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Latest Google Business Profile Features B2B Brands Must Know

The latest Google Business Profile features are not cosmetic tweaks or background noise. They are quiet, continuous updates that reshape how Google understands businesses and how buyers validate them long before a sales conversation ever happens.

For B2B brands, this matters more than most teams realise. Your Google Business Profile is no longer a static listing that you “set and forget”. It is a living surface that feeds search results, AI-assisted discovery, and early trust signals. The problem is that many B2B organisations only notice changes after something slips: visibility softens, trust signals weaken, or competitors start looking sharper by comparison. 

The last quarter of 2025 introduced several Google Business Profile updates that directly affect visibility, legitimacy, and early-stage buyer validation. These are not abstract platform changes. They influence how buyers assess risk while they are still researching quietly. 

That timing is critical. According to the 6sense B2B Buyer Experience Report 2025, the winning vendor is already on the Day One shortlist 95% of the time, long before sales teams know a deal exists. Buyers also delay engaging sellers until late in the journey, which means validation happens early and independently. 

The purpose of this article is not to announce new features, but to act as the filter between feature awareness and commercial value. 

This article does three things: 

  • Lists the latest Google Business Profile features released in late 2025 
  • Explains what each feature actually does 
  • Translates each update into practical, strategic B2B usage 

No gimmicks. No B2C assumptions. Just what matters if you sell complex, considered products or services. 

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Latest Google Business Profile Features Released in 2025

Google’s direction with Google Business Profile is clear. It is moving from a simple listing to a live business entity that supports interaction, reinforces trust, and feeds AI-driven discovery. 

User behaviour supports this shift. Research published in the Birdeye State of Google Business Profile 2025 report shows that 48% of Google Business Profile interactions are website visits, not calls or direction requests. That is not impulse behaviour. It is evaluation behaviour. 

Below are the latest features that matter most for B2B brands, and why. 

Note: If you don’t see all of these features, it’s because Google is still rolling out these updates across different regions. 

1. Post Scheduling and Bulk Post Scheduling

What it does 

Google Business Profile now allows businesses to: 

  • Schedule posts in advance 
  • Schedule multiple posts in bulk 
  • Bulk posting to multiple locations 
  • Reduce the need for constant manual publishing 

This shifts GBP posting from reactive to planned. 

Why this matters for B2B brands 

B2B posting is not about flash promotions. It is about consistency. 

Buying cycles are long, and research windows open quietly. A dormant profile during those windows signals neglect, even if your business is active elsewhere. When shortlist decisions are formed early, visibility gaps quietly erode confidence. 

Scheduling allows B2B teams to maintain steady presence while aligning GBP updates with broader content calendars, campaigns, and product or service milestones. 

How B2B brands should use it 

Use scheduled posts to reinforce credibility: 

  • Thought leadership and insights 
  • Announcements such as certifications, awards, or partnerships 
  • Proof points that support positioning 

Avoid discount-led or B2C-style “offers”. Tie cadence to quarterly demand and sales rhythms

2. Enhanced Review Moderation and Spam Reporting

What this feature does 

Google has expanded tools that allow faster reporting and moderation of suspicious or fake reviews directly within the GBP interface. Business owners have never had this much control over their GBP reviews before making the process of dealing with difficult reviews much easier. 

Why this matters for B2B brands 

In B2B, reviews act as risk-reduction signals, not persuasion tools. 

Trust is comparative. The BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2025 found that 74% of people consult two or more websites when reading reviews before deciding to use a business. The same triangulation behaviour appears in B2B buying committees. 

A neglected or polluted review profile introduces doubt at exactly the wrong moment. 

How B2B brands should use it 

Treat reviews as governance: 

  • Keep profiles clean and credible 
  • Respond with context and professionalism 
  • Focus on accountability, not defensiveness 

The goal is not perfection, it is trust under scrutiny. 

Caption: Where to find the new features on your Google Business Profile.

3. AI-Assisted Q&A Responses

What this feature does 

Google now suggests AI-generated responses to questions in the Q&A section of Google Business Profiles. Businesses can review, edit, and approve these answers before publishing. Think of it as an AI-driven search engine results page within your GBP that pulls all profile data including Q&A responses relating to the user’s Google search query to match their intent. 

Why this matters for B2B brands 

Q&A sections are increasingly used for capability validation. Buyers ask questions that reveal intent around scope, compliance, and expertise. This feature allows Google’s AI to help “sell” your profile when it’s discovered without you doing a thing. 

AI drafts reduce gaps, but unedited responses often flatten nuance or miss regulatory and technical detail. 

How B2B brands should use it 

Use AI as a starting point, not a final answer: 

  • Rewrite drafts to reflect positioning and audience
  •  Add regulatory or technical nuance 
  • Proactively seed common buyer questions 

Handled well, Q&A becomes a quiet confidence-builder. 

4. Visual Search and Image Recognition Signals

What this feature does 

Photos on Google Business Profiles now feed more directly into Google’s visual and AI-driven discovery systems. Images are treated as structured signals, not decoration. 

