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Remember the days of keyword stuffing? Yes, those were the days.

We are now in an era where artificial intelligence is fundamentally rewriting the rules of search. ChatGPT, Google’s AI overviews, and various generative AI tools have become the new starting points for answers. Here is something most Perth business owners do not realise: Your Google Business Profile has suddenly shot to critical importance.

Why? AI doesn’t really go for marketing jargon. It prefers data that’s verified and tied to specific locations, so it can actually verify the information and provide accurate, relevant results to users searching in those specific areas.

The AI Trust Problem (And Why GBP Solves It)

AI search engines are extremely cautious. When an AI gives the wrong answer, such as recommending a restaurant that has closed down or any other business that is no longer operating, people quickly lose faith in it.

So AI tends to crawl sources that its program can easily verify—from government databases and official registries, but most importantly, claimed, verified, and actively managed Google Business Profile listings.

Your GBP is not just another citation. This is Google’s own verified database. When AI needs to recommend businesses in Perth, it pulls heavily from this source due to its built-in verification feature. Timestamped photos. Self-updated operating hours.

Would you trust a random website or an official registry with verification requirements?

AI makes the same choice, just faster.

Location Signals Are the New Currency

The potential of AI is not entirely encapsulated in the phrase “AI wants to know your location.”

Where can I find a competent accountant? AI immediately notices the location and then looks for firms with strong local signals. More and more users are searching “near me” on Google, according to Google’s own research, further underlining just how important location data is when it comes to being visible in search.

Most of these signals come from your Google Business Profile:

• A verified address confirms you’re really there.
• Genuine local phone number in Perth
• Reviews with actual content about the location: proof from customers
• Photos of your premises as visual confirmation
• Map coordinates data AI can check

It can’t be faked. That’s why AI loves it.

Perth-based businesses that do not bother much with their GBP optimisations are invisible in AI searches. We have seen this among our clients at SEO Perth Experts. Proper local SEO and GBP work gets them to show up in AI results. Their competitors may have better-looking websites, but they have neglected their profiles.

Reviews: The Social Proof AI Actually Believes

Anyone can claim they are the best. However, Google’s verified system makes it much more difficult to fake a review.

Your Google Business Profile reviews are now one of the most powerful ranking factors in the AI era.

Research found that 82% of adults read online customer ratings or reviews before purchasing items for the first time, with 40% saying they always or almost always do so.

AI analyses these reviews for:

• Specific services mentioned: What customers went through
• Quality discussed: Real output results, feedback
• Consistent themes: What makes you worth recommending?
• Recent reviews: Looks like an active business

Many Perth businesses may not respond to their reviews or might use generic responses. AI quickly detects this.

What works? Get real. Address concerns with solutions; thank people for specifics. This convinces the AI that you’re active and caring.

The Content on Your GBP Matters More Than You Think

Most people set up their Google Business Profile once and forget it. Fill in the basics. Done.

Wrong.

AI is constantly crawling the web for new and relevant information. You can share different types of content through your Google Business Profile (GBP).

Perth businesses, or most Perth businesses, are not using Google Posts properly. These updates aren’t just for humans – AI reads them, learns what you do and uses that information when deciding whether to recommend you.

The Q&A section works the same way. By providing accurate answers to common questions, you are effectively guiding AI on how to represent you.

Please ensure precision in your service descriptions and categories. Do not select whatever appears to be close. This process is what AI uses to learn exactly what you do. If you make a mistake, you will miss customers who are searching for your business using the correct category or keywords.

AI analyzes images to understand your business type and quality. Are three grainy photos from 2018 better than dozens of recent, high-quality images? The difference in how AI perceives you is massive.

Why AI Prefers Verified Business Data Over Website Content

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: AI often trusts your Google Business Profile more than your website.

Your website is easy to manipulate. Claim anything. Make promises you can’t keep. But your GBP requires verification.

For AI giving accurate recommendations, verified data is gold. A Perth cafe with a fully optimised GBP gets more referrals than one with a prettier website but a neglected profile.

Your website isn’t useless. But it needs to work in harmony with your GBP, with consistent information across both. Inconsistencies confuse AI and kill trust.

This is where proper keyword research and technical SEO from an experienced SEO agency become valuable. Both need to pull in the same direction.

