UK Local Services: Stop Broken Google Business Profile Chat Links
Google retired Business Profile messaging: you cannot receive new chats through your Business Profile any more, and the change is permanent. Google shut down Business Messages and removed chat and call history from Business Profile, so any past conversations need exporting before they disappear. The practical next step is simple: archive your old records and set up an alternative contact channel today.
TL;DR:
- Google has permanently retired Business Profile messaging, removing chat and call history from profiles and ending support for the associated API on July 31, 2024.
- Businesses must export existing chat data via Google Takeout before August 30, 2024, and remove any old chat widgets or URLs from websites and marketing materials immediately.
- Switching to alternative contact methods like WhatsApp, website live chat, or SMS is recommended, with each option’s data ownership, staffing needs, and compatibility considered.
- Updating your Business Profile contact information, including phone numbers and website links, is essential, and monitoring Insights will replace message-based engagement metrics.
- Relying solely on third-party inboxes risks losing full control over customer conversations, so businesses should migrate to owned channels and update automated messaging accordingly.
Table of Contents
- What changed and the exact timeline Google announced
- Immediate checklist: what to do in the next 48 to 72 hours
- Practical alternatives to replace Business Profile chat
- Developer and integration impact: API, metrics and migration checklist
- How to keep your Business Profile a reliable contact point
- Our practical approach for local service businesses
- How we help you migrate messaging and measure results
- FAQ
- Sources
What changed and the exact timeline Google announced
Google phased out Business Profile messaging over several months rather than switching it off overnight. Brands using their own chat widgets or URLs were told to remove or replace brand-managed entry points by 15 July 2024, giving businesses a short window to redirect customers elsewhere. Business Messages itself was fully retired on 31 July 2024, and from that date no new conversations could start through Business Profile.
The key dates and changes:
- By mid-July 2024: deadline to remove or replace brand-managed chat entry points.
- 31 July 2024: Business Messages retired; chat and call history removed from Business Profile.
- 30 August 2024: last date to download historic chat records via Google Takeout.
Business Messages, the conversational layer behind Business Profile chat, was fully retired on 31 July 2024, which also marked the end of support for the developer API behind it. Google-hosted entry points (the chat button inside the Business Profile itself) and brand-managed ones (custom widgets businesses had built into their own sites) were both affected, though the brand-managed ones needed manual removal to avoid broken links.
Immediate checklist: what to do in the next 48 to 72 hours
If you have not acted yet, treat this as urgent. Old chat links left live on your website or marketing materials will frustrate customers who expect a reply that will never come.
- Export your chat history through Google Takeout before any remaining archive access closes, and store the file somewhere secure.
- Remove brand-managed chat widgets or URLs from your website, email signatures and printed materials.
- Update your Business Profile contact fields so your phone number and website link are current and prominent.
- Rewrite any automated welcome messages that still reference chat as a way to reach you.
- Send a short notice to regular customers, for example: “We’ve updated how you can reach us. Call us on [number] or message us on WhatsApp.”
Pro Tip: Pin a short notice at the top of your website’s contact page for a few weeks after the switch, so returning customers who bookmarked the old chat link immediately see where to go instead.
Practical alternatives to replace Business Profile chat
Several options can fill the gap, each with trade-offs worth weighing against how your business actually operates day to day.
- WhatsApp or text via Business Profile contact settings: Google lets you add WhatsApp or a text message option to your profile, though if you add both, only the text option may display on some views.
- Website live chat widgets: these keep conversation data under your own control and allow handoff into a booking system or CRM without relying on a third party.
- Business SMS services: reliable for short, transactional exchanges like appointment confirmations or callback requests.
- Social messaging inboxes (Instagram, Facebook): useful if your customers already follow you there, but you are trusting a third platform with the relationship, and inboxes can attract spam.
Choosing between them comes down to a few practical questions: who owns the data, how easily your team can staff the channel, how much can be automated, and what your customers already expect on mobile.
| Channel | Data ownership | Staffing effort | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp/SMS via Business Profile | Shared with Google/Meta | Low | Quick replies, mobile-first customers |
| Website live chat | Fully owned | Medium | Capturing leads into a CRM |
| Business SMS service | Fully owned | Low | Appointment confirmations |
| Social inboxes | Platform-controlled | Medium | Customers already active on social |
Developer and integration impact: API, metrics and migration checklist
For anyone with a technical integration into Business Messages, the retirement removes both the messaging API and the way you measured it. The Business Messages API is deprecated, and the BUSINESS_CONVERSATIONS metric has been dropped from the Performance API, so conversation volume needs tracking through a replacement system instead.
A short migration checklist:
- Export existing conversation data before archive access ends.
- Retire or redirect webhooks that pointed at Business Messages endpoints.
- Route incoming customer messages to your new provider (website chat, SMS gateway or social inbox).
- Test delivery receipts and incident handling on the replacement before relying on it fully.
How to keep your Business Profile a reliable contact point
With messaging gone, your Business Profile’s remaining contact fields carry more weight, so they are worth checking carefully.
- Make sure your phone number and website link are correct, visible and, where available, include a booking link.
- Keep photos, service descriptions and opening hours current, which reduces the number of basic queries you have to field manually.
- Watch Insights for clicks, calls and website visits as your primary engagement measures now that message counts are gone, since Performance Insights still reports these reliably.
- Review automated calls and text settings, since Google may contact the number on your profile to verify details, and you can adjust or opt out of these through your advanced profile settings.
Our practical approach for local service businesses
Owned channels matter because every conversation that happens inside a third-party inbox is a lead you do not fully control. When a platform retires a feature, as happened here, any business that relied on it loses the conversation history and the relationship built inside it.
We generally sequence a migration like this: audit existing entry points, archive anything at risk, pick one primary channel rather than spreading thin across several, update contact profiles to match, then measure. The most common pitfall we see is a business relying on a single third-party inbox and forgetting to update the automated message sitting behind it, which quietly sends customers to a dead end.
How we help you migrate messaging and measure results
We help local service businesses turn this kind of disruption into a tidier setup than before. Our SEO & GEO work gets your booking links and contact paths structured properly across Google and AI search, while our social media management handles the inbox side if that is where your customers already are.
A sensible first step is a short audit call: we look at your current contact setup, flag anything still pointing at the old chat links, and recommend which channel fits your business. Get in touch through our services page to arrange one.
FAQ
Can my boss see my Google Chat?
Google Chat (the separate workplace tool used within Google Workspace) is distinct from Business Profile messaging, and workplace administrators can typically access message content for compliance and security purposes under their organisation’s policies. This is unrelated to the retirement of Business Profile chat for customer-facing messaging.
Is there a difference between Google My Business and Google Business Profile?
They are the same product under different names. Google rebranded Google My Business to Google Business Profile several years ago, and all current features, including the now-retired messaging tools, sit under the Business Profile name.
What’s a chat click on Google Business Profile?
A chat click referred to a customer tapping the chat button on a Business Profile to start a conversation with the business. Since Business Messages was retired on 31 July 2024, this button and the click data behind it no longer exist on Business Profile.
How do I add the WhatsApp chat option in my Google Business Profile?
You can add a WhatsApp number through your Business Profile’s contact settings, where it appears alongside other contact options. If you add both WhatsApp and a text message option, only one may display to a given customer depending on their view.
Sources
- Update on Google Business Messages | Google for Developers
- Changes to Google Business Profile chat and call history
