away, but it is becoming more tied to Google’s interface and the quality of the data feeding it.