Why this matters for B2B brands 

Visuals help buyers validate reality: 

  • Is there a real team behind the business? 
  • Do facilities and products match claims? 
  • Does the organisation look established or improvised?

Visual credibility increasingly influences shortlist formation. 

How B2B brands should use it 

Prioritise authenticity: 

  • Use real team, facility, or product imagery 
  • Avoid generic stock photography 
  • Ensure consistency with website and sales materials 

Believability beats polish. 

5. Performance Metrics and Analytics Enhancements

What this feature does 

Google has expanded GBP insights, offering clearer views of: 

  • Engagement paths 
  • Photo views 
  • Profile interactions over time 

Why this matters for B2B brands 

Google Business Profile is not a last-click channel. The Birdeye research shows that nearly half of interactions lead to website visits, reinforcing GBP’s role as an evaluation gateway. 

How B2B brands should use it 

Treat GBP as an assisted conversion channel: 

  • Align GBP insights with GA4, Google Ads, and CRM data 
  • Look for research and validation patterns 
  • Ignore vanity metrics that do not map to pipeline 

6. Direct Profile Management from Search Results

What this feature does 

Managers can now edit Google Business Profiles directly from Google Search, reducing friction and speeding up updates. 

Why this matters for B2B brands 

Outdated information undermines trust quickly, especially for complex or fast-moving organisations. 

How B2B brands should use it 

Speed still needs structure: 

  • Define ownership and approval workflows 
  • Avoid ad-hoc edits without review 
  • Treat accuracy as a trust asset 

7. Other Minor Enhancements

Google has also released smaller updates, including: 

  • Improved messaging 
  • Social media link integration 
  • Desktop chat support 
  • More visual review displays 

These are useful, but secondary to the trust-building features above. 

What the Latest GBP Features Tell Us About Google’s Priorities

From listings to live business entities 

Google is rewarding richer, verifiable signals over static information. 

Increased emphasis on engagement and responsiveness 

Passive profiles lose relevance. Active, accurate profiles gain trust. 

Preparing GBP for AI-driven search 

Structured, up-to-date profiles feed AI summaries and recommendations. When preference forms early and sellers arrive late, this pre-contact layer becomes decisive, as highlighted by 6sense. 

How B2B Brands Should Approach New GBP Features

As a starting point, don’t ignore updates until rankings drop, or treat features as cosmetic, copy B2C posting patterns, and avoid misalignment between GBP, website, and sales narratives.  

Prioritise trust-building features. Align updates with buyer research behaviour. Build feature adoption into repeatable processes. 

Because Day One shortlist decisions win 95% of the time, late optimisation is often invisible optimisation. 

Turn GBP Updates into B2B Advantage

In-house teams should own governance and accuracy. Agencies add leverage through strategy, integration, and interpretation. 

Measure success beyond clicks. Look for assisted conversions, reduced friction, and stronger confidence signals. 

Where Sharp Ahead Fits In

Sharp Ahead helps B2B brands interpret platform changes, prioritise what actually matters, and embed updates into scalable systems. 

Process over reaction. Strategy over features. Outcomes over activity. 

Wrapping up

Google Business Profile updates are not optional background noise. For B2B brands, GBP is now a trust layer, a validation step, and an AI-relevant entity signal. 

If your profile does not evolve with Google, visibility does not collapse loudly. It degrades quietly. And in B2B, quiet losses are the most expensive.  

Need help getting your Google Business Profile optimised with the latest features? Speak to one of our experts 

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    Google’s December Core Update

    Between Christmas parties and wrapping up last year’s activity, you would be forgiven for missing Google’s December Core Update—so here’s a short and a longer summary for you!

    Google’s December Core Update

    Between Christmas parties and wrapping up last year’s activity, you would be forgiven for missing Google’s December Core Update—so here’s a short and a longer summary for you! 

    TL;DR 

    Google continues to experiment with longer AI Overviews, strengthening the case for leveraging third-party sites (e.g. Reddit) and for focusing on specialisation, expertise and commercially oriented content. 

    Search Console is also getting even better, with more features around AI and socials—make sure you’ve claimed yours and are using it as part of your BAU SEO reporting and hygiene! 

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    Overview of the Core Update: When and Why

    Google released a broad core algorithm update on 11 December 2025, which took just over 18 days to fully roll out and was confirmed completed on 29th December.

    It was Google’s third core update of 2025 (following the March and June core updates).

    This update was described by Google as a regular core update, not a penalty and they list the update as an “incident affecting ranking” on its status dashboard.

    Worth noting that two days before this core update, Google updated its core updates documentation with new language about ongoing algorithm changes.

    They have stated that “you don’t necessarily have to wait for a major core update to see the effect of your improvements. We’re continually making updates to our search algorithms, including smaller core updates. These updates are not announced because they aren’t widely noticeable, but they are another way that your content can see a rise in position (if you’ve made improvements).”

    Google has not published any information regarding specific update changes during this update.

    Summary of Noticed Changes Across Industries

    SaaS:

    Non-specialized SaaS and publications decrease in rankings for software related queries, while more specialized/niche software sites increased. This is another incentive to reward specialization, expertise and showcase more commercially oriented content.

