canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/googleapis.com/my-business

# Google My Business API

The Google My Business API (v4) provides programmatic access to manage business location information, reviews, posts, and customer media on Google. It covers accounts, locations, local posts, reviews, media, and insights so businesses can automate updates across Google Search and Maps. Note that newer Business Profile workflows are split across the dedicated mybusiness* APIs (account management, business information, Q&A, verifications, place actions, notifications, lodging) which together replace the older monolithic v4 endpoints.

## For AI agents

Manage Google Business Profile listings, posts, reviews, and media on Google Search and Maps. Use to publish local posts, fetch reviews, and upload location photos.

## Scope

Does not handle ad campaigns, Google Ads, or end-user place search - use for managing owned Google Business Profile listings only.

## Capabilities

- Publish and schedule local posts to a Google Business Profile location
- Fetch and reply to customer reviews on a verified location
- Upload, list, and delete location photos and videos as media items
- Pull location insights including search views, customer actions, and direction requests
- Search Google Locations and chains to associate or claim a business listing
- Manage business categories and attributes for a verified location

## Use cases

### Multi-Location Local Post Publishing

Push promotions, events, and announcements to dozens of Google Business Profile locations from a single workflow. The v4 API exposes account and location hierarchies plus local post creation, so a campaign run can fan out to every verified storefront and confirm publication. Useful for franchises and retail chains that need to keep store-level Search and Maps panels current.

Example prompt: Iterate over all locations under accounts/{account}, create a localPost with summary, callToAction, and event timing, then verify each post returns state LIVE.

### Review Monitoring and Response

Pull customer reviews across all locations on a schedule, classify sentiment, and post owner replies for the ones that need them. The reviews resource supports listing by location, fetching individual reviews, and updating replies, which lets support teams maintain response SLAs without logging into the Business Profile UI.

Example prompt: List reviews for accounts/{account}/locations/{location}, filter rating < 4, and POST a reviewReply with a templated comment per review name.

### Location Insights Reporting

Aggregate weekly performance metrics - direct vs discovery searches, profile views, calls, and direction requests - across an entire portfolio of locations. The reportInsights endpoint accepts batched location names and metric requests, so a reporting agent can compile per-store dashboards without scraping the Business Profile dashboard.

Example prompt: Call accounts/{account}/locations:reportInsights with metricRequests for QUERIES_DIRECT, QUERIES_INDIRECT, and ACTIONS_DRIVING_DIRECTIONS over the last 7 days, then summarise per location.

### AI Agent Listing Care

An AI agent connected via Jentic monitors a portfolio of Google Business Profile locations, drafts review replies, schedules posts, and surfaces insight anomalies. Jentic isolates the OAuth credentials and exposes intent-based search so the agent can discover the right v4 operation per task without browsing the discovery document.

Example prompt: Search Jentic for 'reply to a Google review', load the schema for accounts.locations.reviews.updateReply, and execute it with a draft reply for the lowest-rated open review.

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GET | /v4/accounts | List all Business Profile accounts the caller can access |
| GET | /v4/categories | List supported business categories |
| POST | /v4/chains:search | Search business chains by name |
| POST | /v4/googleLocations:search | Search Google's location database |
| GET | /v4/attributes | List available location attributes |

## Key resources

- **accounts** — Top-level Business Profile accounts that own locations
- **locations** — Individual business listings with addresses, hours, and attributes
- **reviews** — Customer reviews and owner replies on a location
- **localPosts** — Time-bound posts surfaced on Google Search and Maps
- **media** — Photos and videos attached to a location
- **insights** — Search and customer-action metrics for locations

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring the Google My Business API by hand means setting up Google OAuth 2.0 for Business Profile access, refreshing bearer tokens, and tracking the v4 surface yourself against the mybusiness.googleapis.com host. Through Jentic you install once, import the Google My Business API from the API Directory, store the OAuth credential once, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** The Google My Business API puts the account and location name in the URL path (/v4/accounts/...), so a rule can pin your agent to one Business Profile account: it can read categories and search chains and Google locations there and nothing else. You choose the operations it may call, so ones that edit listing content are not included unless you add them.
- **Credential handling:** Your Google OAuth credential is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'reply to a Google review' or 'search Google locations', and Jentic returns the matching v4 operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

## Related APIs

- **My Business Business Information API** — Manages location attributes, categories, and business hours on Google Business Profile
- **My Business Q&A API** — Manages questions and answers on a Google Business Profile location
- **Business Profile Performance API** — Newer performance reporting API replacing v4 reportInsights
- **Google Places API** — Read-only place search and details for end-user discovery

## FAQ

### What authentication does the Google My Business API use?

The API uses OAuth 2.0 with the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/business.manage scope. The user must own or be a manager on the Business Profile account. Through Jentic the OAuth tokens are stored in your Jentic One instance and never exposed to the agent runtime.

### Can I reply to customer reviews with the Google My Business API?

Yes. Reviews live under accounts/{account}/locations/{location}/reviews and a PUT on the review's reply subresource posts an owner response. Replies are visible publicly on Google Search and Maps once accepted.

### What are the rate limits for the Google My Business API?

Default quota is 0 QPM until you request Business Profile API access from Google. Approved projects typically get a per-minute and daily QPS allocation that you can monitor in Google Cloud console; bulk operations should be batched and backed off on 429 responses.

### How do I publish a local post through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'publish a Google Business local post', load the schema for accounts.locations.localPosts.create, and execute it with the location name plus summary, callToAction, and media fields. Jentic handles the OAuth refresh in the background.

### Why does Google My Business v4 still exist alongside the newer mybusiness* APIs?

Google split the v4 API into focused services (account management, business information, Q&A, verifications, place actions, notifications, lodging). v4 still hosts reviews, local posts, media, and insights endpoints that have not yet been migrated, so most production integrations use both v4 and the newer split APIs.

### Can I claim or create a new Google Business listing through the API?

You can search Google's location database via /v4/googleLocations:search and chains via /v4/chains:search, then start a verification flow through the My Business Verifications API. New listings are created via the My Business Business Information API.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Google My Business API?

Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which v4 operations and which stored Google OAuth credential the agent may use. Since this API carries the account and location in the URL path (/v4/accounts/...), a rule can pin the agent to a single Business Profile account and expose only read operations such as listing categories, searching chains, and searching Google locations. Content-changing operations like creating local posts, replying to reviews, or uploading media stay off limits unless you explicitly add them.