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How AI Is Changing Google Business Profiles (GBP): Expert Insights from Former Google Director Brad Wetherall

October 10, 2025·44 min·2 clips

Brad says reviews are the one thing he would do first if everything else were ignored.

GBP has changed names a lot. Brad opens with the product's long trail: Google Business Profile, Google My Business, Google Local, Google Places, Google Plus pages or places, and Local Business Center. Then the episode gets useful. Brad says Google seemed to pull meaning from profile photos, even when the same words were not in a description or service field. His advice: use real photos. He is pretty direct about AI-generated images, calling them a detractor, because real photos show people actually doing the work. For service companies, that means photos where someone is performing the service, with the job itself visible enough for a customer to understand. Videos fit the same pattern. The host asks whether those videos need to be on YouTube, and Brad says short social clips can go into the GBP too. If a plumber already has a quick how-to or service clip, it can work there as well. The audience is split in a useful way. People may watch the media, but Google's AI may also get clearer signals about what the business does. Ranking still matters here. Brad's point is that the profile should help rank and influence Google's AI algorithms, not just look filled out. The close stays practical, with notes on Brad's agency work, upcoming industry events, SEO, AEO, and digital marketing.

As heard by us

A practical guide to making a Google Business Profile easier for Google to read.

Google Business Profiles are treated here as both a ranking surface and a signal to Google's AI systems. Brad Weatherall, a former Google director for GBP and now an agency owner, traces the product's branding history and points to the practical signals that seem to matter most…

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Make your Google Business Profile easier for Google's AI to read, trust, and surface locally.

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