Apple on Wednesday announced an expanded series of tools to help businesses increase visibility on Apple platforms through Apple Business Connect, a free service. The online portal, launched last year, allows businesses to manage their presence across Apple’s 1.5 billion devices in areas such as Maps, Siri, Spotlight search, Safari and Wallet. Now business owners can integrate their brand into other Apple products, including Mail, Tap to Pay on iPhone, and the Apple Phone app. Additionally, Business Connect will be open to all types of businesses, not just those with physical locations, the company says.
Business Connect evolved from a simpler system called Apple Business Register, which allowed businesses to manage their listings in Apple Maps. Since Business Connect launched in early 2023, “millions” of venues around the world have begun using the service to personalize how their businesses appear to consumers. This includes the use of place cards, cover photos, logos, business photos, limited-time promotions and incentives known as “showcases,” and action buttons such as “Pick Up Order” or “View Menu.”
Businesses can also use insights to learn more about how consumers interact with a business, including how users find the business and what actions they take on the business’ seating chart.
With today’s expansion, Apple will make it possible for all types of businesses to build profiles on the system, including businesses that provide services, businesses that operate from home, and businesses that operate entirely online and without a physical location.
And with more Apple apps and features, every business can better manage their brand presence.
The dashboard allows businesses to enter details about their brand, including name, category, logo, and website, and preview how their place cards will appear to consumers.
Later this year, we’ll use this information to customize how your business email appears in the Apple Mail app. Your brand name and logo can appear in your email inbox instead of the boring gray logo you see today. And when you click on an email, in addition to the company name and logo, a colorful header derived from the brand logo appears at the top of the screen, making your brand’s presence even more noticeable.
This branded Mail feature comes with a redesigned Mail app for iOS 18. The app now sorts your emails and groups them by sender. Like Gmail, iOS 18 sorts your emails into tabs: Basic, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. But Apple has said it won’t rely on whether a business has set up a brand through Business Connect to determine where mail is sorted.
Apple says that after you submit your brand information, it will go through a brand review process. You can also manage multiple email or brand domains, such as marketing emails or order confirmation emails. Brands can sign up for this option starting today, and their logos will begin appearing to customers later this year.
Tap to Pay is another area that will display branded icons instead of the generic category icons that are currently displayed. You can also customize your business name so that it appears to customers the way you want it to appear during the checkout process. Apple says these changes will help customers know when they’re paying with a trusted, verified company.
Although it won’t arrive until next year, integration with the Phone app could be most useful as it identifies calls by displaying the company name, logo, and department, allowing consumers to better determine which calls may be unwanted or spam.
Apple said the feature, which includes an improved Business Connect dashboard with context-sensitive topics and tips, will be available to “most” businesses around the world if they sign up for Business Connect with an Apple account. You can also manage your location presence at scale through listing management agencies such as DAC Group, Rio SEO, SOCi, Uberall, and Yext.
“We’re excited to give all businesses, even those without a physical location, the ability to build their brand across Apple apps used by more than a billion people every day,” said David Dorn, Apple’s senior director of Internet Software. “I do,” he said. Services Products (Specification) “We designed Business Connect to help businesses provide Apple users with the best and most accurate information possible. “With today’s updates, we’re helping more businesses reach their customers, build trust, and grow.”
