On June 4, 2026, Google launched something called Search profiles, and the name is causing real confusion. It sounds almost identical to Google Business Profile, the listing every local business depends on. They are completely different products for completely different people. If you run a local business, or you sell services to local businesses and a client just asked about this, here is the plain answer as of June 2026: you almost certainly do not need a Search profile, and the listing that actually drives your customers still needs your attention.
What a Google Search profile is
A Search profile is a claimable page on Google for publishers and creators. It shows a photo, a banner, a handle, a bio, links, and an automatically updated feed of that creator's latest articles, videos, and posts. People who find the profile in Google can follow it, and following boosts that creator's content in their Google Discover feed. Google launched it in the United States first, and at launch you only qualify with at least 100,000 followers on YouTube, Instagram, or X, or 300,000 on TikTok. Google says eligibility will widen over time. It is a creator product, built to highlight people who publish content, not businesses that serve customers.
What a Google Business Profile is
A Google Business Profile is the listing that represents a local business on Google Search and Google Maps. It carries the address, hours, phone number, photos, reviews, and the categories Google uses to decide which searches you show up for. It is free, any business can claim it, and it is the single biggest lever in whether a business appears in the local results when someone nearby searches for what it sells. Nothing about it changed with the Search profiles launch. Google has been clear that businesses and brands keep their existing presence exactly as it is.
The plain difference
A Search profile is for a person who publishes content and already has a large audience. A Business Profile is for a business that serves customers in a place. A restaurant, a plumber, a dental practice, or a real estate agent does not qualify for a Search profile and would gain nothing from one. A YouTuber with 200,000 subscribers qualifies and might gain followers in Discover. If you remember one line, remember this: customers find businesses through Business Profiles, and audiences find creators through Search profiles.
Does any of this change your Google ranking?
No. Google's own documentation says Search profiles do not directly affect ranking. Following is a personalization feature for the Discover feed, not a ranking signal for search results. Local rankings still come down to the same fundamentals they did in May: a claimed and complete Business Profile, the right categories, steady reviews with owner responses, a website that loads and reads well, and consistent business information across the web.
What this means if you sell services to local businesses
Expect the question. Business owners read a headline about a new Google profile and worry they are missing something. That worry is your opening to be the calm expert. The honest answer takes one sentence: this one is for influencers, and your listing is fine to ignore it. The valuable follow up is to check whether their actual listing is healthy, because most are not. Unclaimed profiles, dead review streams, wrong categories, and weak websites are still everywhere, and those are the gaps that actually decide whether a business gets found. Answering the trendy question and then fixing the unglamorous gaps is how an agency earns trust.
One caveat for people who ARE creators
If you personally publish content and you are near the follower thresholds, a Search profile is worth claiming when you qualify. Claiming one can also create or strengthen a Knowledge Panel for you, which used to be one of the hardest things in entity SEO to get deliberately. A word of caution before you build plans on it: Google retired its last identity product, People Cards, in 2024. New Google surfaces are worth using and not worth depending on.