Google Maps Questions and Answers: Prepare Them Before Your Customers Do

Archive note. This article describes the situation as it stood when it was published. The rules, tools and features it mentions may have changed since. Check the current information with the official source before acting.

Google Maps questions and answers is a public section that appeared on business listings in the summer of 2017, and the smart move is to post and answer the questions your customers already ask before a stranger's guess becomes the answer everyone reads.

Google rolled this out in mid-August 2017, first inside the Google Maps app on Android and then in mobile search. It works like a small message board attached to your listing, and it runs whether you tend it or not. I have started checking it for every Greater Montréal business I help, because a feature this new is easy to miss until the wrong answer is already sitting there.

Google Maps questions and answers: prepare them before a stranger answers for you

Google Maps questions and answers lets you get ahead of the section by posting the questions you hear on the phone every week and answering them yourself. That puts the useful answer in place before anyone else weighs in. Parking, a terrasse, walk-ins, the languages your staff speak: write them as questions, then answer them as the owner.

This takes less than an hour and costs nothing. I treat it the same way I treat a new review platform: claim the space, put accurate information in it, and keep an eye on it. Most owners have not noticed the section yet, which is exactly why getting there first is worth the time.

Questions and answers on a listing: who can ask and who can answer

Anyone with a Google account can ask a question on your listing, and in these first weeks owners and Local Guides can answer, with answering opening up more widely from there. That means a competitor, a confused customer or a passer-by can shape what people read about your business.

Your answer, posted while you are signed in as the owner, is marked as the owner's answer, which carries more weight than a stranger's reply. The catch is that whoever answers first, and whichever answer collects the most votes, tends to show at the top. If you are slow, someone else fills the gap, and a wrong or unflattering answer can sit uncorrected. Competitors can post loaded questions too, and you cannot switch the section off, so it is worth watching the way you watch reviews.

Owner-seeded questions: posting and answering your own frequent questions

Seed the section by asking your own frequent questions from a personal Google account, then answering them as the owner. Sign out of your Google My Business account, find your listing the way a customer would, scroll to the questions and answers section, and post each question. Sign back in as the owner and post your answer, which appears with your business attached.

Pick the questions you actually field on the phone: hours, parking, payment, whether an appointment is needed. Keep each answer short and factual. If a question is spam or has nothing to do with your business, you can report it to Google to have it reviewed.

French and English questions: parking, terrasse, walk-ins, languages spoken

Because my clients in Greater Montréal serve both French and English speakers, I seed the section in both languages and answer each question in the language it was asked. A few examples:

Question	Answer
Y a-t-il un stationnement?	Oui, stationnement gratuit derrière le bâtiment.
Do you have a terrasse?	Yes, the terrasse is open May through September.
Acceptez-vous les sans rendez-vous?	Oui, selon la disponibilité.
What languages do you speak?	We serve customers in French and English.

Posting in both languages tells each community it is welcome and answers the practical questions a Montrealer weighs before deciding to drive over.

Owner answers and upvotes: making the right answer the visible one

Answer every question yourself as the owner, then ask a few trusted people to upvote the answer so it sits at the top. Google shows the most upvoted answer first, so an accurate owner answer with a few votes behind it is what a new customer reads.

Do this early, before an unofficial answer gathers votes of its own. Then check back so you catch new questions while they are fresh, and the first thing someone reads about your parking or your hours stays the answer you wrote.

Question monitoring alongside your reviews

Fold a quick check of the questions and answers section into the same weekly routine you use for reviews. Google does not reliably flag a new question, so the only dependable way to catch one is to look. Open your listing, scroll to the section, and read anything new or still unanswered.

A question left sitting can quietly steer someone away, the same as an unanswered review can. Answering it promptly, in the language it was asked, keeps the section working for you instead of against you.

Questions-and-answers preparation checklist for a neighbourhood business

Set the section up properly once, then keep it on your weekly list. Here is the checklist I walk through with Greater Montréal owners:

• Confirm your Google My Business listing is verified, since an unverified listing limits what you can do.
• List the questions you hear most: parking, hours, payment, accessibility, whether an appointment is needed.
• Post those questions from a personal Google account, then answer each one as the owner.
• Write French and English versions where you serve both, and answer in the language asked.
• Report any spam or off-topic question so Google can review it.
• Check the section every week alongside your reviews, and update answers as the business changes.

Keeping a listing this current is part of the local work I do, and the term itself, Google My Business, is worth knowing if it is new to you. If you would rather hand the whole listing off, that is what my Google My Business service covers. Further reading: for a similar project, see La Toxica.