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Google Business Profile

How to Set Up Messaging on Your Google Business Profile

The Short Answer

Google Business Profile’s built-in chat tool was discontinued in July 2024. What’s there now works differently: you connect a WhatsApp number or a text-messaging number directly to your profile’s Contact section, and customer messages come to that number instead of through a native Google inbox. It only takes a few minutes to set up, but it’s worth knowing how it actually works now, since a lot of guides online still describe the old version.

What Changed With Google Business Profile Messaging

Google’s original in-dashboard chat tool let customers message a business directly through their Business Profile, with the conversation visible on Google Search and Maps. Google discontinued that tool, along with call history records, on July 31, 2024. In its place, Google rolled out a simpler setup: connecting a WhatsApp number or a text-message number directly to your profile’s Contact section. This is part of a broader pattern of Google changing how Business Profile features work. We covered a similar change in our guide to Google removing Business Profile Q&A.
  • July 15, 2024: Google notifies businesses with active chats that the feature is ending
  • July 31, 2024: The native Business Profile chat tool and call history are discontinued
  • Historical chat and call data was downloadable through Google Takeout until the end of August 2024
  • After: Google rolls out WhatsApp and text-message based chat as the replacement

How to Turn On Messaging Today

Setting it up takes a few steps. From your Business Profile, go to Edit profile, then the Contact section, and click Edit next to Chat. From there, choose either WhatsApp or text message as your channel, then enter either a WhatsApp click-to-chat link or a phone number that can receive texts. If you add both a WhatsApp link and a phone number, only the text message option is shown to customers, so pick whichever one you’ll actually monitor.

A Few Things to Know Before You Turn It On

The feature isn’t available everywhere yet. Google has rolled it out to select regions, so check your Business Profile’s Contact section to confirm it’s an option for your listing before you plan around it. If you manage more than one location, you can point multiple profiles to the same WhatsApp number, which is useful if one person or team handles messages for several listings. Whatever number or link you connect, make sure it goes somewhere that’s actually being watched. A chat button that leads to a phone nobody checks does more harm than not having the feature at all.

Managing Messages Once It's On

A chat option on your Business Profile sets an expectation that it’ll be answered close to real time, closer to a text message than an email. Before turning it on, decide who’s actually responsible for replying and during what hours, and consider a short note in your profile description explaining when customers can expect to hear back. Spam and irrelevant messages will come through occasionally, the same as with any phone number posted publicly. Block and ignore those rather than engaging with them.

Keep the Rest of Your Contact Info Working Too

Messaging is one more way for a customer to reach you, not a replacement for a complete profile. It works best alongside accurate hours, a monitored phone number, and a website that’s easy to navigate. See the rest of what your Business Profile needs if you haven’t audited the rest of your profile recently.
  • Confirm messaging is available for your Business Profile before promoting it
  • Connect a number or WhatsApp link that is actually monitored, not a placeholder
  • Decide who is responsible for responses and during what hours
  • Set an expectation in your profile description if you cannot respond instantly
  • Block and ignore spam messages rather than engaging with them

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

No. Google discontinued the original in-dashboard chat tool and call history on July 31, 2024. Messaging now works by connecting a WhatsApp number or a text-messaging number to your profile instead.
Not yet. Google has rolled the feature out to select regions, so check your profile’s Contact section to see if the Chat option is available for your listing.
You can add both, but only the text message option will actually be shown to customers, so choose whichever channel you will monitor.
Yes. Different Business Profiles can point to the same WhatsApp link, which is useful if one person or team handles messages across several locations.
Google made historical chat and call data available for download through Google Takeout until the end of August 2024. If it was not exported by then, it is no longer accessible.

Want Your Whole Profile Working as Hard as Messaging Can?

Messaging is one small piece of a Google Business Profile that actually converts. See our Google Business Profile Optimization Services for the rest of what makes a listing perform.
See Optimization Services