Google Maps has been generating summaries of your reviews for about six-month snow but now, with the new 3-pack after dropping the carousel, those short business descriptions based on reviews are more prominent.

Here is a screen shot showing how when you click on a listing, it shows the auto-generated short business description.

It also shows directly in the Google Maps search results:

Linda from the Local Search Forums explained:

So your reviews are critical to your business and short description on Google.

Forum discussion at Local Search Forums.