--- name: al-502-get-ready-for-google-s-free-ai-messaging-agent-on-your-bu description: "Customers can message a business straight from Google Search and Maps, and Google is piloting an AI agent that answers those messages. Search Engine Roundtable reported on Oct 29, 2026 that Google seems to be opening its AI-powered messaging pilot for Business Profiles to more businesses. Google's wording says the agent 'will answer routine questions from customers, instantly and at no cost', hands off questions it can't answer, and lets the owner take over at any time, with all messages kept in the Business Profile. An invite email shared by Mike Blumenthal offers early access at no cost and mentions help with reservations, and Claudia Tomina notes it only works for customers whose phone and network support RCS; other texts go straight to the business phone and standard text rates may apply. Access is invitation-only for now, and the examples so far are restaurants. The agent can only answer as well as your profile, so the prep work is the part to do now. Use when the user wants…" --- # Get ready for Google's free AI messaging agent on your Business Profile: fix the hours, services and prices it will answer from, decide who handles handoffs, and test the questions customers really ask Customers can message a business straight from Google Search and Maps, and Google is piloting an AI agent that answers those messages. Search Engine Roundtable reported on Oct 29, 2026 that Google seems to be opening its AI-powered messaging pilot for Business Profiles to more businesses. Google's wording says the agent 'will answer routine questions from customers, instantly and at no cost', hands off questions it can't answer, and lets the owner take over at any time, with all messages kept in the Business Profile. An invite email shared by Mike Blumenthal offers early access at no cost and mentions help with reservations, and Claudia Tomina notes it only works for customers whose phone and network support RCS; other texts go straight to the business phone and standard text rates may apply. Access is invitation-only for now, and the examples so far are restaurants. The agent can only answer as well as your profile, so the prep work is the part to do now. ## Inputs to collect first Ask the user for anything below that they haven't already given you. Don't guess missing facts. - Type, location, hours, services and prices, booking method, phone… ## Instructions Do the task below with the user's inputs in place of each [bracket]. I may get access to Google's AI messaging agent on my Business Profile. Help me prepare. My business: [type, location, hours, services and prices, booking method, phone number on the profile]. 1) Write the 20 questions customers most often ask a business like mine by text, and for each, say whether my profile currently answers it, and what I should add or fix (hours, holiday hours, services, prices, menu, booking link, parking, payment options). 2) List questions the agent should always hand to a person, such as complaints, refunds, allergies or anything medical or legal, and draft a short handoff reply. 3) Check whether my profile phone number can receive texts and what happens to texts from phones without RCS. 4) Suggest who on my team watches handoffs, during which hours, and a target reply time. 5) Give me a 10-message test script to run once it's switched on, and a weekly check of answers it got wrong. ## Safety checks (share these with the user) - Check every figure, price and total against your own records before anything is sent, posted or booked. A person approves refunds, discounts, payments and price changes. - Anything legal, tax or compliance-related is a first draft for a qualified person to check. It is not professional advice, and clause references and deadlines must be checked against the source. - Remove names, contact details, account numbers and other personal data the task doesn't need before you paste, and check your AI tool's data and training settings. - Read and edit the draft before it reaches a customer or goes public. If you later automate this prompt, start with "draft and notify me", not "send automatically". - Say clearly which parts need a person to review or approve before anything is sent, paid, posted or filed. ## About this skill - Works with: Google Business Profile, ChatGPT, Claude - Based on this real-world example: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-business-profiles-ai-powered-messaging-42419.html - Free prompt from AgentPlaybook Real Estate: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/prompt/al-502-get-ready-for-google-s-free-ai-messaging-agent-on-your-busin/ - To install in an agent that supports Agent Skills, save this file as SKILL.md in a folder with the same name as `name` above (for example in your skills directory). Install steps for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/skills/