AI for Service Businesses: What Changed in June 2026

June's biggest change for service businesses: AI started answering customers inside the apps they already use to reach you. On June 3, Meta opened its Business Agent, which answers questions, books appointments, and qualifies leads, to businesses of all sizes worldwide (Meta, 2026). A week later, Google announced a rollout that connects Business Profiles to its Gemini assistant (Google, 2026).

Meta's AI agent now answers customers on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram

On June 3, 2026, Meta announced it is expanding its Business Agent to businesses of all sizes globally, and adding it to Instagram (Meta, 2026). Meta says the agent answers questions specific to your business, books appointments, qualifies incoming leads, and lets you decide when a team member steps in (Meta, 2026). Getting started is free, with paid subscriptions coming in the following months, and more than one million businesses already use one on WhatsApp and Messenger, according to Meta (Meta, 2026).

Our read: if customers message you on Instagram or WhatsApp, a slow reply now sits next to instant ones. Before you switch any agent on, test it against your real questions and set the moment a person takes over. Fast replies still decide who wins the job (speed to lead).

Google is connecting Business Profiles to Gemini

On June 10, 2026, Google announced that owners will be able to connect a Google Business Profile to the Gemini app, with the rollout starting globally that month outside the EEA and UK (Google, 2026). Google's help page says it is being released gradually (Google Business Profile Help, 2026). Once connected, Gemini can draft review replies, update hours, contact info, and action links, summarize review themes, and report performance metrics and search keywords (Google Business Profile Help, 2026). For now it works only in the Gemini web app, only with a personal Google Account, and not for anyone who manages more than one verified profile (Google Business Profile Help, 2026).

Our read: once it reaches you, it's a quick way to clear a review backlog and fix stale hours. Multi-location owners have to wait. Read every drafted reply before you post it, since it goes out under your name. Our Google reviews guide covers what a good reply looks like.

A federal court said marketing texts count as calls under Do Not Call rules

On June 17, 2026, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that a text message is a call under the TCPA's Do Not Call section, letting a proposed class action against Brown-Daub Chevrolet of Nazareth move forward (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2026). The customer says she opted out of texts, an employee overrode her opt-out, and she received six unwanted texts in early 2025 (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2026). The opinion cites the FCC rule that marketing texts to a number on the Do Not Call Registry need the consumer's prior express invitation or permission (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2026).

It's one trial court's ruling. The appeals court above it, the Third Circuit, hasn't taken up the question since the Supreme Court ended Chevron deference in 2024 (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2026), and other courts have gone the other way (TCPAWorld (Troutman Amin, LLP), 2026). Our read: treat every marketing text like a marketing call, and make sure an opt-out sticks no matter who on your team is texting. Our guides to A2P 10DLC registration and AI voice calls and the TCPA cover the rest. This is general information, not legal advice.

Google added AI search reports to Search Console

On June 3, 2026, Google launched Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console, showing how often your site's pages appear in AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Discover's AI features (Google Search Central Blog, 2026). The reports list which pages appeared and break impressions down by country, device, and date (Google Search Central Blog, 2026). Google started with a subset of sites, and a note on the post says the reports reached all websites on August 31, 2026 (Google Search Central Blog, 2026).

Our read: you can now see whether Google's AI answers show your site instead of guessing. Our guide to how customers find local businesses through AI search covers what to fix when they don't.

Pew: about half of adults use chatbots, and most are wary of AI companies

Pew Research Center's report, published June 17, 2026, surveyed 5,119 US adults in February and found about half now use AI chatbots, including roughly one in four who use them daily (Pew Research Center, 2026). About four in ten use chatbots to search for information, and six in ten read AI summaries in search results (Pew Research Center, 2026). About six in ten aren't confident US companies will develop and use AI responsibly (Pew Research Center, 2026).

Our read: more customers will meet your business through AI, and many of them are wary of it. Say plainly when an AI is answering, and make a person easy to reach.

What to do this week

1. If customers message you on WhatsApp, Instagram, or Facebook Messenger, write down your 10 most common questions and the answers you want given, before you turn on any AI agent.
2. If you manage one verified Business Profile and the feature has reached you, connect it to Gemini at gemini.google.com and have it draft replies to your unanswered reviews. Edit each one before you post it. Put a number on the payoff with the reviews ROI calculator.
3. Test your text opt-outs: reply STOP from a staff phone, then confirm the number is blocked in every tool your team texts from and that no one can override it.
4. Open the generative AI report in Search Console and note which service pages show up in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
5. Tell customers when they're talking to AI, and give them a one-step way to reach a person.

Where Nirvani fits

Nirvani captures incoming calls, texts, social messages, and website chat in one system. AI employees answer, qualify leads, book appointments into your calendar, follow up on no-shows, and send review requests, 24/7, in your business's voice, around the processes your team already uses. N1 is the entry operating system.