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I was reviewing a GBP setup for a multi-location HVAC company in Charlotte, NC when the owner asked me: "Can we just automate all of this?" He had 11 locations, and manually updating hours, posts, and responses across every profile was eating up hours every week.
The answer is yes — but there are things you need to understand about how the API works before you assume it solves all your problems.
The Google My Business API — officially rebranded as the Business Profile API — is the programmatic interface that lets software tools update, manage, and read Google Business Profile data at scale. If you're a single-location business, you probably don't need to touch the API directly. If you manage multiple locations, use an agency, or rely on a local SEO platform, the API is almost certainly running in the background making your updates work.
This guide covers what the Business Profile API actually does, what US businesses need to know about access and limitations, and how to get the benefits of API-powered automation without becoming a developer.
Flento's Business Listing Management Software connects to the Business Profile API on your behalf — so you get the automation without managing credentials or dealing with quota errors.
The Business Profile API is Google's official interface for reading and writing data to Google Business Profile listings programmatically. In 2022, Google renamed the "Google My Business API" to the "Business Profile API" to match the rebrand of Google My Business to Google Business Profile. The functionality is the same — the naming is just more consistent with how Google now talks about the product.
When you use a local SEO tool to update your business hours, push a new GBP post, or sync your address across locations automatically, that tool is almost certainly using the Business Profile API to do it. You're not going to the GBP dashboard. The software is making API calls on your behalf.
For US businesses with one location, the GBP dashboard at business.google.com handles everything you need directly. API access becomes relevant when you have multiple locations, when you're building custom automations, or when your agency or software tool manages your profile for you.
💡 Pro Tip: If your local SEO software stops syncing — hours aren't updating, posts aren't publishing — the most common cause is an expired API authorization. Reauthorizing your Google account in the platform settings usually fixes it within minutes.
The Business Profile API covers the major functions of GBP management, but not all of them. Here's a clear breakdown for US businesses:
What the API Supports
What the API Does NOT Support
⚠️ Common Mistake: Many business owners assume that connecting a tool via API means their GBP is fully "automated" — including responding to reviews. Review responses via API still need to be reviewed or templated by a human. Auto-publishing generic responses at scale can flag your profile for spam behavior.
Action Step: Before automating review responses, build a library of 10–15 response templates by star rating and review type. Use automation for delivery, not for drafting.
Not every US business needs to think about the Business Profile API directly. Here's a simple breakdown:
You probably don't need direct API access if:
You likely need API access or an API-enabled platform if:
For single-location businesses, the right move is almost never "get API access" — it's "use a platform that already has it." The setup overhead, quota management, and credential maintenance aren't worth it when you can get the same automation through a connected tool.
📊 Flento Data: Among the 2,000+ US businesses on Flento's platform, businesses using API-powered automation for GBP updates and review responses save an average of 4.5 hours per week per location on manual profile management.
Before you can use the Business Profile API — either directly or through a platform — there's a setup sequence. Understanding it helps you troubleshoot when things go wrong.
The Flento API Activation Ladder is a four-rung framework that maps the steps from zero API access to fully operational GBP automation:
Rung 1: Google Cloud Project Setup
Direct API access requires a Google Cloud project with the Business Profile API enabled. If you're using a platform like Flento, the platform already has its own Google Cloud project — you skip this step.
Rung 2: OAuth Authorization
The API uses OAuth 2.0 — meaning your tool needs explicit permission from the Google account that owns your GBP listing. You'll see a "Sign in with Google" or "Connect your Google account" flow when setting up any legitimate local SEO tool. This is where the connection is established.
Rung 3: Account and Location Access
Once authorized, the API returns the accounts and locations your Google account manages. For businesses with multiple locations, each location has a unique location ID. The tool maps these IDs to your locations in its interface.
Rung 4: Active Automation
With access established, the platform can read and write GBP data on your behalf — updating hours, publishing posts, syncing responses. At this level, your GBP is running on automated management.
🔥 Quick Win: If you connect a new tool to your GBP and it shows "no locations found," the most common fix is making sure you're authorizing with the Google account that owns the listing — not just one that has editor access. Ownership matters for API access.
Action Step: If you manage GBP for your business, log into business.google.com and check who the primary owner of each listing is. That's the account that needs to authorize any API connection.
The Business Profile API has real constraints. Knowing them prevents surprises — especially for agencies and multi-location businesses.
Quota Limits
Google imposes rate limits on API calls. For most US businesses using a platform, you'll never hit these limits. For agencies managing hundreds of locations with custom-built tools, quota errors are a real operational issue. Google offers quota increase requests through the Google Cloud Console, but approvals aren't guaranteed.
Verification Requirements
The API can read data from unverified listings, but writing operations — updating hours, publishing posts — require the listing to be verified first. A dentist office in Miami, FL with a pending verification can't use API automation until that verification completes.
