We build Fly, an AI agent that manages Google Business Profiles for local businesses. It runs a full pass on each profile every 4 hours and makes changes through Google's official Business Profile API. A few things we learned building it:
1. Read before you write, every time.
Profiles get edited by Google itself and by the public ("suggested edits"). If an agent writes from a stale copy, it overwrites real changes or fights Google. So every pass starts by reading the live profile from Google, and edits made by anyone else are caught and put right.
2. Give the owner a dial for autonomy, not an on/off switch.
We ship three modes: "Fly asks first", "Fly does the routine" and "Fly does it all". Owners can switch any time, and replies to reviews of 2 stars or lower wait for the owner's approval.
3. Log every action in plain language.
Something like "Replied to Neha's 2-star review, approved by Rahul at 8:05 AM" is what owners actually read. Every change lands in an activity log, and many can be undone.
4. Measure outcomes on a schedule, not on demand.
Rank is read weekly on a grid of points around the shop, and each reading is dated. Views, calls and rank are compared week over week, and anything slipping becomes the next post.
Under the hood: Supabase and the Google Business Profile API.
If you're building on the GBP API or just curious, the product is here: https://www.fly-social.com/gbp-growth-agent?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=launch
Questions welcome in the comments.
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