Google AI local pack losing buttons: what was reported and a ten minute routine for local businesses

Why people are searching for this

On November 10, 2026, typing how to get more calls from google business profile into Google autocomplete finished the question, and why do i keep getting calls about my google business listing appeared in the same list. People want calls from their listing.

Important: this guide did not see the test on a live device. It comes from Google's own help pages and one trade report, all opened November 10, 2026. What is confirmed by Google's help pages and what is only reported is marked throughout.

What was reported (not confirmed by Google)

On November 10, 2026, Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable published Google AI Overview Local Pack Dropping Action Buttons, Photos & Reviews. He says Google is testing removing the action buttons, reviews and photos from the AI Overview version of the local pack, which makes it harder for searchers to visit a website, call a business or get directions from Google Search.

He quotes local search expert Joy Hawkins, who wrote on X that she has seen a new version of the AI powered local pack in the last few days. On mobile, every time she gets this version, the traditional local pack is gone. It uses the Google Business Profile but removes a lot of its features, such as reviews, address and hours.

The article gives no count of affected businesses or countries and reports no Google announcement. Treat it as a reason to look, not as a confirmed change.

What an AI Overview local pack is

Local businesses can appear inside an AI Overview for searches like best fish tacos near me. Search Engine Roundtable reported in March 2025 that Google was showing a local pack in AI Overviews again, after removing it in September 2023. The November 2026 report says these AI based local packs have been around for a couple of years but keep changing.

Why the buttons matter

A customer uses your listing to call, get directions, open your website, read reviews and look at photos. If a version of the results shows your name without those, they have to do more work to reach you, and many will go to the next business or search again. The report says this version cannot be good for clicks, calls and direction requests. That much is reported; how long the test lasts is not known.

How Google decides who shows up

Google's help page Tips to improve your local ranking on Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence.

• Relevance: how well your profile matches the search. Google says to provide complete and detailed business information.
• Distance: how far you are from the searcher.
• Prominence: how well known you are, based on information like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have.

The same page says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google.

Read your own numbers

Google's help page Understand your Business Profile performance & insights says performance data is available for verified profiles when you are signed in to the linked Google account. It shows views on Search and Maps and actions such as calls (clicks on the call button), website clicks, directions requests and messages, and you can set a date range.

Write down calls, website clicks and directions for the last 30 days as a baseline, and compare next month. The page notes that views count unique visitors, once per day, so use the numbers to compare month to month, not as an exact head count.

Keep your profile complete

From Google's local ranking page: verify your business, keep your information up to date, add your full address if customers can visit, your hours (including special hours), the right business category, attributes such as parking or Wi-Fi, and photos and videos. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up. The report says the tested version still uses your Business Profile, so what you entered should be right.

Reviews, the honest way

Google's help page Tips to get more reviews says reviews show next to your Business Profile in Maps and Search, that you can ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code, and that customers must be signed in to a Google account to review. It recommends short, polite, specific replies. It also says offering free or discounted goods or services in exchange for reviews, or to change or remove a review, is fake and misleading content and is strictly prohibited. Ask every happy customer, make it easy, and never pay for it.

Make your own door easy to find (my opinion)

This part is opinion, not Google's. If a result shows your name without your buttons, what you control outside Google matters more. Put your phone number on the first screen of your website and make it tappable on a phone. Match your address and hours to your profile. Give each main service its own page. A customer who types your business name should land on something that lets them call in one tap.

Your Business Profile is free (Google's help page says you can manage how your business shows up on Maps and Search at no charge) but it is also someone else's platform. Make sure customers can also reach you from your website, social profiles, a printed card, a QR code at the counter and your email signature.

A ten minute routine, now and monthly

1. Open your Business Profile performance report. Write down calls, website clicks and directions for the last 30 days.
2. Check your category, hours, address, phone number and website are correct.
3. Add or replace three photos of your real work or shop.
4. Create your Google review link or QR code and send it to your last five happy customers. No rewards.
5. Reply briefly and personally to your newest reviews.
6. Open your website on your phone and tap your phone number.
7. Put a reminder in your calendar for next month and compare your numbers.

Honest limits

• The test was not seen on a live device for this guide.
• The report is one article from one site, based on what a local search expert saw on mobile.
• It gives no count of affected businesses and no countries.
• Whether Google keeps, changes or drops the test is not known.
• Google's help pages can change. Checked November 10, 2026.

What it costs

Google's help page says a Business Profile lets you manage how your business shows up on Maps and Search at no charge. Everything in this routine can be done for free. Google's local ranking page says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking, so be careful with anyone who offers to sell you one. Checked November 10, 2026, and it can change.

Questions people also ask

Sources

• Search Engine Roundtable: Google AI Overview Local Pack Dropping Action Buttons, Photos & Reviews (Nov 10, 2026)
• Search Engine Roundtable: Google Brings Back Local Pack To AI Overviews (Mar 14, 2025)
• Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
• Google Business Profile Help: Understand your Business Profile performance & insights
• Google Business Profile Help: Tips to get more reviews
• Google Business Profile Help: Get started with Google Business Profile