The short answer: Google's AI now phones local businesses on a customer's behalf to ask about prices and availability, then hands the customer a written comparison. In the US it has run in Google Search since July 2025, Google said in May it would add home repair over the summer, and Gemini's "Call for me" started on Pixel phones on 24 September 2026. None of it works in Canada yet, and Google has not said when it will. Use the gap: verify your Google Business Profile, write down your standard price ranges, and make sure someone or something answers the phone. Those three things also win the human callers you get today.
Most coverage of this treats it as a curiosity: a robot ringing a hair salon. For a trade in Kamloops it is something more practical. It is a new kind of lead, and it will arrive at the exact hour most small businesses stop answering the phone.
AI calling means software that places a real phone call to your business, speaks in a natural voice, asks what a person would ask — "what do you charge for a water heater install, and when could you come?" — and reports the answer back to someone who never picked up the phone. Google now runs two versions of it, and they work differently.
The two ways Google's AI calls a business
| Google Search: "Have AI check pricing" | Gemini: "Call for me" | |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts it | A customer searching Google for a service | One person asking the Gemini assistant on their phone |
| How many businesses it calls | Several nearby providers, then compares them | The one business the person named |
| What it asks | Price, availability, service details | Hours, stock, quotes; can also book, move or cancel appointments |
| What the customer gets | A summary of prices and availability, in about 30 minutes | A live transcript, and they can take over the call |
| How it introduces itself | As an automated system from Google | As an AI assistant from Google, on a recorded line, naming the person |
| Where it works | US only, except five states | US only, Pixel 11 phones, paid Google AI plan |
| How a business opts out | Business Profile → Advanced settings | Google's Gemini opt-out page |
The Search version is the one that matters for local service businesses. Google launched it to all US Search users on 16 July 2025, starting with categories like pet grooming, auto repair and hair salons. At its developer conference on 19 May 2026, Google said home repair, beauty and pet care would be added for everyone in the US over the summer.
The Gemini version is newer. It began as an early preview on 24 September 2026, limited to Pixel 11 owners in the US with a paid Google AI subscription. Every call opens with Gemini saying it is an AI assistant from Google calling on a recorded line on the person's behalf. It will not make emergency or telemarketing calls, and it will not complete payments.
Is Google's AI calling Canadian businesses?
No. Every Google help page for these features lists the United States only, and even there the Search feature excludes Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana and Nebraska. When Gemini's version launched, Google did not say when it would reach Canada.
That gives Canadian businesses something useful: the feature has run in public in the US for over a year, so you can see how it behaves and prepare before it gets here.
Why the trades should care first
Look at who is being called. Home repair is one of the three categories Google named at I/O, alongside beauty and pet care. In Kamloops, home repair means plumbers, electricians, HVAC, roofers and handymen.
Now look at who is ready. Statistics Canada's survey of 9,251 businesses in April and May 2026 found 19.2% of Canadian businesses had used AI to deliver their goods or services in the past year. In construction the figure was 9.2%, among the lowest of any industry. The sector Google is sending AI calls to is the one least likely to have anything picking up the phone when the owner is on a roof.
How Google decides which businesses to call
This is the part most "get ready" articles skip. When Google launched the Search feature, a Google spokesperson said the AI picks businesses using its normal local search rankings. It calls providers that already appear for the customer's search and match what they asked for.
So the first filter is not your phone manner. It is whether you show up in local results at all. A plumber who is invisible on Google Maps will never get the call, and the three plumbers ranked above them will. That makes AI calling a local SEO question before it is a phone question, and it rewards the same basics that get a business recommended by AI assistants: a complete, verified profile, steady reviews and consistent details.
What the AI actually needs from you
Picture the call. A polite voice says it is an automated system calling from Google for a customer. It asks whether you do a particular job, roughly what it costs, and when you could come. Then it thanks you and hangs up. Thirty minutes later the customer reads a comparison of every business that answered.
Three things decide whether you are in that comparison and look good in it:
- Somebody answers. An unanswered call can't put your price in the summary. The cost of a missed call is already real with human callers; what an unanswered call costs is worth reading if you have not added it up.
- You can give a range on the spot. "Service calls are a flat [your fee], and most water heater swaps land between [low] and [high] installed" is an answer. "We'd have to come out and look" is a non-answer next to three businesses that gave numbers.
- You can name the next opening. Availability is half of what the customer asked for.
None of that needs AI on your side. A person at the front desk who knows the ranges does it perfectly. The problem is the hours when nobody is at the desk, which is where an AI receptionist earns its keep.
