AI Assistants Are Starting to Call Local Businesses. Here's What To Do This Week

What Meta has actually said

Meta’s help article Information for people who don’t use Muse includes a section titled “Opt out of AI phone calls.” It says Meta is “experimenting with the ability for Muse to make phone calls on your behalf to businesses whose phone numbers are publicly available.” The examples Meta gives are asking about opening hours or making a booking. The same page says a business that would rather not receive these calls can opt out through a form linked from that article.

TechCrunch reported on November 12 that the calling feature, after a limited test in September, is now available to paid Muse subscribers in the United States. TechCrunch also notes that Muse is not the only assistant that can place this kind of call. Meta’s help page does not, in the wording we reviewed, spell out the paid-subscriber or U.S.-only limits; those details come from that reporting. We are not repeating plan prices here.

Two things are still unclear from Meta’s published help, and they matter for the front desk.

We do not know how common these calls will be for a typical local shop. This is a consumer feature for paying U.S. Muse users, not a claim that every business is already getting a stream of AI callers.

We also do not have a clear, official statement in that help article about whether Muse tells the person who answers that it is an AI. Until Meta publishes that, do not assume every call will include a plain disclosure—and do not assume it never will. If a caller says they are contacting you on someone else’s behalf, get the customer’s details anyway.

Why this is a practical issue, not a reason to panic

A lot of local work still happens on the phone: a table, a service slot, a question about hours or what a job costs. If a customer would rather have an assistant wait on hold than do it themselves, the person who needs the appointment is still a real customer. Hanging up as soon as a call sounds unusual can lose that booking.

The better habit is slower and calmer. Take the request. Write it down. Confirm it. Then decide whether you want to opt out of Muse calls later, using Meta’s official form, if that is the right choice for your shop.

AI callers will only be as accurate as the public information they can find. Meta’s help page also notes that Muse may use information that is publicly available on the internet to carry out a user’s tasks. If your website says you close at six and Google Business Profile says seven, an assistant—and the customer behind it—can easily book the wrong time.

What to do this week

1. Make hours, services, and prices match. Check your website and Google Business Profile on the same day. Use the same business name, phone number, hours, service list, and any published prices or starting rates. If you do not publish prices, be consistent about how you describe estimates and what is included. Fix anything outdated before the next rush period.

2. Give staff a short script for calls that may be an assistant. You do not need a long policy. A few lines on a card by the phone are enough:

If the caller sounds automated, or says they are calling on behalf of someone else, stay on the line. Do not hang up just because the voice is unusual.

Ask for the customer’s name and a callback number you can actually reach.

Repeat the date, time, service, and any notes (party size, address, or what needs to be done).

Say clearly whether the booking is confirmed, pending, or needs a follow-up, and tell them how you will confirm it.

Log the call the same way you would for any other booking.

3. Confirm the booking with the actual customer. A reservation or service slot booked through an assistant should not live only in that phone call. Send a confirmation by text or a return call to the number you were given, or ask the assistant to have the customer confirm. If something is unclear, wait to block the slot until you have a reachable number and a repeated-back request.

4. Decide whether to opt out. If you do not want Muse to call your public business number, Meta’s help page is the place to start; the opt-out form is linked there. Read it before you submit anything. Opting out is a choice, not a requirement, and it will not stop every other kind of assistant call.

5. Make it easier to book without the phone. If the only way to reserve a time or ask a basic question is to call, more customers will look for someone—or something—to wait on hold for them. A simple website form or online booking path, with hours and services in writing, gives people another way through.

If you already use after-hours coverage, review how it will handle these calls. We have written before about setting up an AI receptionist for a small business and a missed-call text-back. Those tools can catch a call you would otherwise miss, but they still need a human check on any booking they take, and they need the same accurate hours and services you publish elsewhere.

What not to do

Do not train staff to end every odd-sounding call. You will hang up on some real customers, including people using a speakerphone, a weak connection, or an assistant that is simply booking for them.

Do not ignore the public listings. If the assistant is reading hours or services from a stale page, the mistake starts before anyone picks up.

Do not assume you will hear a wave of these calls this week, and do not assume you never will. Watch what actually comes in, keep a record, and adjust the script if you start to see a pattern.

How Local Business Search can help

Local Business Search can help you line up your website and Google Business Profile, set up an AI receptionist or missed-call text-back, and review how bookings get confirmed. We also help with AI setup and consulting, small-business IT, marketing, and websites.

We're also making done-for-you how-to videos that walk through checks like this step by step. They're coming soon.