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Save Calls After July 31: Google Business Profile Messaging for Trades

Abstract transition from old chat to new contact routes

Google retired Business Messages, along with in-profile chat and call history, on July 31, 2024. If you relied on that chat button, your single most urgent task is downloading any saved history you still need and making sure a phone number and website link are visible on your profile right now.

TL;DR:

  • Export any remaining chat or call history via Google Takeout immediately, as the backup window ended on July 31, 2024, with no retrieval options afterward.
  • Remove all brand-managed chat URLs and embedded widgets pointing to Business Messages to prevent customer dead ends and switch to supported alternatives like website chat or messaging links.
  • Confirm that your profile’s phone number and website are accurate, visible, and current, prioritizing fixing live lead sources over archivist data.
  • Add and test WhatsApp or SMS chat options on your profile, ensuring they display correctly on mobile devices by testing over mobile data instead of Wi-Fi.
  • Regularly review and update old marketing materials containing outdated Business Messages links, testing each link from a mobile device quarterly to prevent dead ends.
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Table of Contents

What changed: timeline and what was removed

Google phased this out in two steps. Brands using their own hosted chat links or web widgets, known as brand-managed entry points, were told to remove or replace them by July 15, 2024, according to the developer release notes. By July 31, 2024, the wider shutdown hit: Business Messages stopped working entirely, and chat and call history disappeared from Business Profiles across the board.

For developers and partners, this meant Google stopped creating new conversations and pulled certain API metrics that agencies and marketing teams used to track message volume. If you want the old conversation transcripts or call logs for your records, Google Takeout was the only path, and that window has closed for most accounts. Anyone who didn’t export before the cutoff lost that history permanently, according to reports from businesses that missed the deadline. There’s no retrieval option after the fact, so if you still have access to an export, save it now rather than assuming you can come back to it later.

What changed: timeline and what was removed — overview diagram

What to do next: a prioritized checklist

Treat this as triage. Some steps protect data you can’t get back, others protect leads you’re actively losing right now.

  • Export any remaining chat or call history through Google Takeout before you lose access entirely.
  • Find and remove any brand-managed chat URLs or embedded web widgets still pointing at the old Business Messages system.
  • Confirm your phone number and website link are current, correct, and visible on your profile.
  • Add a WhatsApp or SMS chat option if your account is eligible, then test the flow on an actual mobile phone.
  • Tell existing customers about the change through your website, a social post, or an updated profile description.

The order matters. A missing phone number costs you calls today, while a lost chat archive only costs you historical context. Fix the live lead flow first, then clean up the records.

How to add WhatsApp or text message chat to your profile

Eligible accounts can add a WhatsApp or SMS link directly in the Business Profile contact section. Here’s how to set it up:

  1. Open your Business Profile editor and go to the contact or “Chat” settings area.
  2. Select WhatsApp or text message as your chat method.
  3. For WhatsApp, enter your click-to-chat URL in the standard WhatsApp link format, including the country code.
  4. For SMS, enter the mobile number customers should text, formatted the way you’d dial it.
  5. Save your changes and check the profile preview before publishing.

One quirk to know before you start: if you add both WhatsApp and SMS, only the text message option displays to customers, according to Google’s own guidance. Pick whichever channel you actually monitor, since a chat option nobody answers is worse than no chat option at all.

Pro Tip: Test the finished setup on your own phone over mobile data, not just Wi-Fi, since display behavior can differ by device and region.

You’ll need owner or manager-level access to the profile to make these edits, and changes can take a short while to appear publicly, so don’t assume a broken test means a broken setup.

Where chat options appear and display limits

These new chat links are built for phones. They surface on Search and Maps results when someone is browsing on mobile, and desktop users may not see them at all. If both WhatsApp and SMS are configured, the SMS option is the one customers actually see, so there’s no real benefit to adding both beyond a backup in case you change your mind later.

This is exactly why your phone number and website still carry the weight. A desktop searcher comparing trade businesses late at night has no chat button to click, only your listed number and whatever link takes them to your site. Business Profile performance reports still track website clicks, direction requests, and calls, so you’re not flying blind, just missing the message-specific data you used to get.

Managing legacy integrations and brand-managed entry points

There’s a real difference between chat features Google hosted itself and chat buttons you built and linked into your profile, known as brand-managed entry points. The first kind disappeared on its own. The second kind is still sitting on your website or marketing materials, quietly pointing customers at a dead end, according to developer guidance on the shutdown.

