ChatGPT now has the beginnings of its own version of Google Business Profiles, and whether you notice depends on how often you ask it where to eat instead of asking Google. Google already has a really strong foothold in the Business Profile arena, but that was when Search dominated. Now, consumers are going straight to AI to research and find businesses.
Google still has a bit of an edge, though, having done this for a decade or more, and people still go “Google it” within search. But AI (Gemini specifically) now shows at the top of searches, so consumers are magically drawn into that route.
It really depends on how open OpenAI makes its new Business Profiles to other search and AI engines for this to succeed. And if it works well with Dots (OpenAI’s competitor to Meta’s Muse), it may do ok. However, Dots doesn’t seem very visible to an entry-level consumer. Lots of positioning is happening now.