Quick answer: Google Business Profile Q&A is gone - the API was discontinued November 3, 2025, and listings have been losing the section since. Owner-seeded answers no longer display. Customers now ask Gemini-powered Ask Maps, which builds answers from your profile, website, and reviews. The migration: move your Q&A content to a website FAQ with schema, complete every profile field, and keep reviews fresh.
1. What Google removed, and why it matters
The Q&A box was the one place a local business could publish official answers directly on its listing. Seeding it with real customer questions was a genuine ranking and conversion tactic - which is why this guide existed. With the section retired, that control point is gone: the answering is now done by AI, from sources you maintain but do not author directly.
If you invested in Q&A, that work is not wasted - the research (knowing exactly what customers ask) is the durable asset. Only the publishing surface changed.
2. The 5-step migration
Step 1 - Save your Q&A content. If you kept your seeded questions and answers, collect them now. If not, rebuild the list from your inbox, phone notes, and review responses - the ten questions customers repeat are the ten that matter.
Step 2 - Publish them on your website as a real FAQ. Question-phrased headings, direct 40-60 word answers, FAQPage schema. This is now the primary text Ask Maps and other AI systems can quote when customers ask those same questions.
Step 3 - Push factual answers into profile fields. Anything that was a Q&A fact - parking, payment types, walk-ins, service specifics - belongs in GBP attributes and service descriptions, where the AI reads it with the highest confidence.
Step 4 - Let reviews answer the subjective questions. "Is it good for families?" now gets answered from review text. Ask for reviews consistently (compliantly - no kiosks or staff-name solicitation under the April 2026 policy) and respond to every one.
Step 5 - Test what the AI says about you. Ask Maps your own top-10 customer questions. Wrong or thin answers point at exactly which source - profile, site, or reviews - needs work.
3. How answers work now
For the full picture of Ask Maps - where it pulls data, how conversational follow-ups compare you against competitors, and the complete optimization checklist - read our Google Ask Maps local business guide.
Not sure what the AI currently says about your business? Request a free audit and we will test your category's top questions against your listing and your three strongest competitors.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Business Profile Q&A gone for good?
Yes. The Q&A API was discontinued on November 3, 2025, and the section has been disappearing from listings since. Owner-seeded questions and answers no longer display. The replacement is Gemini-powered Ask Maps, which generates answers dynamically.
What happened to the questions and answers I already had?
They no longer display to customers. If you saved them, they are still your best content asset: republish them as an FAQ on your website where AI systems can read them. If you did not save them, reconstruct the list from your inbox and phone logs - the questions customers repeat are the ones that mattered.
How do customers get answers about my business now?
They ask Ask Maps in natural language, and Gemini composes an answer from your Google Business Profile, website, reviews, and other public sources. You influence the answer by improving those sources, not by filling in a Q&A box.
Should I still monitor questions somewhere?
Yes - watch your reviews and messages: those are now the channels where confusion shows up. Recurring questions there signal gaps in your profile or website content that Ask Maps is likely answering badly too.
Related guides: Google Ask Maps guide · GBP attributes complete list · How to get more Google reviews