If you run a small business, you probably know this scene well: before noon, you have to respond to customers, review sales, update your hours and think about the next promotion. Google wants Gemini to help with those tasks without making you explain from scratch how your business works every time you open the app.
The company announced new Gemini features aimed at business owners, including direct integration with Google Business Profile and a workspace called Business notebooks. The new features will begin rolling out globally this month.
Gemini will be able to understand your business context
Google Business Profile is the listing that displays a company’s information in Google Search and Maps. It includes details such as business hours, reviews, customer questions, calls, requests for directions and other interactions.
Over the next few weeks, owners will be able to connect that profile to Gemini with a single tap. From then on, the assistant will be able to use real business information to provide more relevant answers, recommendations and content.
Why does that matter? Because an AI that knows your data can be much more useful than a tool that only receives general instructions. Asking it to draft a response for a customer is not the same as asking it to respond to a specific review while maintaining your brand’s tone.
Tasks Gemini will be able to perform
- Analyze performance: you’ll be able to ask how your business performed during the month and receive an analysis of search impressions, calls, requests for directions and customer engagement.
- Respond to reviews: Gemini will be able to prepare personalized responses that refer to each customer’s specific comments.
- Update information: you’ll be able to request changes to your business hours, publish seasonal notices or identify incomplete information in your profile.
The idea is to reduce repetitive work and turn Google Business Profile data into concrete actions. That said, it’s a good idea to review any changes before publishing them, especially when they affect hours, prices or information customers use to make decisions.
Business notebooks organizes chats, sources and data
Google also introduced Business notebooks, workspaces within Gemini designed to bring together conversations, information sources, the company website and its Google Business Profile.
Instead of searching for scattered data across different chats or documents, owners will be able to maintain a permanent context and pick up a task where they left off. Gemini will be able to use that information to analyze trends, create content ideas and propose campaigns that preserve the business’s identity.
The feature is not limited to storing information. According to Google, the notebooks will be able to show recommendations and pending tasks when users open them.
Alerts and recommendations to act faster
The announced features include:
- Proactive alerts: notifications about unanswered customer questions or special dates whose hours have not yet been configured.
- Personalized recommendations: suggestions about market opportunities, pricing and positioning based on the local context.
- Simpler execution: tools to move from an idea to a promotional campaign and analyze its results afterward.
Imagine, for example, a coffee shop approaching a busy season. Business notebooks could help review recent comments, identify which products are generating the most interest, suggest a promotion and point out that the hours for a public holiday still need to be updated.
The difference isn’t just having an AI that answers questions, but having an AI that understands which business you’re trying to grow.
A useful tool, with important limitations
The integration could be especially valuable for entrepreneurs who handle several roles at once. However, giving an AI access to business information also requires attention to permissions, privacy and the accuracy of its responses.
Gemini can speed up an analysis or prepare a draft, but it does not replace the owner’s review. An incorrectly interpreted automatic response, inaccurate hours or recommendation based on incomplete data can directly affect the customer experience.
Google says the integration with Google Business Profile and Business notebooks will begin its global rollout this month. The company also announced that it will soon offer special promotions related to Workspace and Gemini.
For small businesses, the promise is clear: less time spent on administrative tasks and more capacity to understand customers, keep their digital presence up to date and turn information into decisions. AI does not eliminate the work of running a business, but it can lighten some of the burden that normally falls on one person.
Original source
https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/gemini-features-for-businesses