Short answer: Collected info is a new tab in your Google Business Profile that lists details Google’s automated assistant gathered about your business through phone calls, texts or WhatsApp messages to your verified number. You can see where each detail came from and when, and delete anything that is wrong. Google confirmed on 14 September 2026 that the tab is live, though only in select regions, languages and business categories so far.
Here is the part most business owners will not know. Google may already have contacted your business, and whoever replied may have changed how you appear on Google.
Google May Have Messaged You Already
According to Google’s help documentation, to keep profiles accurate Google “may occasionally reach out using automated messages via call, text, or WhatsApp to the verified phone number on your profile.” Any information given in response “may be used to update your profile.”
The new tab describes it plainly: “This info was collected in phone or chat conversations with your business. It’s used to match your business with customers looking for services like yours.”
That last sentence is the important one. These answers help decide which searches your business appears for.
Why This Matters More Than It Sounds
Think about who answers the business line in a typical Kenyan SME. It might be the owner, a receptionist in her first week, a relative covering over lunch, or whoever happens to be nearest to the phone. Now imagine an automated message arrives asking whether you offer a particular service or what your hours are.
A quick, slightly wrong reply is easy to give. “Yes, we do that” when you only do it sometimes. Weekday hours given for Saturday. A service area described more widely than you really cover.
Before this tab existed, you had no easy way to see what had been captured. Search Engine Land’s Barry Schwartz notes that Google’s automated systems “can get it wrong”, which is why a way to review and remove these details is welcome.
How to Review Collected Info
These steps come from Google’s help documentation:
- Go to your Business Profile. You can reach it by searching for your business name on Google while signed in to the account that manages it.
- Select Edit profile, then Collected info.
- Read each item and check it is accurate.
- Look at the source and the date collected shown for each item. This tells you which conversation it came from.
- To remove an item, select Delete, then Delete again to confirm.
Two small details from the documentation are worth knowing. Items are shown in the language they were originally given in, so a reply given in Swahili will appear in Swahili. And you can review as often as you like, so there is no reason to leave it for a year.
What Deleting Does, and What It Does Not
This is the point most guides will skip, and it matters.
Google’s documentation says: “Deleting collected information removes it from Google’s records but does not change other details already on your Business Profile.”
In practice, that means two separate jobs:
| Job | Where | Why |
| Remove a wrong detail Google gathered | Collected info tab | Stops it being used to match you with searches |
| Correct the visible listing | The normal profile fields (hours, services, areas, description) | Deleting collected info does not fix these for you |
If a wrong answer has already flowed into your visible hours or services, delete it from Collected info and correct the field itself.
If You Cannot See the Tab
Google says the feature is “currently available for select regions, languages, and business categories and may not be available for all users.” We have not been able to confirm whether it is available to Kenyan businesses yet.
If you do not see it, the underlying advice still applies. Keep your profile fields accurate, because they are what customers see, and make sure your team knows how to handle automated messages when they do arrive.
A Short Brief for Whoever Answers Your Phone
Print this, or paste it into your team WhatsApp group:
- Our hours: weekdays, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, exactly as they are.
- Our services: the ones we actually offer, and the ones we do not.
- Our area: the towns or estates we serve, and where we stop.
- If a message says it is from Google: answer only these facts. Never share verification codes, passwords or payment details in reply to any message, from anyone. If you are unsure whether a message is genuine, do not reply, and ask the person who manages our Google listing to check inside the dashboard instead.
Accurate, consistent answers from everyone in the business protect your listing better than any single correction.
Make It Part of a Monthly Check
Local visibility depends on details staying correct over time. A simple monthly routine takes ten minutes:
- Open Collected info and review anything new.
- Check hours, especially around public holidays.
- Confirm services and service areas still match what you do.
- Reply to any new reviews.
- Note any changes Google suggested to your listing, and accept or reject them deliberately.
For a fuller routine, our local SEO strategies for Kenyan businesses and our guide to ranking higher on Google Maps cover the rest of the profile.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Collected info in Google Business Profile?
Collected info is a tab in the Business Profile dashboard that shows details Google’s automated assistant gathered about your business in phone or chat conversations with your verified number. It shows the source and date of each item and lets you delete incorrect details.
Does Google really contact businesses on WhatsApp?
Google’s help documentation says it may reach out using automated messages via call, text or WhatsApp to the verified phone number on a Business Profile, and that responses may be used to update the profile.
Does deleting collected info fix my Google listing?
Not on its own. Deleting removes the detail from Google’s records but does not change details already on your Business Profile. If the wrong information already appears on your listing, correct that field directly as well.
Is Collected info available in Kenya?
Google says the feature is available in select regions, languages and business categories. We could not confirm Kenyan availability at the time of writing, so check your own dashboard under Edit profile.
One Last Thing
This update is a reminder that your Google listing is shaped by more than the fields you filled in on setup day. Conversations, reviews and automated checks all feed into it.
If you would like someone to keep an eye on it for you, our SEO services include regular Business Profile reviews for local businesses.