    Publications:

    Decrease in rankings for “Best of” / broader queries that had been identified with an informational intent and for which there are now more brands and/or commercial sites ranking better.

    Ecommerce:

    Broader retailers decreased in rankings across mid-funnel product queries vs specialized retailers or brands, showcasing more specific authority/expertise in that product line, eg: Macy’s decreased in rankings for “winter boots women”, “winter coats”, whilst Columbia and the The North Face have performed well post-update.

    2. Search Console Developments

    Google has expanded Search Console Insights to include social channel performance data, showing clicks and impressions tied to linked social profiles directly in Search Console

    This is still in experimental phase so may not be seen across all clients yet.

    Additional AI-powered reports and deeper performance insights were also rolled out in Search Console during December.

    3. Google Testing Long AI Search Snippets

    Google is now testing out long AI-generated search snippets within search results.

    Similar to the experiment from October, with the snippet now appearing much longer in some instances, rather than the standard 3 lines with the ‘more’ button like previously.

    Experiment is confined to only forum results from Reddit and is showing on both mobile and desktop, once again showing a continued preference to showcase authentic firsthand experiences from real users.

     If you want to know more, or need help with your B2B SEO, please get in touch and we will be happy to help! 

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      Google’s December Core Update

      Between Christmas parties and wrapping up last year’s activity, you would be forgiven for missing Google’s December Core Update—so here’s a short and a longer summary for you!

      Boost Organic Strategy with LinkedIn’s Competitor Analytics

      LinkedIn continuously evolves its analytics to help businesses reach users and grow their online presence, and one of the most important updates is the new ‘Competitors’ tab within the company page analytics section.

      This new competitor analysis gives businesses and brands greater insight into how their organic performance compares across new followers, total posts, engagement rate, and more.

      On this page:

      What is the LinkedIn Competitor Analysis Tool?

      LinkedIn’s competitor analysis tab provides Page admins with visibility of how their organic LinkedIn performance ranks against a choice of competitors on the platform. Focusing specifically on organic performance metrics, it is a customisable feature that allows you to edit the list of competitors, select time frame, and prioritise metrics available.

      Traditionally, many users and marketing experts have been turning to tools for these insights, often paying to have the data formatted in easy-to-read dashboards. But this free tool provides a quick source of organic competitor data in LinkedIn’s familiar UI and without the price tag. So, how can we utilise it?

      What Are Key Competitor Metrics for Organic LinkedIn?

      LinkedIn’s competitor metrics can provide greater insight into understanding how your brand is positioned within the competitive landscape and whether your organic efforts are working at attracting user interest and engagement.  

      The organic content metrics can help you evaluate how engaging the content you are producing is compared to others, providing data on whether competitors are posting more/less and generating greater engagement. These insights can feed back into your organic content strategy, helping you to adjust your time and resources to get the most out of each post. 

      • Competitor Highlights – this is essentially a summary of your performance, such as the number of posts and engagement rate. Positioned at the top of the page, this provides you with a benchmark on your own page’s performance before assessing your competitors. 
      • New Follower Metrics – this reveals how fast your and your competitors’ audiences are growing. The list is ranked by the net new followers gained within the selected time period. Negative metrics are displayed if the number of unfollows exceeds new follows. 
      • Total Post Metrics – shows the number of total posts published by each competitor. This provides greater insight into how active your competitors are on the platform. It can be useful to compare post volume to engagement to identify what resonates the most within those audiences.
      • Total Engagement Metrics – this includes interactions such as likes, comments and shares generated by organic posts. Getting insight into this type of audience activity can show how well that content resonates with audiences, allowing you to spot content themes or formats that can drive engagement.   
      • Trending Competitor Posts – highlights top-performing posts based on high engagement volume, rapid engagement growth, and strong audience interaction signals. This metric can help you identify optimal content types that users and LinkedIn’s algorithm are favouring. 

      How to use LinkedIn’s Competitor Analysis

      Using the above LinkedIn competitor metrics can provide you with the tools to reverse engineer competitor success to your advantage and establish healthy audience engagement patterns. 

      These insights can help you understand and harness organic growth trends and identify gaps in your content strategy, so you can optimise your future campaigns with greater confidence.  

      Look into which competitors receive strong engagement, and what posts are driving these results to identify popular themes and trends you can apply to your own content strategy. Use this information to set your page’s benchmarks and KPIs so that you feel confident that the content you post can lead to stronger authority, growth and engagement.  

      Now that you know how LinkedIn’s competitor analysis tab puts valuable benchmarking and content strategy data at your fingertips, it’s time to start. Contact Sharp Ahead today (link to contact page), and we’ll help you turn those insights into a smarter, measurable organic growth. 

      Note: LinkedIn currently supports tracking up to nine competitors, with availability varying by account as the feature rolls out progressively. Due to this, access may vary by region and depends on LinkedIn’s testing. 

       

      Want to make the most of LinkedIn’s competitor analysis? Speak to an expert.

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        Google’s December Core Update

        Between Christmas parties and wrapping up last year’s activity, you would be forgiven for missing Google’s December Core Update—so here’s a short and a longer summary for you!

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