Google My Business has chat now

It is one of those changes that tiptoes through, especially considering that in recent weeks there have been many new developments in Google ecosystem.

Still, it is worth stop to think about the implications that Google My Business chat has (or can have) for a business.

To remember the concept a bit, let's just remember that this service of the search engine is the one behind those company listings that appear in the SERPs and Google Maps.

For many companies it goes somewhat unnoticed and most of them, even if they have it created, are underused the options that this tool has. We put photos, our website and start receiving customer reviews, but little else.

It is true that these opinions and criticisms - to which we can respond as they occur - are already a first public communication channel. To this, we should add the phone number that is added into the file and, in the case of using a mobile device or apps such as Skype on your computer, allows you to make the call directly.

These options are now joined by a live chat system as an integrated customer service tool. The cards that activate it will have a new button that will be added to those for calling, getting GPS directions and visiting the website.

It is not difficult at all. The first thing to do is to access your Google My Business profile from a desktop computer or by downloading the mobile app (it is available for Android and iOS).

If you do it from a computer, in the menu you will need to access the "Messages" option in the left toolbar.

This is where the conversations you receive at the time the option is activated will appear. As it is not yet available, what you will see is a blue button to do so.

It is clear that Google My Business has a huge influence on local SEO. And not only because it adds context to the search engine, but also because it is a very good way to solve proximity queries even if they do not specifically add the geographic area.

For example, we could fight for all these keywords:

But it goes further because, just as it now shows us the map pack for searches such as "phone [store name]", we will soon begin to see how it is also activated when performing specifically informational searches linked to contact via chat.

This can always generate some doubts from several points of view.

The first one is thinking about user privacy, because Google already has a lot of data but.... What happens with the data collected in the Google My Business chat? Who is responsible for this? Keep in mind that even they themselves publish a notice saying that users should not share sensitive information in this way.

Then, although this is entering the realm of speculation, we have another thing that all SEOs will be thinking about: will it somehow influence ranking directly or indirectly? Will those who activate the Google My Business chat option have better results?

Although it is hard to know, I think it is quite possible that it will be incorporated to some extent into local SEO ranking factors. In fact, my bet would go along the lines of speed of response. I claim this based on the fact that it's going to be information that will appear on the Facebook-style tab itself ("Usually answers in less than an hour").

And, to finish, another note that has to do with SEM. Will we start to see chat extensions just as call extensions already exist? This also seems very reasonable.

In fact, anything goes and it has only one intention: that Google is able to solve as many situations and casuistry within its own environment and without driving traffic to the pages. It may not be the best for SEO, but if does it work for the business?