Google My Business (GMB) is now Google Business Profile (GBP).
This isn't the first name change to the local business management tool. It isn't even the third one! Google Local, Google+ Local, Google Places, Google My Business. . . Yes, Google loves a name change.
So what's new?
Well, now you can claim and verify your Google Business Profile directly in Search and Maps. Hooray, one less login to keep up with. In fact, the Google My Business app has gone away.
You can also interact with customers directly in Search. As long as you turn on the Chat feature in Search, customers or potential customers will be able to message you and you can reply directly to them.
Pro Tip: Only do this if you always respond quickly (within 24 hours). Aside from just being poor customer service, Google doesn't like long response times and can deactivate Chat if you procrastinate too much. But good news, you can assign multiple people to access to your Google Business Profile (as you could with Google My Business). So if you know you're gonna be too busy to respond, maybe designate that to someone else.
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