Fixing Unanswered Questions on Your Google Business Profile
For years, Google Business Profiles carried a public Questions and answers section where anyone could ask something and anyone could answer, often before the owner noticed. Unanswered questions, wrong answers from strangers and spam were all common audit findings. Google has since been scaling the feature back, and on many listings it no longer appears or accepts new questions.
This guide helps you work out what your own listing shows, deal with anything still visible, and put the answers customers need somewhere that will outlast the feature.
Where Questions and answers stands now
This is a feature in transition, so treat everything here as a snapshot and check Google's own help pages for the current position in the UK.
- It has been reduced. Google has been winding down the public Q&A section. On many profiles the "Ask a question" link has gone, and on some the section has disappeared entirely.
- AI answers appear in some places. Google has been testing and rolling out ways to answer people's questions about a place automatically, drawing on the profile, reviews, photos and the website. You do not write these answers directly.
- Behaviour varies. What you see can differ by country, device, app version and business category, and may change again.
That shifts the job. Where old questions are still visible, they still need tidying, because customers read them. But the durable fix is making sure the facts behind common questions are stated clearly in places you control: profile fields, attributes, services and your own website. Those are the sources any automated answer is likely to draw from.
Why unanswered or wrong answers hurt
Where the section is still live, the problem was never really ranking. It was that strangers could answer on your behalf. Typical findings from the audit and from owners' own checks:
- Stale facts. "Do you open on Sundays?" answered "Yes" by a visitor in a year when you did. Hours have changed since, but the answer has not.
- Guesswork. A local guide answers a price question with a figure from memory.
- Questions that are really complaints. "Why did nobody call me back?" posted as a question because the reviewer did not want to leave a review.
- Spam and off-topic posts. Links, adverts for other businesses, or abuse.
- Silence. A sensible question left for months with no reply signals that nobody is watching the profile.
Each of those is something a prospective customer may read before choosing where to go. Even if the feature eventually vanishes, cleaning them up while they are visible is worth the few minutes it takes.
The fix, step by step
Step 1
Check whether Q&A still shows on your listing
Open your listing in the Google Maps app and in desktop Search, both while signed in as the owner and again in a private window. Scroll past the reviews and look for a Questions and answers area or an ask link. Note what you see on each device, because the feature has been withdrawn unevenly. If it is gone everywhere, skip the next step and move straight to collecting questions. If it is present, count the questions and note how many have no answer from you.
Step 2
Deal with every question already visible
Work through visible questions oldest first. Answer each one as the owner in plain, factual language, so your reply is labelled as coming from the business. Where a stranger's answer is wrong, post the correct answer and use the report option on the incorrect one. Report spam, abuse and off-topic posts too. For complaints disguised as questions, reply briefly and politely, offer a phone number or email for a private follow-up, and never reveal anything about the customer.
Step 3
Collect the questions customers really ask
Gather questions from sources that reflect real customers: phone calls, emails, website chat, booking notes, review text and anything staff hear at the counter. Ask the team to jot down questions for two weeks. Group them into themes such as prices, parking, accessibility, payment, booking, turnaround time and areas covered. Rank the themes by how often they come up. This list is more useful than anything a keyword tool produces, because it comes from the people who actually buy from you.
Step 4
Move the answers into lasting profile fields
For each common question, find the profile field that answers it directly. Opening times belong in regular and special hours. Accessibility, payment types and parking belong in attributes. What you do and rough prices belong in services or products. The areas you cover belong in the service area. Anything left over can go into the business description in a sentence or two. Facts held in structured fields are shown more consistently than a one-off answer buried in a thread.
Step 5
Publish a clear FAQ on your website
Add
a short questions section to the relevant page of your website, or a dedicated help page, using the wording
customers used. Keep answers specific and current, and link to them from the pages people land on. You
can add FAQPage markup if the questions and answers are visible on the page, but expect
no rich result, because Google now shows FAQ rich results only for a small set of authoritative government
and health sites. The value is clear answers, not a search feature.
Step 6
Review the answers every few months
Set a reminder every quarter to open the listing, check for any new visible questions, and read back through the facts you published. Update anything that has changed, such as prices, parking arrangements or holiday hours, in both the profile and the website at the same time. If Google has started showing automated answers about your business, read them critically and correct the underlying source when one is wrong, since that is the only lever you have over them.
