Chapter 12: Posts

The third P in the GBP Loop is Posts.

Posts are the communication part of the GBP Loop.

The useful starting point is the business itself: what has happened, what has changed and what might a customer genuinely need or want to know?

Google gives businesses the ability to publish updates, offers and events through their Business Profiles. Those posts can contain text, photographs, videos and action buttons, and customers can find them through Search and Maps.[1]

That gives Posts a clear job:

Communication.

The business has something useful to tell somebody who has discovered it, so tell them.

12.1 Start With the Business

The best source of useful posts is usually the business itself.

A new service may be worth talking about.

A new product may be useful.

An event may matter.

A genuine offer may matter.

A change in opening arrangements may matter.

A new member of the team, an interesting completed project, a common question customers keep asking or a seasonal issue people need to understand may all be worth communicating.

The problem is that agencies often sit several steps away from that information.

The locksmith knows what happened this week.

The restaurant knows what is changing on the menu.

The dentist knows about the new treatment.

The hotel knows what is happening next month.

The agency may know none of it.

That means the challenge is not simply writing a post.

It is building a process that gets useful information from the business to the person responsible for managing the Business Profile.

Once again, the management problem sits underneath the content problem.

12.2 Use the Post Type That Fits

Google currently provides three main Business Profile post types: Updates, Offers and Events.[1]

An Update is for general business information.

An Offer is designed for a promotion or deal and can include details such as dates, a coupon code, link and terms.

An Event can include a title together with its start and end dates and times.[1]

Choose the post type that fits the information.

If it is an offer, use an offer.

If it is an event, use an event.

If the business simply has something useful to communicate, an update may be appropriate.

The same applies to action buttons.

Where Google provides a suitable button, use it to give the customer a sensible next step. If the post is about boiler servicing and the business has a useful boiler-servicing page, that is probably a better destination than the homepage. If the post is about an event, send people to the event information. If the customer can book the thing we are discussing, take them towards the booking process.

The post gets their attention.

The action should help them do something with it.

12.3 Write for the Customer

Start with one question:

What does the customer need to know?

Write that.

If the business has started providing a new service, explain it.

If there is an offer, explain the offer.

If opening arrangements are changing over Christmas, tell people what is changing.

If the business completed an interesting project, explain what was done and why it may matter to somebody considering the same service.

The words naturally associated with the business will appear because we are talking about the business.

A Manchester locksmith writing about replacing a failed multipoint locking system is already communicating relevant information. Write for the person who might actually become the customer.

12.4 Build a Consistent Posting Process

Google explains that posts can be used to share timely information with customers.[1]

Posts sit inside the GBP Loop because they give the business a direct way to keep useful current information on the profile. Consistency means we keep looking for worthwhile opportunities to use that feature and have a system ready when those opportunities appear.

The system keeps Posts moving instead of allowing the feature to disappear from the management process for six months.

12.5 Build a Content Bank

Starting every post with a blank page makes the work unnecessarily difficult.

A better approach is to maintain a simple content bank for the business.

The raw material is already there: services, products, frequently asked questions, seasonal information, events, genuine offers, changes inside the business, new equipment, completed work, team changes, things customers misunderstand and things they should know before buying.

Then add ideas as the business produces them.

A customer asks the same question for the fifth time.

There is probably a post in it.

The business launches something.

Add it.

A seasonal issue is approaching.

Add it.

The company completes an unusual job.

Add it.

Now, when Posts comes around in the GBP Loop, we already have material.

This becomes particularly important for agencies because an account manager may be responsible for posts across completely different industries. They cannot reasonably be expected to invent useful information about dentists, locksmiths, restaurants, roofers and solicitors every week from their own imagination.

The information needs to come from the business.

The system needs to capture it.

12.6 AI Changes the Work, Not the Standard

AI has made creating the words much easier. Give an AI system enough accurate information about a business and it can produce a first draft in seconds.

That makes the quality decision more important:

Does any of it deserve to be published?

Does the post accurately represent the business?

Is it useful?

Is it current?

Does it say something a customer might care about?

Does it sound like the business?

Is every claim true?

AI can reduce the repetitive work involved in getting to a usable draft. That is why we built it into GBPly as part of the Posts process.

The software can help create posts, but the manager can still review and edit the draft, and where the agency wants client approval, that approval can happen through the White-Label Client Portal.[3]

The client can approve or reject a pending post and can edit the content before approving it.[3]

That matters because the agency may know how to write the post, but the client knows whether the offer is still running, whether the service is genuinely available, whether the price is correct and whether the business wants to make that claim publicly.

The automation gets the content to the decision quickly. The client or manager makes that decision.

12.7 Keep Approval Moving

The moment we introduce client approval, we introduce another agency problem.

Waiting.

The post is ready.

The client has not approved it.

Somebody sends an email.

No response.

Another email goes out.

Still nothing.

Next week another post needs approval, and now the account manager has several clients sitting in an inbox waiting for replies.

That repetitive administration is another problem the system can remove from the GBP Loop.

