canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/googleapis.com/mybusinessqanda

# Google My Business Q&A API

The My Business Q&A API manages questions and answers that appear on Google Business Profile listings in Search and Maps. It exposes questions and answers resources per location, with create, list, update, delete, and upsert flows so businesses can post owner-authored questions, reply to customer questions, and curate answer threads. Combine with the Notifications API for real-time question alerts and the Business Information API to keep the parent listing accurate.

## For AI agents

Read and respond to customer questions on Google Business Profile listings. Use to post owner answers, surface FAQs, and clean up off-topic threads.

## Scope

Does not handle reviews, posts, or chat messages - use for Google Business Profile question and answer threads only.

## Capabilities

- List questions and their answers on a Business Profile location
- Post a new owner-authored question (typically a frequently asked one)
- Update or delete an existing question owned by the caller
- Upsert the owner's answer on any question on the location
- Delete the owner's answer to retract a published response
- Sort answers by helpfulness count when retrieving a thread

## Use cases

### Owner-Authored FAQ Seeding

Brands seed their Business Profile with owner-authored questions answering the most common things customers ask - parking, accessibility, kid-friendly options. The questions:create endpoint lets a workflow post one question per FAQ per location and follow up by upserting the owner's answer, building a curated FAQ visible directly on Search and Maps.

Example prompt: POST /v1/{parent}/questions with the FAQ text, then upsert the owner answer via /v1/{parent}/answers:upsert.

### Real-Time Customer Q&A Response

Combined with the Notifications API, support teams can respond to new customer questions within minutes. When a NEW_QUESTION event arrives on the Pub/Sub topic, a worker resolves the answer from the knowledge base and upserts the owner's reply via answers:upsert, giving customers fast authoritative answers on the listing.

Example prompt: On NEW_QUESTION, GET the question, look up the matching KB answer, then POST /v1/{parent}/answers:upsert with the resolved text.

### Spam and Off-Topic Cleanup

Off-topic or duplicate questions clutter listings. The questions endpoint supports DELETE on owner-posted questions and reporting flows for customer-posted ones. Combined with answers:delete to remove stale owner answers, this keeps listings tidy at scale.

Example prompt: List questions per location, identify off-topic owner-posted questions, and DELETE /v1/{name}; for stale answers call /v1/{name}/answers:delete.

### AI Agent Knowledge Concierge

An AI agent reachable through Jentic listens for new questions, drafts answers grounded in the brand's knowledge base, and upserts the owner reply. Jentic isolates OAuth credentials and exposes the right Q&A operation per intent, so the agent never holds Google client secrets and never browses the discovery document.

Example prompt: Search Jentic for 'answer a Google Business question', load locations.questions.answers.upsert, and execute with the resolved answer text.

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GET | /v1/{parent} | List questions on a location |
| POST | /v1/{parent} | Create an owner question on a location |
| PATCH | /v1/{name} | Update an owner question |
| DELETE | /v1/{name} | Delete an owner question |
| GET | /v1/{parent}/answers | List answers on a question |
| POST | /v1/{parent}/answers:upsert | Upsert the owner's answer on a question |
| DELETE | /v1/{name}/answers:delete | Delete the owner's answer on a question |

## Key resources

- **questions** — Customer or owner-posted questions on a Business Profile location
- **answers** — Replies to a question, including the owner's authoritative answer

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring the My Business Q&A API by hand means setting up Google OAuth 2.0 for Business Profile access, minting short-lived bearer tokens, and tracking the v1 question-and-answer surface yourself against the mybusinessqanda.googleapis.com host. Through Jentic you install once, import the My Business Q&A API from the API Directory, store the OAuth credential once, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** The Q&A API puts the question and answer name in the URL path (/v1/{parent} and /v1/{name}), so a rule can pin your agent to one location's question threads: it can list questions and upsert answers there and nothing else. You choose the operations it may call, so destructive ones like deleting a question or an answer 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 'answer a Google Business question' or 'list questions on a listing', and Jentic returns the matching Q&A operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

## Related APIs

- **My Business Notifications API** — Pushes NEW_QUESTION and NEW_ANSWER events that drive Q&A responses
- **My Business Business Information API** — Maintains the parent location's structured content alongside its Q&A thread
- **Google My Business API (v4)** — Legacy monolithic API; reviews and posts live here while Q&A has moved to v1
- **Google Places API** — Reads place-level Q&A data for end-user discovery without ownership

## FAQ

### What authentication does the My Business Q&A API use?

OAuth 2.0 with the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/business.manage scope. The caller must be an admin on the parent Business Profile account. Jentic stores OAuth refresh tokens in your Jentic One instance and exposes only short-lived access tokens to the agent.

### Can I post the owner answer on a customer question?

Yes. POST /v1/{parent}/answers:upsert with the answer text creates or replaces the owner's authoritative answer on the question, which is highlighted in the listing's Q&A section.

### What are the rate limits for the My Business Q&A API?

Default quota is 0 QPM until Business Profile API access is approved. Once approved Google sets per-minute and per-day quotas; bulk Q&A sweeps should pace requests and retry on 429 with exponential backoff.

### How do I answer a question through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'answer a Google Business question', load locations.questions.answers.upsert, and execute with the question name and the answer text. Jentic handles OAuth refresh in the background.

### Can I delete a question posted by a customer?

No - the API only allows DELETE on questions the caller posted. Customer-posted questions can be reported for policy violations through the Business Profile UI but are not deletable via the API.

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

Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which Q&A operations and which OAuth credential your agent may use. Since the question and answer name sits in the URL path (/v1/{parent} and /v1/{name}), you can pin the agent to one location's threads so it only lists questions and upserts owner answers there. Destructive calls like deleting a question or deleting an answer stay out of scope unless you explicitly grant them.