How to add a booking link to your Google Business Profile

To add a booking link to your Google Business Profile, open your profile in Google Search or Maps, choose Booking (in Maps, under Edit profile), select Add link, paste the address of your online booking page and save. Google then shows a booking button on your profile once it has checked the link. Your profile has to be verified first, and Google says not every business, country or region can add booking links.

Why add a booking link to your profile?

When someone finds your business on Google Search or Maps, your profile is often the first thing they see, before your website. A booking link lets them go straight from that profile to picking a time, instead of calling or hunting for a contact form. If you already take online bookings, adding the link costs you nothing and removes a step.

How do you add the link, step by step?

These are the steps in Google's help article Manage your local business links:

1. Go to your Business Profile.
2. In Google Search: select Booking. In Google Maps: select Edit profile, then Booking.
3. Select Add link. If there's already a link, select Add another link.
4. Paste the full address of your booking page.
5. Select Save.

If you end up with more than one booking link, for example an old one from a previous tool, choose Set preferred link under Booking and pick the one you want customers to use. Better still, remove links that no longer work.

Google doesn't say how long the check takes. Its help says changes appear on Search and Maps once they're approved, and its business links policy says links may be checked with a mix of automated tools and people.

What rules does Google set for booking links?

Google's business links policy is the page to read before you add the link. The rules that matter most for a small business:

• The link has to go to a page for your business where customers can actually book. Your home page or a general contact page isn't enough if nobody can book there.
• No social media links, messaging links, app store links or link shorteners. A link to your Instagram profile or a WhatsApp chat won't be accepted as a booking link.
• Google must be able to open the page. No login, no CAPTCHA, and the page must load normally. Google checks links regularly and may remove ones that stop working.
• Your profile must be verified. Unverified profiles can't add business links.
• One link per domain. Google allows one booking link per domain. When you switch booking tools, remove the old link anyway, so customers don't land on a page where they can't book.
• Some businesses and regions aren't eligible. Google gives hair salons as an example of a business that may be able to add appointment links, and notes that some countries and regions can't use certain link types.

Google's two help pages disagree on how many links you can add (one says up to 10 per type, the other up to 20). For a small business it rarely matters: one working booking link is what you want.

What if you don't see the Booking option?

Google's help doesn't give a fix for this. These are our suggestions for what to check:

1. Is your profile verified? Business links need a verified profile.
2. Does your primary category describe what you do? Eligibility seems to depend on the kind of business. Google's profile guidelines ask for a category that is as specific as possible while still representing your main business, so if a more accurate one exists, use it. Don't pick a category just to get the button.
3. Is the option available where you are? Google says some countries and regions aren't eligible for some link types.

If none of that helps, customers can still reach your booking page through your own website, so make sure the website on your profile has a clear "Book now" button. Google's guidelines don't allow links in the business description, so don't put it there.

Which link should you use?

Use the direct link to your booking page, the page where customers choose a service and a time, rather than your home page or a page that asks people to call you.

If you use Okayset, that's your booking page link, which you'll find on the Overview page of your dashboard after you publish your booking page. Customers who follow it from Google see your services, pick a time and get an email straight away: a confirmation, or a note that you'll look at their request if you've turned on booking approval. You see the booking in your calendar. If you've set a service area, they enter their postcode or ZIP code first, so people outside the area you cover can't book a visit you can't make.

The getting started guide shows where to find and share the link, and you can try a sample booking page at /b/shine-demo to see what customers get.

Okayset isn't one of Google's built-in booking partners, so customers book on your Okayset booking page rather than inside Google.

A quick check after you add it

Once Google shows the button, search for your business on your phone, tap the booking button and make a test booking. Then cancel it. It only takes a moment and shows you exactly what a customer sees. Do the same whenever you change booking tools, because an old link that still sits on your profile will send people to a page where they can't book.