Google's Free AI Answers Customer Texts and Hands You the Hard Ones

Google seems to be opening up access to a free AI messaging tool on Business Profiles. It answers routine questions instantly at no cost, and hands off the ones it can't answer. The catch: it only works for customers whose network and phone support RCS.

Google's free AI agent for Business Profiles

Google seems to be opening its AI messaging tool up to more businesses. The feature lets customers message your business from Search and Maps through the texting app on their phone. An AI agent answers routine questions instantly at no cost. When it can't answer, it hands the conversation to you, and you can take over at any time.

Every message is available in your Business Profile. Claudia Tomina spotted the rollout and posted details on LinkedIn, including a GIF of it working. She said to look for a red dot next to Messages in your profile.

My read: the red dot is the tell. If it's there, you likely have it.

Google's examples were restaurants. Yours are not.

In Google's example, the agent brings up dishes with pictures and prices, then shows open reservation times. It handles questions like today's specials or booking for Saturday.

Now swap the restaurant for your business. A homeowner with water running down a wall doesn't ask about specials. A buyer whose rate lock is about to expire doesn't ask about Saturday reservations. The questions change. The mechanics don't: routine question in, instant answer out, real question handed to a human.

My read: for a plumbing company, the routine questions would be your service area, whether you charge a trip fee, and how fast you can get there. For a mortgage broker, they would be the loan programs you offer and how long a pre-approval takes. My read: those answers either live in your profile or the agent won't have them.

My read: that last part is the part most owners skim past, and the agent is there to sort, not to close.

The source says this isn't brand new. It just got wider.

The source's author believes the feature was covered back in June and that Google has made updates since. The new part is wider access. Mike Blumenthal shared an email on X about the pilot rolling out to more businesses. That email describes no-cost early access to the messaging pilot, with the agent handling common customer questions and redirecting complex ones to you.

So the pitch is simple: the agent takes the common stuff, your team gets more time for the work. That's the email's framing, not mine.

Free is the easy part. The fine print is the work.

The source says the feature is free, with a note to read the fine print first. My read: the fine print here is the RCS limit. The other limit comes from the source's advice: your profile sets the limit on what the agent can answer. Neither costs money. Both cost attention.

Here's the part I'd underline. The source's own advice is to update your menu, hours and services before you switch it on. That's not a technical step. It's an audit of whether you actually know what your business sells and when it's open. My read: plenty of shops don't.

For an owner, that's a decent trade. You're not adding a line item to the budget. You're adding a job: keep the profile current. My rough guess: that job takes a few minutes a month, and my read is that a current profile is work worth doing even without the agent.

My read: the owners who win here treat their Business Profile like a storefront, not a form they filled out once and forgot.

What it means for an owner who sells (my read)

Here's where I stop reporting and start giving you my take.

Picture a plumbing company. A homeowner's water heater is leaking into the garage. She searches, finds your profile, taps Messages, and types. Without the agent, that text sits until somebody looks at the phone. With the agent on, it answers the routine questions and hands you the rest. Your team opens a conversation instead of a missed call.

Picture a mortgage broker. It's Saturday morning. A first-time buyer wants to know whether you work with down payment assistance programs. The agent answers what your profile supports and hands over the rest. You open your laptop and the thread is sitting there with the buyer's name on it.

Picture both of them at once. Only customers whose network and phone support RCS get the AI agent. Texts from everyone else still come straight to your phone, and normal texting charges can apply. So the agent doesn't replace your phone. It filters it. A chunk of your inbound still rings the same way it always did.

My read: this is a lead-response tool, not a lead-generation tool. It will not bring you one extra lead. What it does is buy you minutes on the leads you already paid for. In plumbing and mortgage, minutes are the whole game.

One more thing worth saying out loud. The AI agent answers at no cost, but the handoff is not. Every handoff is a person on your payroll stopping what they're doing to answer a text. If your team is already slow on follow-up, a new inbox doesn't fix that. It just gives you a better view of it.

How to use it this week

Seven things. My rough guess: most take a few minutes.

1. Go look for the red dot. Open your Business Profile on Search or Maps and check Messages. Tomina's tip was to watch for a red dot beside Messages in your profile. If it isn't there yet, check again next week — the source's author guesses Google is letting more businesses in.

2. Fix your profile before you turn anything on. The source's advice is blunt: get your menu, hours and services current first. For a plumbing company that means your service list, your service area and your emergency hours. For a mortgage broker, the loan types you actually close. My rough guess: a few minutes, and it's the difference between an agent that helps and an agent that guesses.

3. Write down your ten most common questions and answer them in the profile. The source's advice is that your profile sets the limit on what the agent can answer. My read: if your profile doesn't say you do slab leaks, the agent won't say it either.

4. Pick the human who takes handoffs. The source says you can step into a conversation whenever you like. That means somebody has to. Name one person and one phone for the first thirty days. If it's you, fine — just decide.

5. Tell your team about the RCS gap. Only customers whose network and phone support RCS get the AI agent, and texts from everyone else still come straight to your phone, where normal texting charges can apply. Say it out loud in a Monday meeting, or your crew will assume the robot caught everything.

6. Check the Business Profile inbox every day. Every message shows up in your Business Profile. That's a new inbox. Somebody owns it.

7. Time your handoff replies for one week. Write down how long it takes from handoff to your first reply. That number decides whether this thing makes you money.

Three lines I'd write for those profiles.

• Plumbing profile line: Emergency plumbing, burst pipes, no hot water, backed-up drains. Text your address and we will reply with the next open window.
• Mortgage profile line: Purchase, refinance and first-time buyer programs. Text your price range, down payment and target close date and I will send numbers.
• Handoff reply: Good question. That one needs a human. This is [name], I have your number and I will text you back shortly.

Mistakes to avoid

• Turning it on with a stale profile. The agent can only work with what your profile says. A fast wrong answer is worse than no answer.
• Assuming the agent covers every customer. It doesn't. Only customers whose network and phone support RCS get the AI agent. The rest still hits your phone.
• Letting handoffs sit. The agent's job ends where yours starts. If nobody picks up, you built a faster way to lose people.
• Treating it as a lead source. My read: it answers. It doesn't generate.