Review Response Delays
Review response data sometimes lags in the API by 15–60 minutes compared to what you see in the GBP dashboard. If you're monitoring response rates through a tool and the numbers look off, this lag is usually why.
Category Changes Trigger Edits Review
Updating your primary business category via API sometimes triggers Google's manual review process — the same as doing it manually. This is worth knowing before bulk-updating category fields across a large portfolio.
⚠️ Common Mistake: Agencies that bulk-update business categories across dozens of locations via API sometimes trigger profile suspensions. If you're changing primary categories at scale, do it in batches and monitor for suspension flags in the verification status field.
For the vast majority of US local businesses, the right path to API-powered GBP management is through a platform — not building a direct API integration.
Here's what that looks like in practice:
Choose a platform with Business Profile API integration. Tools like Flento connect to Google's Business Profile API through an established integration, so you get the automation without managing credentials, quotas, or error handling.
Authorize once. Through an OAuth flow, you connect your Google account to the platform. This happens once. The platform handles reauthorization when tokens expire.
Set your automation rules. Configure what the platform should do automatically: sync hours from your master business data, publish scheduled GBP posts, send templated review responses based on star rating.
Monitor, don't babysit. A well-configured GBP automation setup shouldn't require daily intervention. Check weekly for flagged profiles, pending reviews that need custom responses, or posting errors.
A plumbing company in Denver, CO I worked with went from manually managing their GBP 3x per week to checking in once every Friday afternoon — after connecting Flento and setting up automated review response routing. Their Local Pack ranking improved not because of the automation itself, but because their profile was now consistently active with no gaps in posting or response cadence.
💡 Pro Tip: When setting up automated GBP posts through a platform, don't just set a schedule — set a content rotation. Google's algorithm rewards variety. Rotating post types (offers, updates, event posts) outperforms publishing the same post type on repeat.
Action Step: If you're currently managing GBP manually, identify the three tasks that take the most time — updating hours, responding to reviews, publishing posts. Those are the exact three things to automate first.
Flento connects to the Business Profile API through a verified Google integration, and uses it to power three specific features US businesses get the most value from:
For multi-location businesses, Flento's platform manages all of this across every location from a single dashboard — including surfacing which locations have API connection issues or expired authorizations before they affect your rankings.
Try Flento free →
✅ Done? Let Flento handle the API connection for you → Get started free
Q: Is the Google My Business API free to use? A: The Business Profile API itself is free to access, but it requires a Google Cloud project with billing enabled (even if you never incur charges for API usage within Google's free quota). If you access the API through a local SEO platform like Flento, the platform manages this infrastructure — you don't pay Google separately.
Q: What's the difference between the Google My Business API and the Business Profile API? A: They're the same thing. Google rebranded "Google My Business" to "Google Business Profile" in 2022 and updated the API name to match. All documentation, developer resources, and platform integrations now use "Business Profile API," but many businesses and tools still use the old name interchangeably.
Q: Can the API automatically respond to Google reviews for US businesses? A: Yes — the Business Profile API supports publishing review responses. However, Google monitors for automated spam behavior. The correct approach is using the API to deliver human-drafted or template-based responses quickly, not to auto-generate responses without review. Most US businesses set up template libraries sorted by star rating and let their platform deploy them.
Q: Do US businesses need a developer to use the Business Profile API? A: Not if they use a local SEO platform that already has the integration built. Direct API access requires developer setup, credential management, and quota monitoring. Platforms like Flento handle all of that — you just connect your Google account through a standard OAuth flow.
Q: How many API calls does Google allow per day? A: Google imposes rate limits that vary by endpoint. For most single-location and small multi-location businesses using a platform, you'll never hit these limits. Agencies managing 100+ locations with custom-built tools sometimes need to apply for quota increases through Google Cloud Console.
Q: Can I use the API to verify a new GBP listing? A: No. Verification of new listings still requires a manual process — typically a postcard to the business address, a phone or video verification, or identity verification for eligible businesses. The API can surface verification status, but it can't trigger or complete the verification process.
Q: What happens to my GBP automation if my API authorization expires? A: Automated updates stop. Your listings won't be changed, and scheduled posts and review responses won't publish until the connection is reauthorized. Most platforms alert you when authorization tokens are close to expiring. If you notice your GBP updates have stopped, reauthorizing your Google account in your platform settings is the first thing to check.
Every week your GBP is managed manually is a week you're one missed update, one unanswered review, or one stale post behind competitors who've already automated the maintenance. The Business Profile API exists to fix that — and for most US businesses, the fastest path to using it is through a platform that already has it connected.
You don't need to become a developer. You need the right tool, one authorization step, and a clear system for what to automate versus what still needs a human eye.
Flento connects to the Business Profile API through a verified integration and handles the hour syncing, review management, and GBP posting that most US businesses spend the most manual time on. Multi-location businesses get a unified dashboard across every profile.
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