What to set up before it reaches Canada
This takes an afternoon, and every step helps with the human callers you get today.
- Verify your Google Business Profile. Google only lets verified businesses control whether they receive these calls, and verification is also what keeps you in the local results the AI picks from.
- Write down your standard price ranges. List your five most-asked jobs with a range and what changes the price. Keep it by the phone and give it to whoever answers.
- Publish the same ranges. Put them on your website's service pages and in your Business Profile services. Customers can then find a price without calling at all, and the numbers match when Google's AI does call.
- Decide who answers after hours. A staff member, an answering service, or an AI receptionist. Pick one, because an unanswered call is the one outcome that guarantees you are left out.
- Brief whoever answers. An automated caller from Google is a real customer's request, named on the call. Treat it as a lead: give the range, give the next opening, and don't hang up on it.
- Check the setting once it appears. In your Business Profile, go to More → Business Profile settings → Advanced settings and look for "Google automated calls and text messages". If it isn't there, the feature isn't live for you yet. When it is, decide whether to stay in.
Should you opt out?
You can. Google gives businesses that choice in the Business Profile, and during a call you can say "remove my business from your list". Gemini's calls have their own opt-out page.
The trade-off is simple. The customer's summary compares the businesses that answered. If you opt out, you are not in it. For a business that is fully booked and doesn't want price-shoppers, that may be fine. For most trades chasing the next job, it means handing the comparison to competitors.
One more thing worth knowing. These calls disclose that they are AI before anything else. That is the same standard this site recommends for any business using AI on the phone, and it lines up with the Canadian rules on AI disclosure: say it is AI in the first sentence, and offer a person.
Common questions
Is Google's AI calling businesses in Canada? Not yet. Google's help pages list the feature for the United States only, excluding five states, and Google did not give a Canadian date when Gemini's "Call for me" launched on 24 September 2026. Canadian businesses can prepare now by verifying their profile and setting up call answering.
How does Google's AI decide which businesses to call? Google has said the AI chooses businesses using its normal local search rankings. It calls providers that appear for the customer's search and match their request. A business that doesn't rank in local results won't be called, which makes local SEO the first step.
Does Google's AI say it is a robot when it calls? Yes. The Search feature introduces itself as an automated system from Google calling for a customer. Gemini's "Call for me" opens every call by saying it is an AI assistant from Google on a recorded line and names the person it is calling for.
How do I stop Google's AI from calling my business? Open your Google Business Profile, go to More, then Business Profile settings, then Advanced settings, and turn off "Google automated calls and text messages". Your profile must be verified. You can also say "remove my business from your list" during a call. Gemini calls have a separate opt-out page.
What does the AI ask when it calls? Mostly what a customer would: whether you offer a service, roughly what it costs, and when you are available. Gemini can also book, confirm or move appointments and wait on hold. It won't take payments, share sensitive personal information, or make telemarketing calls.
Do I need an AI receptionist to handle AI calls? No. A person who knows your price ranges and next openings handles these calls perfectly. What matters is that someone answers. An AI receptionist is useful for the evenings and weekends when nobody is at the desk. Whichever you choose, give it your price ranges and your next openings so it can answer properly.
The honest summary
Google's AI calling is real, it is expanding into home repair, and it is coming to Canada at some point Google hasn't named. When it arrives, it will pick businesses that already rank locally, call them, and give the customer a side-by-side comparison of whoever answered.
Nothing about preparing for it is exotic. Verify your profile. Write down your price ranges and publish them. Make sure the phone gets answered, evenings included. Those are the same things that win the human customer who calls today, which is why there is no reason to wait for Google.
If the evenings are the gap, AI receptionist setup in Kamloops covers an assistant that answers every call, gives your ranges and books the job. A free website review is the place to start if you are not sure whether your profile and pages are ready.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help — About automated calls and texts from Google · Google Search Help — Check pricing for local businesses with AI · Gemini Apps Help — Ask Gemini to handle your everyday phone calls · Google — Search I/O 2026 updates · Statistics Canada — AI use by businesses in Canada, Q2 2026
Written by Jagatjeet — Jagatjeet (jagatjeet.com) is a web design, local SEO and AI automation studio in Kamloops, British Columbia, serving the Thompson-Okanagan and BC Interior. Published 28 September 2026. Last updated 28 September 2026. Google's AI calling features and their availability change often — check Google's own help pages for the current status in Canada.