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Connect Google Business Profile — auto-post to Maps + Search

When someone Googles your restaurant name in Bangkok or finds you on the map, the panel they see — the photos, hours, reviews, and that horizontal carousel of recent posts — is your Google Business Profile. Those carousel posts are how you stay visible between reviews. Posting a new one nudges your panel back up in the search results for a few days, especially for the “Italian near me” / “best pizza in Bangkok” style queries that drive most of the foot-traffic discovery.

The Composer can now schedule and auto-publish those Local Posts the same way it does Instagram and Facebook. One Google login per venue, then it runs on its own.

Status — not in the app right now. The one-click Connect button described below has been removed from Growth → Connections while we settle on a plan for Google’s posting API (their approval queue is the blocker, and a half-working button only confused operators). Nothing is broken: your Google reviews, ratings, posts, and photos are still read every night from your pasted Google Maps link — that’s the live Google integration today, see Our Google presence. This page stays as the reference for the day auto-posting to your Google panel comes back.

What it does

When you connect, you give the system permission to post Local Posts on your storefront panel. From then on, any post you draft in the Composer with Google Business Profile as the channel goes through the same Generate → Edit → Save → Schedule flow as every other post — and at the scheduled time, the system publishes it for you. No need to log into Google manually.

The connection is per-venue. Multi-location chains will connect each location separately (and choose which one each post belongs to). One-location venues just connect once and forget about it.

The rule

One login per venue, one location per connection. Everything after is automatic.

How to use it

(Currently unavailable — the Connect button has been removed from the app, see the status note above. The steps below describe the flow for when it returns.)

Open Growth → Connections. Scroll past the Instagram & Facebook card to the Google Maps & reviews section. Click Connect Google Business Profile.

You’ll be redirected to Google’s login page. Sign in with the account that owns the venue’s Business Profile (the same account you use to manage hours, photos, and reviews at business.google.com). Approve the permission scope — the system needs the business.manage scope to post Local Posts on your behalf. Once approved, Google sends you back to the admin and the card flips to a green “Connected” state showing the location name.

That’s it. The next post you draft in the Composer with Google Business Profile as the channel will appear in the Calendar with a “Scheduled” badge, and the system will publish it at the time you picked.

Worked example

Marco wants to start using Google Business Profile to capture more search traffic for “italian sukhumvit.” His Business Profile is already claimed and verified — that part Google handles outside the admin.

He opens Growth → Connections, clicks Connect Google Business Profile, signs into Google with the iO Osteria account, approves the permission. Back in the admin, the card now shows: iO Osteria — Sukhumvit 31 in a green Connected state.

He goes to Growth → Composer. Picks a dish (Agnolotti del Plin). Picks Google Business Profile as the channel. The AI writes a caption tuned for Google Business — action-oriented, ends with a call-to-action (“Reserve a table tonight”). Marco hits Save & schedule for tomorrow at 11:30 AM.

Tomorrow at 11:30, the post appears on iO Osteria’s Google panel. Anyone searching “italian sukhumvit 31” that afternoon sees the post in the carousel. The Calendar shows a green “Published” badge with a small Google icon and a “View on Google” link that opens the live post in the search panel.

What you need before connecting

  • A claimed and verified Google Business Profile. Claim at business.google.com, verify by phone or postcard. Google handles this; the admin doesn’t.
  • Google Business Profile API access. This is a one-time approval Google grants to BiteTheMenu the platform (us, not you). The team is in the middle of the application process — Google’s typical turnaround is 2–4 weeks. While the approval is pending, the Connect button still works but the actual Local Post calls will fail; the calendar will show a red “Failed” indicator with the reason. Once Google approves, every existing connection lights up automatically.

What you can post

Today: standard Local Posts — text + one image + optional CTA. Same shape as a regular Google Business post you’d type by hand on business.google.com.

Coming next (same Composer, more channel options):

  • Event posts — for special menus, takeovers, holiday hours. Include a start/end date.
  • Offer posts — for promotions (“20% off lunch this week”). Include a coupon code and validity dates.

What the system handles automatically

  • Access token refresh. Google’s short-lived publishing tokens expire every hour. The system refreshes them silently before each publish so you never have to reconnect.
  • Storage. Every post you publish goes through the Library the same way Instagram and Facebook posts do — you can find it later in Growth → Library → Drafts & posts.
  • Failure surfacing. If Google rejects a post (e.g. the image is in a format they don’t accept, or your Business Profile got suspended), the calendar shows the post in red and the technical reason appears on the card. Most failures are recoverable — fix the image or republish the Business Profile and try again.

What you can’t do (yet)

  • Multiple storefront locations in one connection. Today the system uses the first location it finds in your Business Profile account. If you have a multi-location group (Sukhumvit + Thonglor under one Google account), only Sukhumvit gets connected. The “Change Location” button cycles through but currently always lands on the first one — multi-location picker is coming next.
  • Comments + reviews. This connection is one-way: we publish to your panel. Reading and responding to reviews from inside the admin is a future feature; for now, use business.google.com for that.
  • Editing a published Local Post. Google’s API only supports create + delete. To change a published post, delete it on Google’s side and republish from the Composer.

How to disconnect

Hit Disconnect on the Google Business Profile card. The system drops the stored token; nothing further posts. Your existing live Local Posts stay on Google’s side — disconnecting from us doesn’t remove anything you’ve already published.

  • Composer — where you draft the posts that will publish here.
  • Calendar — the date-grid view where scheduled and published posts live.
  • Connections — same page, also where Instagram & Facebook are managed.