Does Google Business Profile Have Chat? Native Chat Ended July 31, 2024
By Sharrk Team · October 24, 2026
No. Google's own chat inside Business Profiles ended on July 31, 2024, so the contact options left on your profile need answering by you or by Sharrk, which answers your profile's number 24/7 with an AI voice agent and replies to texts and web form leads in under 30 seconds. What's left on the profile is a Chat button that just opens a text or WhatsApp thread to a number you choose (only in some regions), plus the Call button and your website link.
What happened to Google Business Profile chat?
Google shut it down over two weeks in July 2024. Its help center gives these dates:
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| July 15, 2024 | Customers with open chats were told chat was ending. Search Engine Land reported that new chats could no longer be started from Maps or Search that day. |
| July 31, 2024 | Chat and call history were removed from Business Profiles. Chat FAQs and quote requests ended too. |
| August 30, 2024 | Last day to download old chat and call records with Google Takeout. |
Call history went at the same time. Google also says the Call button now dials the number you put on your profile, not a Google forwarding number. So Google no longer keeps a log of who called you from your profile. You need your own record.
Is there any way to message a business on Google now?
Yes, but Google is no longer in the middle of the conversation. Google's help center now has a "Chat" setting under Contact. You choose Text message or WhatsApp and enter either a number that can receive texts or a WhatsApp click-to-chat link. When a customer taps Chat, the message goes to that number or WhatsApp account, and you answer it there.
What Google's help pages say about it, checked October 24, 2026:
- It's "currently available for select regions" and may not show up on your profile. Google doesn't list which countries.
- If you add both options, customers only see the text message option.
The Tech Outlook reported in January 2025 that it was reaching US businesses, and Near Media found it rolling out to US profiles that month, showing on mobile search but not yet on Google Maps or desktop. We found no sign that Google has brought back its own built-in chat since then.
To set it up: go to your Business Profile, click Edit profile, then Contact. Click Edit next to "Chat," pick Text message or WhatsApp, enter the number or link, and click Save.
What else can customers use to reach you from your profile?
| Contact path | Status (October 2026) | Who answers |
|---|---|---|
| Call button | Still live. It dials the number on your profile. | You, your staff, or an AI voice agent on that number |
| Chat (text or WhatsApp) | Select regions only | Whoever answers the number you entered |
| Website link | Still live | Your site: forms, booking buttons, chat widgets |
| Bookings | Through a Reserve with Google provider or your own booking link | Your booking tool |
| Local Services Ads message leads | Still offered, except for health care and tax specialists | You, from the LSA lead inbox, by text or email |
About Local Services Ads messages. If you run Local Services Ads, Google still sends message leads. You get an email and a text for each one. Replies go through an anonymous alias, and Google says message leads "typically cost less than phone leads." Our Google Local Services Ads cost guide covers pricing. Google also tells you to answer these leads as soon as they come in.
How do you make sure every Call from your profile gets answered?
The Call button is now the main way people reach you from Google, and no one at Google takes a message if you miss it. Here are three ways to cover it.
- Put a number on your profile that is always answered. Google's chat-shutdown page says that if your profile has no phone number showing, you should add one.
- Keep your listed number and forward it. Set call forwarding at your carrier so calls you don't pick up go to your answering line. Our guide to forwarding calls to an answering service shows the carrier steps.
- Have it answered 24/7, not only during business hours. People search Google at night and on weekends, and those calls ring the same number.
With Sharrk, that answering line is an AI voice agent. An AI receptionist answers every call, day or night. It asks your qualifying questions and books the job onto Sharrk's calendar, Calendly, Cal.com or ServiceTitan, using real arrival windows. When a caller needs a person, it transfers the call. A cold transfer passes it straight through. A warm transfer gives you a private whisper brief or a three-way intro first. Every call is logged with a transcript, a recording and the details the agent captured, and you get a text or email alert after each one. That also gives you back the call history Google took away.
How do you answer the Chat button by text?
If the Chat option appears on your profile, enter a number that can receive texts. If that number belongs to Sharrk, Sharrk's AI text agent takes the conversation. It answers new texts, holds the back-and-forth, books the appointment and sends you an alert after the chat. If you want to step in, it hands the thread to your cell. You reply from your own phone, and the customer still sees your business number.
Texting from a business number in the US needs approved texting registration first. That's a one-time $5 brand registration and $20 campaign vetting fee, plus a small monthly campaign fee. Sharrk's registration wizard walks you through it.