Which question belongs in which field
Most customer questions have a natural home on the profile or site. Putting the answer there means it shows up where people look first, instead of relying on a separate question thread.
| Common question | Best place for the answer | Related guide |
|---|---|---|
| Are you open on bank holidays? | Special hours on the profile, plus a line on the contact page. | Hours in Maps |
| Is there step-free access or a lift? | Accessibility attributes, and detail on the website. | Attributes |
| How much does a typical job cost? | Services or products with a price or "from" price. | Services and products |
| Do you cover my village? | Service area settings and an areas-covered page. | Service-area businesses |
| Can I pay by card or contactless? | Payment attributes. | Attributes |
| Where do I park? | Parking attributes, a photo of the car park, directions on the website. | Photos |
| Do I need to book? | Booking link on the profile where your category supports it, and the description. | This guide |
Writing answers that help
Whether you are answering a question still visible on the profile or writing the FAQ on your site, the same habits apply.
- Lead with the answer. "Yes, there is free parking for six cars behind the shop" beats a paragraph of thanks first.
- Give the detail that removes the follow-up question. If the answer is "yes, we take cards", say whether that includes contactless and American Express.
- Avoid dates and prices that will go stale unless you will update them. "From" prices age better than exact figures.
- Keep marketing out. Answers stuffed with service names and town names read as spam to customers.
- Stay consistent. The profile, the website and what staff say on the phone should all give the same answer.
An example set for a fictional business
Harbour Lane Physio, a clinic in a fictional market town, turned its phone notes into these entries for its website help page:
Q: Do I need a GP referral?
A: No. You can book directly. If you are claiming through
health insurance, check whether your insurer needs one.
Q: Is the clinic accessible?
A: Yes. There is a level entrance from Harbour Lane and all
treatment rooms are on the ground floor.
Q: How long is a first appointment?
A: About 45 minutes, including assessment and treatment.The same facts were then set in the profile's attributes and services, so they appear whether or not a question section exists.
Keeping it from going wrong again
- Turn on notifications. Make sure the email address and phone linked to the owner account receive Business Profile alerts, so new activity is not missed.
- Give one person the job. Shared responsibility tends to mean nobody checks. Name an owner and a backup.
- Change facts at the source. When hours or prices change, update the profile fields and website on the same day rather than answering questions about the change later.
- Watch the reviews too. Questions often turn up in review text. The reviews guide covers replying to those.
1. Has Google removed Questions and answers from Business Profiles?
Google has been scaling the feature back, and on many listings the ask link or the whole section no longer appears. The change has rolled out unevenly, so you may still see it on one device or in one app and not another, and it may differ by country and category. Because the position keeps moving, check Google's Business Profile help pages for the current status in the UK rather than relying on any article, including this one.
2. Can I still answer questions on my Google listing?
If the Questions and answers section still shows on your listing, you can answer as the owner, and your reply will be labelled as coming from the business. Sign in with an account that manages the profile, open the listing in Google Maps, find the question and add your answer. Where the section has been withdrawn there is nothing to answer, so put the information into your profile fields, attributes, services and website instead.
3. How do I remove a wrong answer someone else posted?
You cannot delete another person's answer yourself. Post a correct answer as the owner so readers see the business's view, then use the report option on the inaccurate answer and choose the reason that fits, such as spam, off-topic or misleading. Google reviews the report and decides whether to remove it. Keep your own answer factual and polite, because it is public and prospective customers will judge the business on its tone.
4. Should I post and answer my own questions on the profile?
Owners were historically allowed to ask and answer their own questions, and many did so to cover common topics. With the feature being wound down, it is a poor use of time: new questions may not be accepted and existing ones may disappear. Putting the same information into structured profile fields, services and a website help page is more reliable, because those are shown consistently and are likely sources for any automated answers Google produces.
5. What are the AI answers that appear about my business?
In some places Google answers questions about a business automatically, drawing on the profile, reviews, photos and the website rather than on answers the owner writes. You cannot edit these directly. If an automated answer is wrong, find where the wrong fact comes from, such as outdated hours on your site, an old directory listing or a confusing profile field, and correct it there. Feedback options may also be available next to the answer.
6. Does adding FAQ schema to my website replace Google Q&A?
Not directly. FAQPage markup describes questions and answers that are visible on your web page, and Google now shows FAQ rich results only for a small set of well-known authoritative government and health websites, so a local business should not expect a special search display. A clear FAQ section is still worth having because it answers customers and states facts plainly. Keep the markup matching the visible text if you add it.
7. How often should I check for new questions on my profile?
Where the section still exists, a weekly glance during your normal profile routine is enough for most small businesses, with notifications switched on so nothing sits unanswered for long. Where it has gone, a quarterly review of your profile fields and website help page is the better habit. Use that review to check hours, prices, parking, accessibility and areas covered, and to update both the profile and website together whenever something changes.
The GBP audit reads your live Business Profile and reports Q&A activity along with categories, photos, posts, review replies, services and attributes, and compares your details with your website and major citation sources.
Open GBP Fixes →