Updated October 22, 2026. We revised this article to distinguish Google's discontinued Q&A API from the questions and answers that may still appear in a Business Profile. The earlier version overstated what a reported test meant for all businesses.
If you run a local business in Canada, keep your business details and answers accurate wherever you can edit them. Google's Q&A API ended in November 2025, but that does not prove every question, answer or owner control disappeared from every profile. Check your own profile before following a guide that tells you to click a particular Q&A button.
We would put useful answers on your website first, then review the options Google actually gives your business. Neither answering a prompt nor adding a website FAQ guarantees a higher ranking or a citation in an AI answer.
What changed with Google Business Profile Q&A?
Two changes often get mixed together. Google discontinued the My Business Q&A API on November 3, 2025, with no replacement listed. Software should no longer depend on that API or its question-and-answer notifications.
Separately, Google's December 2025 announcement about Q&A described changes to the customer experience in Maps. It said owners could continue answering existing questions in their Business Profile, and that published questions and answers could help Google understand a business.
Those statements describe different things: software access and the experience people see. They do not establish that a new owner prompt has reached every Canadian profile. If your dashboard differs from an online screenshot, work with the controls available to you.
Check whether a guide describes an API, an owner control or a customer feature before relying on its instructions.
Start with the questions customers ask before booking
A useful answer helps someone decide whether to contact you. For a trade business, that could mean explaining your service area, the types of work you accept, how estimates work or when someone can expect a response. Choose questions from real enquiries rather than filling a page with search phrases.
Write down the answer and who can confirm it. A dispatcher may know the current service area; the owner may need to approve pricing language. Keep those facts in a short shared document so a website edit and a profile update start from the same information.
This is also where an honest "no" helps. If you do not take emergency calls overnight, say so. Changing the answer to win a search creates an expectation your business cannot meet.
Approve the business fact once, then use it consistently in the places you control.
A practical check for your Canadian business
1. Look at your profile as a customer
Search for your business in Search and Maps. Check the service information, hours, website destination and contact options a customer can see. Then sign into the account that manages the profile and review the editing options.
Google notes that profile controls can differ between Search, Maps and operating systems. You do not need to reproduce someone else's dashboard. If questions are available, answer only what you can verify. If they are absent, move on to the business information you can maintain.
2. Correct the core information
Make sure your actual services, service area and hours agree with your website. Google's service editor lets eligible service businesses add services and supporting details. Use it for work you genuinely offer.
Review the public result after an edit. Saving a change and seeing it live are separate checks. Keep a note of the date, the field changed and whether the public information reflects it.
3. Give important questions a clear answer on your website
Put each answer where it helps a visitor. Explain estimate fees on the relevant service page. Put coverage details beside the service-area information. Use a short FAQ when several related questions belong together.
For example, a hypothetical plumbing business that offers weekday repairs could write: "We book repair visits Monday to Friday. Tell us your suburb and the problem when you enquire, and we'll confirm whether we can help." It should not claim 24-hour emergency service unless that is true.
Example only: correct an emergency-service claim if your business accepts weekday bookings.
4. Test the next step
Open your website link on a phone. Read the answer, follow the enquiry or booking link and check that it leads to the right destination. Avoid submitting repeated test enquiries. One clearly labelled internal test is enough when you need to confirm delivery.
A clear answer still needs a working way to contact you. A broken form is a more immediate problem than a missing experimental button.
Be careful with promises about Q&A automation
Ask a provider which supported feature its workflow uses today. A useful explanation should distinguish drafting an answer, obtaining your approval and actually saving it to Google. A demonstration should use the current product, not an old API reference or a mock dashboard.
We would avoid a service that promises automatic Q&A posting through the discontinued API. We would also question claims that answering early locks in an AI citation. Google's local-ranking guidance describes relevance, distance and prominence; it does not establish an early-answer advantage.
Reminders and a shared fact sheet can still save time. They help someone remember the work and check the answer. Keep a person responsible for factual accuracy and for confirming that the public result is correct.
Measure whether customers get better answers
Keep a simple record of recurring questions for a few weeks. Note the question, where the answer lives and whether customers still ask it after visiting your site. If people repeatedly miss your service area or misunderstand an estimate fee, improve the wording or its placement.
Review enquiries for fit as well. Are people asking for work you offer, in places you serve? This gives you a useful reason to improve an answer without claiming the edit caused a ranking change.
Track misunderstandings and enquiry fit. Do not treat a changed answer as proof that rankings or AI visibility improved.
Common questions
Can I still answer questions on my Google Business Profile?
Google's Q&A announcement said owners could answer existing questions in their profile. Check the options shown for your business. An instruction that worked for another account may not match yours.
Should I pay someone to add seeded questions?
We would prioritise accurate business information and useful answers to real customer questions. Before paying for a Q&A service, ask what supported action it performs and how it verifies the result. Do not buy a promised ranking boost.
Is a website FAQ the same as the old chat FAQ?
No. You control an FAQ on your own website. Google ended its old Business Profile chat and chat FAQ features in July 2024. Its current chat guidance also describes text or WhatsApp contact options for eligible accounts, which are separate from that retired service.
Will consistent answers guarantee that Google gets everything right?
No. You can improve the information you control and correct visible mistakes, but you cannot guarantee which sources Google uses or what an AI answer says.
If you want help deciding what to fix first, learn more about our Google Business Profile support. Tell us which details customers keep getting wrong, and we can start with the changes that would help them make a decision.