How do you reply to website leads in under 30 seconds?
A lot of people who find you on Google tap your website link instead of calling. Then they fill out a form and wait. How fast you reply decides who gets the job, and that's what speed to lead means. Here's how to set it up:
- Send every form to one place. Either build the form in Sharrk and embed it on your site, or keep your current form and send it to Sharrk with a webhook (Zapier and Make work for this). Leads from Angi, Thumbtack, Networx and Jobber can come into the same list.
- Start follow-up the moment a lead arrives. In Sharrk, a new lead starts a Strike, which is an automatic follow-up sequence. Every new lead gets a reply in under 30 seconds by text, call or email, 24/7. After hours, the lead still gets an immediate text or email, and calls wait until your sending window opens.
- Keep following up until they reply. A Strike can mix AI calls, texts, emails, voicemail drops and video texts over several days. It stops when the lead replies or one of your stop rules is met.
- Let the text agent run the conversation. A Strike's AI Text step sends the first message and then keeps chatting until the lead books.
How do you set this up without a week of work?
Mako, Sharrk's AI assistant, builds it from plain English. Tell Mako something like "answer my Google number 24/7, book estimates on weekdays, text new website leads right away, and follow up for five days." Mako creates the voice agent, the text agent, the web form and the Strike. Every change shows up on an Apply card, and nothing goes live until you tap OK.
How Sharrk handles Google Business Profile leads
With Sharrk, the number on your profile gets an AI voice agent that answers 24/7 and books. The Chat number gets an AI text agent. Leads from your web forms and webhooks get a reply in under 30 seconds through Strikes. You can start free with 2,500 credits and no card, and build and test everything with Mako. Or book a demo and see it running on your own number.
Related on Sharrk: AI answering service · AI receptionist · The 90-second speed-to-lead rule
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help, "Chat and call history going away" (help page, no date shown): https://support.google.com/business/answer/14919056 (checked October 24, 2026)
- Google Business Profile Help, "Chat with customers from your Business Profile": https://support.google.com/business/answer/15013580 (checked October 24, 2026)
- Google Business Profile Help, "Add text & WhatsApp messaging options": https://support.google.com/business/answer/16751381 (checked October 24, 2026)
- Google Business Profile Help, "Set up bookings through a provider": https://support.google.com/business/answer/7475773 (checked October 24, 2026)
- Google Local Services Ads Help, "Manage leads and jobs": https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/6224859 (checked October 24, 2026)
- Search Engine Land, Barry Schwartz, "Google Business Profile chat and call history going away" (2024): https://searchengineland.com/google-business-profile-chat-and-call-history-going-away-442666 (checked October 24, 2026)
- Near Media, Mike Blumenthal, "WhatsApp Now Live on US Google Business Profiles" (February 4, 2025): https://www.nearmedia.co/whatsapp-now-live-on-us-google-business-profiles-2/ (checked October 24, 2026)
- The Tech Outlook, "Google silently launches Chat with Text and WhatsApp in the US under Business Profiles" (January 23, 2025): https://www.thetechoutlook.com/news/apps/google-silently-launches-chat-with-text-and-whatsapp-in-the-us-under-business-profiles/ (checked October 24, 2026)
Frequently asked questions
Does Google Business Profile still have chat?
No, Google's built-in chat ended on July 31, 2024. In select regions, businesses can add a Chat button, but it only opens a text message or WhatsApp thread to a number the business chooses. Google isn't part of the conversation.
When did Google Business Profile chat stop working?
On July 31, 2024, chat was fully removed. Starting July 15, 2024, customers with open chats were told it was ending, and businesses had until August 30, 2024 to download their old chat and call records with Google Takeout.
Can I still see call history in Google Business Profile?
No, call history was removed along with chat on July 31, 2024. The Call button now dials the number on your profile directly, so you need your own call log. An AI voice agent like Sharrk's logs every call with a transcript and recording.
How do I add text or WhatsApp messaging to my Google Business Profile?
Go to Edit profile, then Contact, then Edit next to Chat. Choose Text message or WhatsApp, enter a number that can receive texts or a WhatsApp click-to-chat link, and click Save. Google says the option is only available in select regions.
Do Google Local Services Ads still have message leads?
Yes, Local Services Ads still offer message leads, except for health care and tax specialists. You get an email and a text for each new message, and you reply by text or email through an anonymous alias. Google says message leads typically cost less than phone leads.