FloatMessage
Platform Setup7 min read

How do I set a contact form in Google Business?

The short answer: you can't put a form inside your Google Business Profile. Google has no contact-form field, and the in-profile chat that used to let customers message you was shut down on 31 July 2024. Anyone selling you a "Google contact form" is really selling you a link.

What your profile can do is send customers to a page you own. So the working version is: build a page with a form on it, then point your profile's Website and Bookings links at that page. This guide does exactly that, and takes about ten minutes.

Tip:

If you have no website at all, start at floatmessage.com/google-business - paste your Google Maps link and we build the page from your listing first. Then come back to step 3.

1

Create the contact form

In your dashboard, create a new message and pick the Contact Form template. Choose your fields - name, email, phone and message covers most businesses. Keep it short; every extra field costs you enquiries.

2

Tell it where to send enquiries

On the same message, set Notify email to the address you actually read. Every submission emails you there and is stored in Submissions, so nothing depends on an email arriving.

Then Save & Publish.

Tip:

Customers arriving from Google are usually on a phone and often ready to buy. Set the trigger to Immediate or a short delay rather than exit intent - you want the form in front of them, not waiting for them to leave.

3

Copy your links from the dashboard

Open your published page under Landing Pages. You'll see a Use this on Google Business panel with the two URLs you need, ready to copy:

  • Website - your page, with the contact form on it
  • Book online - the same page, but the booking widget opens on arrival

If you run FloatMessage on your own site instead, use your own page URL here - the form works the same way.

4

Paste the Website link into your profile

Open business.google.com (or find your business on Google Search while signed in as the owner) and choose Edit profile → Contact → Website. Paste your page URL and save.

This is the link behind the Website button customers see on Maps and Search. It is the closest thing to a "contact form on Google" that exists.

5

Add the booking link too

Still in Edit profile, open Bookings and paste the Book online URL. That adds a separate booking button to your profile.

The URL ends in ?fm_open=…, which opens your booking widget the moment the page loads - so someone who tapped "Book" on Google gets a calendar, not a homepage to search through.

Tip:

Bookings and Website are separate fields. Filling both means customers get two buttons: one to browse and get in touch, one to book straight away.

6

Test it the way a customer would

Google can take a few hours to show edits. Once live, find your business on your phone and tap the buttons:

  • Website should land on your page with the contact form reachable
  • Book should open the booking widget by itself

Send yourself a test enquiry. It should arrive at your notify address and appear in Submissions within seconds.

Why can't Google just send me the message?

It used to. Google Business Messages let customers chat from your profile and could forward those messages to another system. Google wound it down through July 2024 and switched the API off on the 31st. The chat inbox was removed from Google Maps at the same time.

Since then, the only supported way to receive an enquiry from your profile is to send the customer to a page of your own. That is what the two links above do - and because the page is yours, the enquiry lands in your inbox rather than a Google product that may be discontinued next.

Common problems

  • No Website field to edit. Your profile needs to be verified, and you need to be signed in with the account that owns it.
  • The edit is "pending". Google reviews profile changes. Website links usually clear within a few hours.
  • The booking link opens the page but not the widget. Check the URL still has its ?fm_open=… part - some editors strip everything after the question mark.
  • No email arriving. Confirm the notify address on the message, then check Submissions - if it is listed there, the form works and the problem is email delivery.

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