Google Business Profile posts are updates, offers and events you publish on your business profile, shown on Google Search and Maps under the "Updates" or "Overview" tab on mobile and in the "From the owner" section on desktop. They do not lift your profile in Google Maps: the only public test, run by Sterling Sky on 441 keywords per profile, found no effect on the local pack, and Google's own page on local ranking does not mention them. They work on people who are already looking at your profile.
The usual question is how many posts it takes to "rank on Maps".
And it usually comes with a ready-made calendar: three posts a week, stock photos, copy stuffed with keywords. Hours of work.
The three most common mistakes, all visible in the guides on page one:
- posting for rankings, which is exactly what posts do not move;
- following old specs: guides still say "a post lasts 7 days", while Google's Help Centre now says posts are archived after 6 months;
- putting your phone number in the text, which Google has said since September 2026 it may remove.
For this article we read 8 Italian results pages for the most common questions about posts (10 November 2026, DataForSEO, Google Italy, mobile), the UK results page for "google business profile posts", Google's official Help Centre pages opened the same day and both public Sterling Sky studies. On the same day, across the 57 profiles in the top three of the local pack in 10 sectors in Milan and Rome, we saw that the right category matters far more: in 41 out of 57 profiles it is the same word the customer searched for (full data in Google Business Profile categories).
In this guide:
- the three post types and today's rules, in one table;
- what the tests say about rankings and clicks;
- why Google rejects a post and how to avoid it;
- what to post, how often and how to measure it;
- what ChatGPT and AI Overviews take from posts.
What Google Business Profile posts are (and where customers see them)
A post is a short piece of content, with text, a photo or video and a button, that the profile owner publishes and Google shows on the business profile. The Google Business Profile Help Centre (checked on 10 November 2026) lists three types: update, offer and event.
Customers see them in the "Updates" or "Overview" tabs on mobile, in the "From the owner" section on desktop, on both Search and Maps, and in featured posts.
How long do they stay up?
Six months. Google's wording: "Posts older than 6 months are archived unless a date range is set." Offers and events run to their own dates.
| Post type | Required fields | Button | When it disappears | Known limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Update | Description (photo, video and button optional) | Action button linking to a website | Archived after 6 months | Unverified contact details in the text may get the post removed |
| Offer | Title, dates and times | "View offer", added automatically; coupon code optional | On the end date | Hotels cannot publish offers |
| Event | Title, start and end dates and times | Action button optional | When the event ends (no times set: shown as 24 hours) | No specific limit stated |
Two things most guides skip. Google's posts page states no character limit and no image dimensions: the figures you see quoted (1,500 characters, 720x720 pixels) come from elsewhere. And posts can be scheduled, with a date, a time and a weekly or monthly repeat, from the "Schedule this post" option.
For the rest of the profile, from set-up to the sections that matter, see Google Business Profile: how to set up, verify and manage your listing.
Do posts help you rank on Google Maps? (the only public test says no)
No, not directly. In the test Joy Hawkins published on Sterling Sky (July 2021), three profiles with no other SEO work got one post a week for 9 weeks, with 441 keywords tracked per profile: no measurable impact on the local pack.
It is a small test and five years old. So why trust it?
Because nobody has published one that shows the opposite. In 2024, asked whether there was evidence either way, Hawkins replied: "Not that I have ever seen".
Google is consistent. Its page Tips to improve your local ranking on Google names relevance, distance and prominence, and recommends work on information, verification, reviews, photos and products. Posts are not mentioned anywhere on the page.
One honest nuance. In Whitespark's Local Search Ranking Factors 2026, Darren Shaw writes that real people engaging with your profile, including reading your posts, will help rankings. That is an indirect effect: engagement counts, not the number of posts.
If you want to climb the map, the levers are elsewhere: category, reviews, distance from the searcher. The big picture is in our local SEO guide; the actions in order are in Google Maps ranking and how the ranking works is in local pack.
What posts are actually for (data from over 1,000 posts)
Posts turn people already viewing your profile into enquiries. Sterling Sky's second study (Joy Hawkins, February 2023) analysed over 1,000 posts from North American profiles, measuring clicks and views from profile insights.
Three findings, all from the North American market:
- offers have the highest CTR: 0.6% across 299 posts, against 0.3% for 523 updates and 0.2% for 182 events;
- a title doubles clicks: 1.90 clicks on average for 697 posts with a title, 0.99 for 343 without;
- stock photos sink a post: posts without them got 5.6 times the clicks (2.13 against 0.38).
These are small percentages. A post is a small shop window, read by people who have already searched for you or your category: its job is to give them a reason to call today rather than tomorrow.
What the guides on page one say (and why the numbers are from 2017 and 2020)
Most guides on posts repeat old specs and bring no test data. We checked 8 Italian searches, from "post google my business" to "i post di google my business servono" ("are Google My Business posts worth it"), on 10 November 2026 with DataForSEO (Google Italy, mobile, top 10 results).
| What we measured | Result across 8 Italian results pages |
|---|---|
| Pages with an AI Overview | 8 of 8 |
| Pages with a Reddit thread in the results | 5 of 8 |
| Organic results that are Google's own pages | 16 of 71 |
| Pages with YouTube videos | 3 of 8 |
| Italian results with their own test or data on posts | 0 |
The UK picture is similar. For "google business profile posts" (40 searches a month in the UK in September 2026; "google my business posts" gets 110, Google Ads data via DataForSEO) the AI Overview cites Google's Help Centre, Google's developer docs, Semrush, Rank Math, a YouTube video and a Reddit thread, and the page one results include two Reddit threads and a YouTube tutorial.