  • Audit your website, email signatures, and old social posts for any lingering Business Messages links or embedded widgets.
  • Replace each one with a working alternative: a website chat widget, a WhatsApp click-to-chat link, an SMS link, or a direct social messaging link.
  • Click through every replaced link yourself to confirm it opens the right conversation, not an error page.

Pro Tip: Check these links from a phone on mobile data at least once a quarter, since chat apps and link formats change more often than most people expect.

How to measure and monitor the impact after switching channels

Business Profile performance reports still show website visits, calls, and direction requests, so you haven’t lost all visibility, just the chat-specific numbers. For WhatsApp and SMS, build your own tracking: a unique landing page or UTM-tagged link tells you whether a mobile chat click actually turned into a conversation.

Tools like the Gemini web app for Business Profile management can help draft review replies and summarize recurring feedback themes, which partly fills the gap left by losing real-time chat transcripts. Beyond that, a simple habit works just as well: log inbound SMS and WhatsApp conversations manually in a spreadsheet or your CRM so you keep a record of what used to be automatic.

TK Marketing perspective: setup, testing, and managed support

We approach this transition in a fixed order for trade clients: confirm the phone number is correct and visible first, check that the website has a working contact or chat option second, add and test WhatsApp or SMS third, then set up ongoing monitoring. Skipping the order tends to mean a business chases mobile chat setup while a wrong phone number quietly costs them calls every day.

Signs you’d benefit from managed support rather than handling this solo: you’re not sure if your profile edits actually saved, you’ve never tested a chat link on an actual phone, or you don’t have time to audit old marketing materials for dead chat URLs. For clients in areas like Devizes, Bath, and Swindon, we typically run a profile audit, implement the contact changes, test every link on mobile, and then monitor performance monthly as part of ongoing management.

Why mobile testing matters more than the official guidance suggests

The official instructions treat adding WhatsApp or SMS as a checkbox task, but the real failure point is testing. A chat link that looks fine in the profile editor can still break on a customer’s phone, and because these options are mobile-only, you won’t catch a broken link by checking on your laptop.

Mobile chat link testing sequence

Conventional advice stops at “add the chat option.” It rarely mentions that only one method displays when you configure both, or that performance tracking for chat clicks has quietly disappeared along with the feature itself. That gap matters more for trade businesses than most, since a missed call or an unanswered text is a lost job, not just a dip in a metric.

If you prioritize one thing from this whole transition, make it this: pick up your own phone, load your profile on mobile data, and click every contact option exactly the way a customer would. Everything else, the checklist, the Takeout export, the monitoring, matters less than confirming the basic path from search result to a real conversation still works.

— Trey

How we can help with your Business Profile and chat setup

We handle Google Business Profile audits, contact and chat configuration, and ongoing monthly management for trade businesses, so you’re not left testing links and chasing dead widgets on your own.

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Our relevant services include:

  • Google Business Profile setup and monthly management to keep contact details and chat options current.
  • Website builds and updates through our web design service, including live chat widgets as a mobile-visibility backup.
  • Brand identity work so your contact details stay consistent across your website, van signage, and print materials.

We aim to complete profile and contact audits efficiently as part of our process. Check our Google Business Profile management page to see what’s included and get started.

FAQ

Can my boss see my Google Chat?

Google Chat used for workplace communication through a Google Workspace account can be visible to a company’s administrators, since workspace admins typically retain oversight of accounts they manage. This is separate from Business Profile messaging, which involves customer-facing chat on a business listing rather than internal workplace chat.

Is there a difference between Google My Business and Google Business Profile?

Google My Business was the original name for the free tool businesses used to manage their Google listings, and it was rebranded to Google Business Profile. The features and purpose carried over, so any reference to “Google My Business messages” today refers to the same messaging tools now found under Google Business Profile.

What’s a Chat click on Google Business Profile?

A chat click refers to a customer tapping your WhatsApp or SMS contact option shown on your profile in Search or Maps results. These options appear mainly on mobile devices, and if both WhatsApp and SMS are set up, only the SMS option is shown to customers.

How do I add the WhatsApp Chat option in my Google Business Profile?

In the Business Profile editor’s contact or chat settings, select WhatsApp and enter your click-to-chat URL, including your country code, then save and preview the change. Keep in mind that if you also add an SMS number, only the text message option displays to customers, so choose one primary channel.

Sources

Official Google pages and developer notes to check

For the most current guidance, these official pages are worth checking directly, since Google continues to adjust messaging features on Business Profiles.