RunCabin Blog · Getting found

Google's AI called my business asking about prices. What do I do?

November 4, 2026 · 7 min read

Short answer: treat it like a lead, because it is one. That automated voice is Google Search calling on behalf of a real customer who typed in what they need - a gutter repair, a room painted, a panel looked at - and asked Google to check prices and availability for them. Google rings a few local businesses, then hands the customer a written summary of what each one said. Answer it the way you would answer that customer, and if the calls are eating your day, there is a switch to turn them off.

Here is what the call is, how to tell it apart from the fake "Google" calls every new business gets, and why the best long-term answer is putting those same answers on your website.

What the call actually is

Google first tested this in early 2025 as a Search Labs experiment called "Ask for Me," starting with nail salons and auto repair shops. At its developer conference in May 2026, Google said Search would call businesses on a customer's behalf in more categories, and named home repair alongside beauty and pet care. That puts painters, handymen, roofers, plumbers, electricians and HVAC shops squarely in the path.

The flow on the customer's side is simple. They search for something like "water heater replacement near me," tap the option to have Google call around, answer a few questions about the job and when they need it, and go about their day. Google phones several local businesses, asks those questions, and sends the customer a summary by text or email. The customer then calls back, or books, whoever sounded like the best fit.

So when the call reaches you, the customer has already narrowed the field to a handful of businesses, and you are one of them. That is a better spot than most paid leads put you in.

What it will ask you

The AI asks what the customer asked it to find out. For trade work that usually means some mix of:

Google has said the call opens by saying it is an automated system calling for a customer, and its help page says these calls are monitored and recorded for quality. You are not talking to a person, so there is no rapport to build. What you say gets boiled down to a line or two in a comparison next to your competitors. Clear and specific wins.

Is it a scam?

Fair question. About ten minutes after any business goes live, the fake "Google" calls start: your listing is unverified, your ranking is about to drop, press 1 to speak to a specialist. We wrote about those in why you get so many website and SEO sales calls.

The difference is easy to hear. The real call is about a job. It asks what something costs and when you can do it. It does not ask you for money, a card number, a login or a verification code, and it does not threaten your listing. Google's help page says it does not charge businesses for these calls. If a caller claiming to be Google wants payment or says your profile is about to be suspended, hang up and check your profile yourself at business.google.com.

Should you answer it or turn it off?

For most owners: answer it. It costs you a minute or two, and the other option is that the customer's summary says nothing about you while two competitors gave real answers.

Turning it off makes sense when the calls are hitting at the wrong moments - you are on a ladder, your one office line rings through to your cell, and every interruption costs you. Google says it limits how many times it calls for the same information and avoids late night and early morning, but a busy week can still mean several calls. If you opt out, Google does not say it will hurt where you show up in search, but you will not be in those call-around comparisons.

A middle path: leave it on, and let calls you cannot take go to a voicemail greeting that does some of the work (more on that below).

How to answer well

Think about what the customer reads afterward. "They said it depends" next to "They gave a price range for the install and can come Thursday" is not a close race. You do not have to quote a fixed price sight unseen, but you can give a range and say what moves it. A good answer covers four things:

  1. A range, with what changes it. "Most bedrooms run between this and that, depending on ceiling height and how much prep the walls need. I give an exact number after I see it or a few photos."
  2. Your next real opening. If you are booked out, say so and say when you are not. A date beats "we're pretty busy."
  3. Where you work. Name the towns or the area, so a customer two counties over does not waste your callback.
  4. How to reach you directly. "Text photos to this number" or "Use the quote form on our website" gives the customer an easy next step.

Keep it honest. Whatever you say ends up in writing in front of the customer, and a lowball range you cannot hit just becomes an awkward conversation at the door.

Why it called you in the first place

Here is the part worth sitting with. The customer asked Google a question, and Google picked up the phone because it could not find a confident answer written down anywhere. No price range, no service area, nothing saying when you have openings. A call is how the AI fills a gap you left open.

The same gap costs you with every other kind of shopper. A homeowner reading your Google profile at 10pm cannot call anyone. ChatGPT, Google's AI answers and other assistants read business websites to answer questions like "who does drywall repair in my town and roughly what does it cost." If your site says, in plain words, what you do, where, roughly what it costs and how soon you can come, the AI can answer from that, and the customer who calls you has already read it.

The pieces that answer the call before it happens:

None of this is new advice. What is new is that a machine is now doing the comparison shopping, and it reads.

When you miss the call

You will miss some. You are on a job, your hands are full, the phone is in the truck. Two cheap fixes help. First, a voicemail greeting that points somewhere useful: "You've reached Smith Painting. We serve these towns. For a quote, text photos to this number or use the form at our website." Second, a text-back on missed calls, so a real customer who calls right after reading the summary hears from you fast. We wrote up the trade-offs in do I need missed call text back?

How to turn it off

If you decide to opt out, Google's help page lays out the steps for a verified profile:

  1. Open your Business Profile (search your business name while signed in, or go to business.google.com).
  2. Choose More, then Business Profile settings, then Advanced settings.
  3. Under Google automated calls and text messages, turn off Bookings and inquiries from customers. The same section has switches for the calls Google makes to keep your profile up to date, which you can leave on or turn off separately.

You can also say "Please stop calling my business" during a call. Google notes that after you opt out, a person from Google may still call now and then to confirm your hours or details. As of this writing, its help page also lists a few states where these features are not offered at all (Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana and Nebraska), so if you are there, the call you got was something else. Menu names change, so if a label does not match, check Google's help article on automated calls to your business.

Where RunCabin fits

This is the kind of website we build: a real site on your own domain that says what you do, the towns you cover, your price ranges if you want them shown, your license number, photos of your actual jobs, and your phone and email on every page, plus a quote form that sends inquiries, photos included, straight to your inbox. That is the page an AI reads before it decides whether it still needs to call you. You answer our questionnaire, we build the site with AI, and a web developer finishes every page. You see a first version within 24 hours of sending your answers and photos.

It starts at $499 to build, then $39.99 a month for hosting (or $479.88 a year), with no long contract and no lead fees. Optional tools are priced in the questionnaire, and you see the total before you pay. When your prices or your schedule change, you ask and the site gets updated, so what Google and the assistants read stays current. If you ever cancel, your domain is yours.

Put the answers where the AI looks first

Answer our questionnaire and we build your site - your services, your towns, your prices if you want them. It's built with AI and finished by a web developer. Starting at $499 to build, then $39.99 a month.

Start our planner →

Related reading: will ChatGPT or Google's AI recommend my business? · Google changed my business info without asking. Why?