And the outdated numbers, from the Italian results:
- Italiaonline's guide, published in 2020, says a post lasts 7 days: Google now says 6 months;
- a 2017 article by Bitcreativo talks about "a maximum of 300 words" and a post visible for one week;
- the Reddit thread ranking second describes posts that "disappeared": the section had vanished from Search while still showing on Maps.
How to post on Google Business Profile (Google's steps)
You publish from your business profile, in five steps, as set out in the Help Centre:
- open your business profile with an owner or manager account;
- go to "Posts", then "Add post";
- choose the type: update, offer or event;
- add text, photo or video and a button, and schedule it, with a weekly or monthly repeat, if you want;
- publish it: Google reviews every post against its content policy before it goes live, and a post that fails is marked as not approved.
You need owner or manager access. If an agency or a former employee controls the profile, sort out access first: roles are explained in how to add a user to Google Business Profile.
With many locations, posting profile by profile does not scale. The Business Profile APIs support event posts, offer posts and posts with a button (BOOK, ORDER, SHOP, LEARN_MORE, SIGN_UP, CALL); product posts, Google says, cannot be created through the API. How to run a network of profiles is in Google Business Profile with multiple locations.
Why Google rejects a post (contact details: the rule that changed in September 2026)
A post that is not approved is not shown on Search or Maps. The most common cause is contact details written in the text.
Google's posts content policy now reads: "To avoid fraud or abuse, we may remove posts with unverified contact information." That covers phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles. The previous wording only banned phone numbers; Barry Schwartz reported the change on Search Engine Roundtable on 25 September 2026.
The fix is the "Call now" button, which uses the profile's verified number.
Other rules that get a post rejected:
- hotels: no offer posts, and no posts mentioning deals or discounts;
- regulated sectors (alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, gambling, weapons, financial services and others): you can post, but not about the products;
- links to malware, phishing or adult content.
The costly problem is not one rejected post. It is a whole calendar built on a format Google throws out, hours of work no customer ever sees. And if rejected posts are the first sign something is wrong with the profile, it is worth knowing what happens when a Google Business Profile is suspended.
Posting every week and the phone still isn't ringing?
Posts do not move your position on the map: category, reviews and your website do. Let's look at your profile together, what actually drives your searches and how much time posts deserve.
Book a strategy callWhat to post and how often (a 30-minute-a-month calendar)
Post when you have something real to say, and at least once a month. Google sets no frequency; our rule comes from two facts: posts are archived after 6 months, and in the Sterling Sky study offers with a title and real photos performed best.
Three templates, one per type:
- Offer, when you have a price or a time-limited promotion. Bad: "Huge discounts, call us on 020...". Good: title "Eye test included with any prescription glasses, until 30 November", a photo of the shop, "View offer" button.
- Event, for open days, workshops, launches. Always fill in dates and times: without times Google shows 24 hours.
- Update, for news that changes a customer's decision: a new service, summer hours, new equipment in the workshop. With a link to the page on your site that covers it.
What if I have no offers or events?
Then one update a month is enough. Spend the rest of the time on what moves results: Google reviews and profile photos, which have their own guide in Google Business Profile photos.
How to measure whether a post brings customers (UTM and GA4)
The most reliable way is a UTM-tagged link on the post's button, read in Google Analytics 4. Google's posts page, in the English and Italian versions we read on 10 November 2026, describes no per-post metrics.
An example: ?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gbp-post-november. In GA4 this separates visits from the post from visits from the profile's "Website" button.
What to check after a month: sessions and conversions from the post's campaign, against those from the profile. If a post brings no enquiry in 30 days, change the format before posting more often. How to read all your profile data is in Google Business Profile insights.
Posts and AI answers (what ChatGPT and AI Overviews cite)
In our checks on 10 November 2026, neither ChatGPT nor AI Overviews cited a post as a source. They used the profile description, the website and Google's own pages.
Two examples, both from Italy. Searching for the name of a long-established optician in Milan, Ottica Barello, Google's AI Overview built its answer from the profile description and the website: address, hours, services. Asked whether Google Business Profile posts help rankings on Google Maps, ChatGPT said they are not a direct factor, citing Google's local ranking page and an article that reports the Sterling Sky test.
Our takeaway: for AI answers, a complete profile that matches your website counts, not how often you post. A post is still useful when it announces a fact (a new service, a new location) that is then written on your site and in directories too. Our full test of how AI tools answer local searches is in local AI visibility; if you want to work on how your brand shows up in AI answers, that is what our GEO service does.
Frequently asked questions about Google Business Profile posts
Yes. The "Schedule this post" option lets you pick a date and time, and you can set the post to repeat weekly, monthly or on a custom pattern.
It depends on the type: updates are archived after 6 months unless you set a date range, while offers and events disappear on their end date. The 7-day lifespan quoted in older guides is out of date.
No. Google's content policy says it may remove posts with unverified contact information, including phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles. Use the "Call now" button, linked to the profile's verified number.
No. Google's policy bars hotels from offer posts and from posts that mention or link to deals, promotions or discounts. They can publish updates and events.
It depends: Google shows featured posts taken from social channels, but according to the Help Centre this is available in English for single-location food and drink businesses in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Everyone else publishes posts from the profile.
It depends on the source: Google's posts page states no dimensions or formats, so the figures you see quoted do not come from there. Use real photos of your business: in the Sterling Sky study, posts without stock photos got 5.6 times the clicks.
In short
Posts do not lift you on Maps.
They persuade people already looking: offers with a title and real photos work best.
They last 6 months, not 7 days.
No numbers, emails or social handles in the text: use the button.
Measure them with a UTM link in GA4.
One last idea we did not find in any of the guides we read: use posts as a message test with no ad spend. Publish two different offers a month apart, each with its own UTM, and see which one brings more enquiries. The winning headline is the one to put on your website and in your ads. If you want to do it with a method, let's talk about it in an SEO consultation.