The Map Pack Is AI’s Go-To Source

You know that map section at the top of Google search results? That’s the Map Pack, fed by Google Business Profile (GBP) data.

When AI recommends local businesses, it often pulls from Map Pack results. Why? These listings are already filtered for location relevance, verified status, and customer ratings – a curated list that AI can trust.

Appearing in the Map Pack isn’t about luck. It’s about strong local SEO. That means optimising every single field in your GBP, creating location pages, managing your online reputation, and making sure your contact details are consistent across your website, social media, and business directory.

The competition to appear in the Map Pack for Perth is fierce. Those businesses that appear there are getting a large share of both traditional search traffic and AI-driven recommended traffic.

Discover the key factors that influence your local rankings by reading this guide on local SEO ranking factors.

Technical Elements AI Checks in Your GBP

AI reads the technical details that most business owners have never thought about and checks for them. Here are just a couple: 

1. NAP consistency (name, address, phone)

If your GBP states “9 Main Street” but your website says “9 Main St” and Facebook says “Shop 9, Main Street”, that creates confusion—inconsistency, which AI interprets as unreliability. Find out why such variance matters – a guide for NAP consistency.

2. Schema Markup

Structured data on your site that matches the GBP data tells AI how your web presence relates to a physical location.

3. Response Times

AI notices how quickly you respond to customers. The faster the responses to messages and reviews, the more likely it is to consider the business active and focused on its customers.

4. Regular Profile Update

Updates to operating hours, the addition of new photos, or the posting of content all signal that accounts are under active management. It de-prioritises what could be outdated information in ‘stale’ profiles.

These technical factors contribute to the overall impression of data quality, which AI uses to determine if your site is trustworthy and should be recommended as a reliable source.

What Perth Businesses Should Do Right Now

If you own or manage a local company in Perth and have not yet optimised your Google Business Profile, then you are surely missing out on potential income. Here’s what needs to be done:

Claim and verify your GBP listing if you haven’t already. Better late than never.

Fill out every single field. Do not skip sections. For AI systems, incomplete data is considered unreliable.

Third, devise a review strategy. Prompt satisfied clients to leave you a review. Respond to all reviews that you get – positive and negative alike. Show the AI that there is an actual human being managing this business.

Fourth, at least once a month, update your business on Google with the services you have offered or completed projects. Provide the AI new content to work with.

Fifth, maintain consistency in your NAP details everywhere online. This usually involves carrying out an audit of all the places your business appears – directories, social media and your website – and correcting any inconsistencies.

The Competitive Advantage Is Right Now

If you’ve been neglecting your Google Business Profile, you’re losing out on potential revenue.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Claim and verify your GBP: If you have not done that yet, do it now.
• Please ensure that every field is filled out completely: Incomplete data equals unreliable data for AI.
• Develop a review strategy: Kindly ask for reviews and make sure to respond to each one of them.
• Post monthly updates: Give the AI fresh content to work with
• Make NAP details consistent: same name, address, and phone everywhere online

For many Perth businesses, partnering with an SEO agency makes sense. Proper local SEO goes deep – from on-page search engine optimisation (aligning your website with your GBP) to off-page SEO (building your digital footprint across Western Australia).

AI Isn’t Going Away

There are still some business owners who believe that this whole AI search is just a phase. Eventually, traditional search methods will return, and business owners will experience positive outcomes once more.

AI search is growing rapidly. More people are using ChatGPT, Claude, and Google’s AI features every month. Younger consumers especially are defaulting to AI for quick answers and recommendations.

That means Google Business Profile optimisation is only going to get more important. As the AIs get smarter, they’ll lean even harder on verified trusted data sources. Your GBP will sit at the heart of your online visibility.

Perth businesses that invest in proper local SEO now are future-proofing themselves. They’re building a foundation that will serve them well as search continues to change. Those that ignore this? They’ll be wondering why their phone stopped ringing, even though they’ve got a beautiful website that cost them thousands.

Ready to optimise your Google Business Profile for the AI era?

SEO Perth Experts specialises in local SEO strategies aimed at making Perth businesses visible not only to traditional search engines but also AI-powered tools. Our team handles everything, from carrying out detailed SEO audits to continuous local optimisation and review management. 

We focus on building your online authority the right way – through verified data, consistent information, and strategic content that AI actually trusts. Contact us for a consultation about how we can improve your local search presence.