Does my Google Business Profile help ChatGPT recommend me?

Your Google Business Profile helps ChatGPT a little, mostly as a fact sheet rather than a reason to recommend you. In our Malaysian tests, ChatGPT cited a Google Maps link or a Business Profile page in under 4% of the answers that cited anything, usually to back a rating, an address or a category.

Your own website did far more of the work. And Gemini, tested through Google's own API with Google Search only, cited no Maps pages at all.

How often does ChatGPT cite Google Maps or a Business Profile?

ChatGPT rarely cites Google Maps or a Business Profile when it answers Malaysian questions. We went back through every answer we saved in the past month, through OpenAI's and Google's APIs, not the apps:

Those 38 answers came from just 20 questions. In one set of 45 buying questions, businesses' own websites were half of the sites ChatGPT cited, as our Gemini vs ChatGPT test shows.

What did ChatGPT use the Google Maps links for?

ChatGPT used Google Maps links mostly to back facts about a business it had already picked. In nearly half of the 38 answers, the link backed a Google rating or review count, such as "Google Maps shows a 5.0 rating".

The rest sat beside an address, a category ("Google Maps lists it as a bakery") or a line about the firm's services. One KL accounting firm's address link alone turned up 14 times.

Ratings are a story of their own: see whether Google reviews help ChatGPT recommend you.

Can ChatGPT read my Google Business Profile page itself?

Yes, ChatGPT can read a Business Profile page when its search lands on one. It cited six profiles in our data. These are public pages on business.google.com that show your About text, hours, services and reviews as plain text.

That cuts both ways. Asked in Malay for a home aircon service, ChatGPT cited a car workshop's profile in three answers. The profile's name includes "Aircond". Only one of the three warned that it suits you "kalau aircond yang rosak itu aircond kereta, bukan rumah".

Our reading: your profile's words get matched, so say exactly what you do.

Does the ChatGPT app use Google Maps for local results?

The ChatGPT app's local results draw on outside place data, though OpenAI doesn't name Google. OpenAI says ChatGPT "may share your location with trusted third-party providers that help provide more local information, such as nearby business listings"¹.

Resoneo found those place results come from feeds including Google Maps. It adds that "nearly one in five Yelp-labelled records carries a link copied from the business's Google Business profile"². Our reading: your profile's website link can travel even when Google isn't the label.

Our API test can't see those app maps.

What should a Malaysian business fix on its Google Business Profile?

Fix the fields that ChatGPT and map feeds copy as facts. Keeping them the same as your website matters too.

1. Your real name, in one script. Google doesn't allow "Repeated Bilingual Names / Script Transliterations" in the name field, even when your signboard shows both³. Put your Malay or Chinese name in the description and on your website instead.
2. Fewest, most specific categories. Google asks for categories that complete "This business IS a"³. A home aircon service shouldn't sit under "Auto repair shop".
3. Festive hours. Set special hours for Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Deepavali. Google suggests you "confirm your hours for official holidays, even if they’re the same as your regular hours"⁴.
4. Services with RM prices. Businesses in some categories can add details to each service, "like descriptions and prices"⁵.
5. A plain description. Say what you do, where and in which languages. Google caps it at 750 characters and asks you to avoid "promotions, prices, or sales" there⁶.
6. Your website link. Point it to a page that repeats the same name, hours and services.

What can't our data tell me about Google Business Profile and ChatGPT?

• The ChatGPT app. We used OpenAI's API, which shows no maps. The app's map results may lean on profiles more.
• Cause and effect. We saw what ChatGPT cited, not whether a better profile gets you named.
• A planned sample. These were saved answers from different tests, trades and dates over one month.

How do I check whether ChatGPT uses my Google Business Profile?

Your profile is cheap to fix, and ChatGPT already quotes ratings, hours and categories from Google.

1. Request EasyFound's free check. See what ChatGPT says about your business and where its facts come from, then go through it with us on a free call.
2. Ask a factual question in the app, such as "What time does [your shop name] in Subang close on Sunday?", with your own name in it. Open the sources and see whether Google, your site or a directory answered.
3. Work through the six fixes above, then put the same facts on a page of your own.

EasyFound, an AI SEO service for Malaysian businesses, checks six AI tools in English, Malay and Chinese, then works on the profile, website and listings they quote. The free check is below.