Google is retiring the traditional Q&A feature on Business Profiles and replacing it with new AI-powered experiences that answer customer questions automatically.
This update is part of Google’s shift toward Gemini-driven search, where AI pulls information from your Business Profile, website, and structured data to create instant, conversational responses in Search and Maps.
The Q&A API was officially discontinued on November 3, 2025, and the feature is now disappearing gradually from listings. Some profiles still show it for now, but Google’s long-term plan is to replace it completely with AI-generated answers.
A Marketing Agency That Can Keep Up
IMEG clients can stay confident in the ever-changing world of digital marketing because we stay on top of what’s new and what’s changing. Our team is already:
- Building optimized FAQ pages that teach Google’s AI the correct answers about your business.
- Adding FAQ and Q&A schema markup so your website becomes the authoritative source when Gemini generates responses.
- Monitoring your Business Profile as Google rolls out these changes to ensure your brand voice and facts stay consistent everywhere.
This shift marks the start of AI-driven local search, where Google’s systems do more than list your business. They interpret it and respond for you. With IMEG managing your data and schema, your information remains accurate, protected, and visible as this technology evolves.
The Old Way: Crowd-Sourced Q&A
Until now, each Google Business Profile had a “Questions & Answers” section where anyone could post a question and anyone (including the business) could reply.
- The information was user-generated.
- You could upvote or report questions, but you couldn’t control what appeared.
- Answers were often outdated or inaccurate, especially for high-traffic businesses.
The New Way: “Ask About this Place” and AI Answers
Google is replacing that Q&A tab with an AI-assisted experience built into the search interface itself. Here’s what happens now:
- A customer searches for your business and sees an “Ask about this place” box.
- They type a question such as “Do they have parking?” or “Are pets allowed?”
- Instead of showing public Q&A threads, Google’s AI (powered by Gemini) instantly generates an answer using information from:
- Your Business Profile (hours, amenities, reviews, photos)
- Your website content, especially FAQ pages
- Any structured data (FAQPage or QAPage schema) you have published
- Other trustworthy public sources
If the AI finds the answer clearly in those sources, it will display it directly on the results page. If the information is missing or inconsistent, Gemini will either skip the answer or infer it from user content, which can lead to errors.
What Users Can See and Do
- The Q&A tab is disappearing for most listings.
- Users will not see a full thread of past questions. Instead, they interact with Google’s AI through short prompts or suggested questions.
- In some cases, Google may still show a few legacy Q&A items until the feature is fully retired.
- Users can still leave written feedback on whether the AI’s answer was helpful, which feeds back into Gemini’s training signals.
This shift means users are talking directly to Google’s AI about your business. The AI is “answering for you,” based on the information it can verify. If that data is well-structured and clear, your business appears polished, trustworthy, and up-to-date. If not, the AI may fill gaps with assumptions or third-party text.
That is why IMEG’s FAQ pages and schema markup are critical. They feed accurate, first-party answers into the system so Google’s AI quotes your business instead of guessing. Want to work with a digital marketing agency that can keep up? Get in touch with our online marketing experts today!
