The questions section on a business listing is open: any member of the public can post a question and any member of the public can answer it. Unanswered questions and wrong answers from strangers both sit there indefinitely, and most owners have never looked at it.
How it actually works
Most owners assume this is a contact channel where customers ask and the business replies. It is not, and the difference matters.
Anyone can post a question. Anyone can answer it, including people with no connection to your business. Answers can be voted on, and the most upvoted appears first regardless of who wrote it or whether it is correct.
The section is also displayed prominently on a phone, frequently above other information, so what sits there is being read by people deciding whether to contact you.
The three problems
Unanswered questions
The most common state. A question sits with no reply, which reads either as a business that does not monitor its listing or as a question with an uncomfortable answer.
Either interpretation costs you, and both are avoidable in the minute it takes to answer.
Wrong answers from strangers
Someone who visited once, or who has confused you with another business, answers on your behalf. Their answer may state incorrect hours, an outdated price, or a service you do not offer.
You cannot delete it. You can post a correct answer and, in practice, that answer being accurate and from the business carries weight with readers.
Questions that are really complaints
Occasionally someone uses the section to raise a grievance in question form. It is handled the same way as a public complaint: answer once, briefly, factually, and offer to continue by phone.
Seeding your own questions
Permitted, and worth doing deliberately.
You can post questions from your own account and answer them from the business account, which turns the section into a small FAQ in a place customers actually look. This is explicitly allowed and it is one of the few opportunities on a listing to add substantial content of your own.
What to seed: the questions your phone actually receives. Do you cover my area. What are your hours on holidays. Do you charge for quotes. Do you take emergency calls. Is there a call-out fee.
Six to eight is enough. Written in the customer's words rather than as marketing, since a question phrased like an advertisement reads as one.
What not to do with it
- Do not use it for promotion. A seeded question that is really a sales pitch reads badly and adds nothing.
- Do not answer as a customer. Posing as an unrelated person is against the rules and is transparent to readers.
- Do not leave anything unanswered, including questions with awkward answers. A plain answer beats visible silence.
- Do not argue. One factual reply, then move it to a phone call.
- Do not post anything you would not want quoted, since answers are public and permanent in practice.
Monitoring it
The practical difficulty is that notifications for this section are unreliable. Questions can appear without anyone being told.
So it needs checking rather than waiting for an alert. Once a month is enough for most small businesses, added to whatever other listing maintenance you do, and it takes about two minutes.
Checking on a phone rather than a desktop is worth doing, since the section is more prominent there and you see what customers see.
Answering well
Short, direct, and factual. Two or three sentences.
Include the specific detail rather than pointing at the website, since someone reading a listing on a phone is unlikely to navigate away to find an answer. If your service area is the question, name the places.
Answer from the business account rather than a personal one, so the reply is marked as coming from the owner, which readers weigh differently from an anonymous answer.
Why it is worth the two minutes
It is a small section and it sits at the point of decision, on the screen where someone is choosing between you and two competitors.
A listing showing four questions with clear answers from the business reads as attended and organised. One showing a question from eight months ago with no reply, or an answer from a stranger that is wrong, reads as neither. That difference costs nothing to fix and it belongs in the same annual pass as the rest of the profile, as set out in setting up a business profile properly.
Frequently asked questions
Who can answer questions on my business listing?
Anyone. The section is open to the public for both asking and answering, including people with no connection to your business, and answers can be upvoted above yours.
Can I delete a wrong answer from a stranger?
Generally not. You can post a correct answer from the business account, which is marked as coming from the owner and carries weight with readers.
Can I post my own questions?
Yes, and it is explicitly permitted. Posting the questions your phone actually receives and answering them from the business account turns the section into a small FAQ where customers look.
How many questions should I seed?
Six to eight covering what people genuinely ask: service area, holiday hours, whether quotes are charged, emergency availability, and any call-out fee.
How often should I check the section?
Monthly, since notifications for it are unreliable and questions can appear without anyone being told. It takes about two minutes and is worth doing on a phone.
What should an answer look like?
Two or three sentences, direct and factual, containing the actual detail rather than a link to your website. Someone reading on a phone is unlikely to navigate away.
West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.
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