Google Maps app vs WhatsApp: two ways to manage your Google Business Profile
Updated · By LocalPulse team
Short answer
Google Search and the Google Maps app are Google’s own free tools for your Business Profile: you can edit your details, post updates, read your performance and reply to reviews there. LocalPulse doesn’t replace them. It sends your numbers and new reviews to WhatsApp every morning and lets you approve review replies from the chat, so you don’t have to remember to check. Use Google’s tools to edit your profile, and LocalPulse if you want the updates to come to you.
What Google’s own tools do
Google Search and the Google Maps app are where your Business Profile lives. They are free, and they are the only place to change most of your profile. With them you can:
- Edit your details: opening hours, special holiday hours, phone number, address and services.
- Add photos and post updates or offers.
- Read and reply to reviews.
- See your Performance numbers: calls, direction requests, website clicks, views and searches.
Their limit is that you have to go and look. Most owners open them when something goes wrong, not every week.
What a WhatsApp assistant adds
LocalPulse connects to the same Business Profile and brings the important parts to WhatsApp, where you already are:
- A short report every morning with a health score out of 100, your calls, direction requests and website clicks, and any new reviews.
- A summary every Monday that compares the week with the one before.
- Review replies drafted for you. Each one is posted to Google only after you reply APPROVE with its code.
- Answers to plain questions, like “How many calls did we get this week?”
It doesn’t edit your hours, photos or posts. You keep doing that in Google’s own tools.
Side by side
| Feature | Google Search and Maps app | LocalPulse on WhatsApp |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | A flat monthly fee per listing, after a free 14-day trial |
| How you see your numbers | Open Performance when you remember to | Sent to WhatsApp every morning, with a Monday summary |
| New reviews | Google notifications, if you have them turned on | In your morning report, with negative ones flagged |
| Replying to reviews | You write and post each reply | Drafted for you, posted after you approve |
| Edit hours, photos and posts | Yes | No |
| Health score | No | Yes, out of 100 in every report |
| Several branches | Switch between profiles | One chat: send LOCATIONS, then USE with a number |
| Made by | An independent company in Hyderabad, not affiliated with Google |
Which one fits you
Google’s tools alone are enough if you already check your Performance numbers and reviews every week and reply to reviews yourself. There is nothing to add.
Add LocalPulse if you keep meaning to check and don’t, if you’d rather read a short WhatsApp message than open another app, if you run more than one branch, or if writing review replies is the job that never gets done.
Either way, you’ll still use the Google Maps app or Google Search to change your hours or add photos.
Questions owners ask
Is managing a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. Creating and managing a Business Profile in Google Search and the Google Maps app is free. LocalPulse is a paid service on top, with a free 14-day trial.
Can I edit my opening hours or photos from LocalPulse?
No. LocalPulse reads your performance numbers and reviews and posts the review replies you approve. Edit hours, photos and posts in Google Search or the Google Maps app.
Do I have to stop using the Google Maps app?
No. Both work on the same Business Profile. A reply you approve on WhatsApp shows in the Maps app like any other reply.