If you went looking for the Messages tab in your Google Business Profile and found nothing there, you did not imagine it. Google shut its own chat feature down, and what sits in its place behaves differently. So the question of whether to switch messaging on needs a fresh answer, not a recycled one from an old blog post.
The short version: the feature people called Google Business Profile messaging no longer exists. What you can add today is a WhatsApp or text messaging option to your contact details, and that is a decision worth making deliberately rather than by default.
As of 31 July 2024, Google permanently removed the messaging, chat and call history features from Business Profiles. That is stated plainly on Google’s own support page covering changes to chat and call history. In practice it means customers can no longer open a chat thread inside Google Search or Google Maps and message you from there.
Your old conversations went with it. Google’s wording is clear that chat and call history are no longer available in a Business Profile, which means you cannot interact with customers through those threads and you cannot pull the record back out. If anything in that inbox still mattered, such as a quote request you never followed up, your copy of it has to come from somewhere else: your email, your phone, or your own job management system. Treat the profile as a channel that resets, not one that stores.
Businesses with a claimed and verified Business Profile can add a WhatsApp or text messaging option to their contact info. That comes from Google’s help page on chatting with customers from your Business Profile. The same page sets out the reasoning: by giving customers a direct way to contact your business by text or WhatsApp, you can answer their questions in real time and encourage them to visit.
This is a meaningfully different setup from the old chat window. Messages no longer live inside Google. They arrive in WhatsApp or in your phone’s text inbox, which means your everyday number, your everyday app and your everyday habits now carry the customer conversation. Anyone who picks up that phone becomes part of your enquiry handling, whether they meant to or not.
One caveat sits in Google’s own wording. Chat options are currently available for select regions and might not be available for your Business Profile. For a Scottish trade or supplier, that is the first thing to check before planning anything around it.
The route through the profile is short, and Google’s help documentation sets out the steps:
If the option does not appear at the end of that sequence, it is not a fault on your side. Availability is regional, so check Google’s help page for the current position before changing anything else.
Before you spend any time on this, confirm both of the following:
Get those two right and the rest is a five minute job. Get them wrong and you will be hunting through settings for a switch that was never going to be there.
Most local searches now happen on a phone, often by someone standing on a pavement or sitting in a van. Asking a question by text is a lower hurdle than filling in a form, and far lower than waiting for a landline to be answered. A customer with a live job in front of them would rather send two lines and get an answer.
For construction and engineering supply, the questions tend to be short and specific: do you cover this postcode, do you hold this part, can you price this. Those are exactly the messages a text option handles well. WhatsApp also carries photos and voice notes as standard, which suits damage photos, site photos and part numbers far better than a typed description.
There is another angle. Someone who messages you has already chosen your business over the others on the map. That is a warm enquiry. If your only route is a contact form that gets checked once a day, some of those people will have moved on before you reply.
The strongest argument against is simple: an advertised channel nobody answers looks worse than no channel at all. If nobody is watching that inbox during working hours, leaving it off is the honest choice.
None of those are reasons to avoid it forever. They are reasons to decide who owns it, on what hours, and where the details get written down.
There is no single right answer, but the pattern is reasonably clear for local service businesses.
| Business type | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency trades such as plumbing, heating and drainage | Turn it on | Enquiries are short, urgent and often sent from a phone on site |
| Roofing and building | Turn it on | Customers often want to send photos before asking for a visit |
| Construction and engineering suppliers | Turn it on with a rule | Route trade enquiries to one named person and log them properly |
| Professional services | Your call | Detailed enquiries are usually better handled by phone or a form |
| Any business with nobody watching the inbox | Leave it off for now | An unanswered message tells a customer you are not interested |
If you do switch it on, a few habits stop it becoming a nuisance:
Google’s own guidance on Business Profiles puts the emphasis on personalising your profile with photos, managing customer reviews and sharing what makes your business unique to attract new customers. Chat options sit alongside that work, not above it.
Nothing in Google’s documentation frames chat as a ranking feature. It is described as a way for customers to reach you and a nudge towards a visit. Visibility in Maps and local search comes from the profile details, categories, service areas, photos and reviews, plus the relevance and quality of the website behind it. If your profile is thin on those, switching on messaging will not rescue it. Get the profile right, then add the channel your customers actually want to use.
Not in its original form. Google permanently removed the messaging, chat and call history features from Business Profiles on 31 July 2024. What you can add today is a WhatsApp or text messaging option to the contact info of a claimed and verified profile, in regions where chat options are supported. It is a different feature with a different name.
Go to business.google.com and select the business you want to edit. Click Edit profile, then Business information, then Contact. That is where you add or edit your chat options, including WhatsApp and text messaging. Your profile must be claimed and verified, and chat options must be available in your region. Google’s help page carries the current wording.
The most common reason is availability. Google states that chat options are currently available for select regions and might not be available for your Business Profile. Confirm the profile is claimed and verified as well, since that is a stated requirement. If both look correct, check Google’s own help page before assuming something has broken on your side.
Google describes chat options as a way for customers to contact you and a prompt to encourage visits, not as a ranking feature. Visibility in Maps and local search rests far more on your profile details, categories, photos, reviews and the relevance of your website. Treat messaging as a conversion tool rather than a rankings lever, and set expectations accordingly.
It was removed with the rest of the feature on 31 July 2024. Google states that chat and call history are no longer available in Business Profiles, so customers cannot reach you through those threads and you cannot retrieve them from the profile. If you need a record of a past conversation, look in your email, your phone or your own system.