The White-Label Client Portal gives the client one branded place to deal with the work. They can see posts waiting for approval, edit them where appropriate, approve them or reject them, and view scheduled content without needing a GBPly account.[3]

GBPly can also send recurring portal reminders on a cycle the agency chooses, bringing the client back to that same place instead of relying on the account manager to remember every chase.[3]

The software handles the repetitive reminder. The client makes the decision. The agency keeps moving.

12.8 Create Once, Schedule Ahead

Another inefficiency in manual posting is logging into the profile every time something needs to go live.

Once we have useful approved content, scheduling removes the need for somebody to return on the publication date just to press the button.

Google currently allows Business Profile posts to be scheduled for later publication and also supports recurring schedules such as weekly, monthly or custom repeats.[1]

GBPly provides its own post creation and scheduling workflow as part of the wider management system, and agencies can also enable recurring client post generation through the White-Label Client Portal automations where that approach is appropriate.[3]

That means we can batch the work.

Instead of thinking of one post, writing it, finding an image, getting approval, publishing it and then starting again next week, we can create several useful posts while we already have the information and attention of the business.

Review them.

Get the necessary approvals.

Schedule them.

Then move on.

This matters particularly for agencies.

Every time somebody has to reopen the same job, remember where they got to and work out what comes next, the account consumes more time.

Scheduling makes the agreed strategy easier to execute.

12.9 Keep Local Content Local

Some content genuinely belongs across multiple profiles.

A genuine company-wide announcement may apply everywhere.

A national offer may genuinely be identical across every participating location.

A change that affects the whole organisation may need communicating across multiple profiles.

Many other posts should remain specific to the business or location.

The new employee works in Liverpool.

The completed project happened in Manchester.

The event is in Bristol.

The Birmingham branch has different opening arrangements.

The photographs belong to Leeds.

Represent each location accurately.

The same rule we used for Bulk Management applies here: automate the repeated work while preserving the differences that genuinely matter.

12.10 Posts Still Have Rules

Google says Business Profile posts must comply with its Business Profile policies and applicable laws.[2]

One current example is phone numbers. Google says phone numbers should not be included in post content and warns that posts containing a phone number in the description may be rejected. Where a call action is appropriate, businesses should use the Call now button connected to the verified Business Profile number instead.[1][2]

Regulated industries require additional care. Google allows businesses in regulated industries to use posts, but says those posts should not contain content promoting the regulated products or services covered by its restrictions.[1]

Hotels have a specific limitation too. Google currently says hotels can create local posts but cannot create Offer posts or posts that include deals, promotions, special offers or discounts.[2]

The exact rules can change, so somebody managing profiles professionally should check Google's current guidance.

A post is part of the Business Profile and needs the same accuracy and care as the rest of it. Keep claims accurate, follow the content rules and check the current requirements for regulated or specially restricted categories before publishing.

12.11 Publishing Is Not the End of the Job

Information ages.

An offer ends.

An event happens.

A service changes.

A link breaks.

A price changes.

A member of staff leaves.

Something that was completely accurate when we published it may no longer be accurate later.

That is why Posts belongs inside management rather than simply content production.

Google currently archives posts older than six months unless a date range has been set.[1] We still need to look at what customers can see and ask whether it remains accurate and useful.

If something we control is wrong, misleading or no longer appropriate, edit or remove it using the available tools.

The point is not simply to publish.

It is to manage what has been published.

12.12 The Post Process

For a business owner, the process can remain simple.

Come back to the GBP Loop.

Ask what has happened in the business.

Look at the content bank.

Choose the subjects worth communicating.

Create the posts.

Add useful media where appropriate.

Check the information.

Schedule the approved content.

Then get on with running the business.

For an agency, the same process needs another layer because the useful information often sits with the client.

The agency needs a way to collect that information, turn it into worthwhile content, review the facts, involve the client where approval is required and schedule the finished work without rebuilding the same process every week.

This is why we built the Posts workflow into GBPly.

AI can help create the first draft. The White-Label Client Portal gives the client somewhere to review, edit and approve it. Recurring portal reminders reduce the chasing. Scheduling removes the need to return on the publication date, and recurring post generation can keep suitable client workflows moving.[3]

The system handles the repetition around Posts while the manager decides what deserves to be said.

That is really the point of Posts inside the GBP Loop.

We are communicating through Google.

There is a real business on the other side of the profile doing things, changing things, helping customers and answering questions.

Posts give us somewhere to show some of that.

Keep them useful.

Keep them accurate.

Keep the process moving.

The third P is Posts.

The fourth is different.

Praise.

Notes

1. Google Business Profile Help, “Create and manage posts on your Business Profile”, https://support.google.com/business/answer/7342169?hl=en-GB. Checked 3 September 2026.
2. Google Business Profile Help, “Business Profile photos and videos policy and posts content policy”, https://support.google.com/business/answer/7213077?hl=en-GB. Checked 3 September 2026.
3. GBPly User Guide, “Client Portal”, https://gbply.net/user-guide/client-portal. Checked 3 September 2026.