Guide
How do I audit the website link, booking link, and contact action on a Google Business Profile?
Audit a Google Business Profile in two passes. Before editing, record the current website, booking or other transaction link, phone, chat availability, eligibility, and expected destination. After editing, open the profile as a customer and follow every action to completion. Keep the submitted URL, final URL, response and loading result, customer-view result, and date in one evidence log. A link that resolves can still point to the wrong location or fail to complete the intended action.
By Sergey Sulimko, Founder · · 6 sources, read Oct 25, 2026
What should a Google Business Profile links audit check?
Use one row for each customer-facing surface. The preflight column protects the edit, the customer-view column checks what people actually see, and the evidence column makes the result repeatable. Google treats the website, business links, phone, and chat as different surfaces, so do not use a homepage check as proof that a booking or contact action works.1,2,3,4
| Surface | Preflight check | Customer-view check after the change | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main website | Enter the full URL with its HTTP or HTTPS protocol prefix. Confirm that the page represents the individual location. Reject a redirect to another business, phone number, or social-media page. Check that Googlebot is not blocked.1,2 | Open the website from the profile in Search and Maps. Follow redirects and confirm the final page represents the same location and works for a customer. | Profile URL, submitted URL, final URL, date, and customer-view result. |
| Booking or other transaction link | Confirm verification, business and region eligibility, a location-specific destination, and completion of the named action. Reject social-media, messaging, app-store, and shortened links. Record whether the link is self-managed or provider-managed.3,5,6 | Open the relevant action, such as Booking, and follow it to the intended business or provider page. Confirm that the customer can complete the action. | Transaction type, visible link, preferred-link state, submitted and final URLs, eligibility result, customer-view result, and date. |
| Phone contact | Confirm that the number connects to the individual location, stays under the business's direct control, and is local whenever possible. Reject a redirecting number or a premium number.2 | Use the customer-facing phone action and confirm that it reaches the intended location. Record when the number is not displayed. | Displayed number, visibility state, test result, and date. |
| WhatsApp or text chat | Confirm that the profile is claimed and verified. Check whether chat is available in the relevant region, then record the WhatsApp URL or text-capable number.4 | Open Contact and check the displayed chat action. Confirm that it opens the intended destination. If both options are configured, expect only text message to appear.4 | Option shown, target URL or number, customer-view result, and date. |
| Final destination and crawlability | Follow redirects and check that the final page loads its required resources without a CAPTCHA, login, IP or geographic block, cloaking, or blocking of Google's Google-BusinessLinkVerification User-Agent. A successful response such as 200 OK is required for a functional link.3 |
Confirm that the same destination works for a customer and completes the designated action, not only that the URL resolves. | Submitted URL, final URL, response or status evidence, loaded-resource result, customer-view result, and date. |
How do I record the preflight before changing a link?
Create the audit row before opening the editor. Start with the profile name, profile URL, audit date, signed-in account, and current verification state. Then write the exact value currently visible for the website, transaction links, phone, and chat. Google requires the Google Account linked to the Business Profile to edit it, so record the account that will make the change.1
Use this preflight sequence:
- Save the current customer view from Google Search and Google Maps. Note which actions appear, which transaction link is preferred, and whether the phone or chat action is visible.
- Copy every submitted URL exactly as Google shows it. Do not shorten it for the audit log.
- Check the final destination in a normal browser. Record redirects, the final URL, the response status, required resources, and whether the page represents the individual location.
- For a booking or other transaction link, record the action type, business and region eligibility, verification state, provider or self-managed status, and the page where the customer should complete the action.3,5
- Set the expected result for the post-change check. For example, “Booking opens the location-specific appointment page and a customer can complete the booking flow.”
Make the smallest edit that addresses the finding. If a provider controls the visible link, record it as provider-managed instead of treating it as a manually entered URL. The quarterly Google Business Profile audit covers the wider profile review. This guide supplies the link and action evidence layer that the wider audit does not.
How do I audit the main website link?
Open the Website field in the Business Profile editor and compare the saved value with the business's individual location page. Google says to enter the full URL with its HTTP or HTTPS protocol prefix and to make sure Googlebot is not blocked. Some categories can add extra website links for orders, reservations, or appointments, but that availability is category-specific.1
Apply Google's representation rule to the destination. The website must represent the individual business location. Do not use a URL that redirects customers to another location, a central phone number, or a social-media page. If the business has multiple locations, test the location page that the profile is meant to represent, not a general “locations” page.2
Read the full section
After saving, open the profile's website action from both Search and Maps. Follow every redirect until the browser stops. Record the submitted URL and final URL separately. A redirect is not automatically a failure, but the final destination must still represent the same location and be usable by a customer. If the final page changes the location, phone, or intended action, return to the profile edit instead of marking the website check as passed.
How do I audit a booking or other transaction link?
Treat a Google Business Profile booking link as a separate action from the ordinary Website field. First confirm that the profile is verified and that the business type and region are eligible. Google says the link must lead to a dedicated page for the business, or to the specific location when the business has multiple locations, where the customer can complete the designated action. Google does not make every link type available to every business.3
For a self-managed link, use the current profile UI:
- Go to your Business Profile.
- In Google Search, select Booking, Food ordering, or Pickup and delivery. In Google Maps, select Edit profile and then the transaction type.
- Select Add link. If a link already exists, select Add another link.
- Enter the destination URL and select Save.
- If several links are available, open the transaction type, select Set preferred link, choose the link, and select Save.5
Read the full section
Check the destination against the policy before you test it. A business link cannot be a social-media site, messaging link, app-store link, or link shortener. It must let a customer complete the named action. If Google shows a provider link or a Booking provider control, record the provider and its destination as provider-managed.5 Google's Appointments Redirect documentation describes a provider or partner integration with its own eligibility and partner-interest path. It is not evidence that every business can enable that integration through the ordinary Add link flow.6
Google's current sources use two different count descriptions. Manage your local business links says “up to 10 links per category,” while Business links policies & guidelines says “a maximum of 20 links per transaction type.” The pages do not reconcile those terms. Record the limit displayed in the current profile UI, and also check the policy's one-link-per-domain rule. Do not write a made-up combined limit.3,5
Local business links are managed in the profile UI, not through the Business Profile API or spreadsheet upload. If a batch process is part of the audit, verify the final customer view in Search and Maps rather than assuming an API or spreadsheet update changed the visible action.5
For the initial setup sequence and provider paths, see how to set up online booking on a Google Business Profile. This page adds the preflight, customer-view, and final-destination record that should follow the setup.
How do I audit the phone action?
Compare the displayed phone number with the number that serves the individual location. Google recommends a local number instead of a central call-center helpline whenever possible. The number must be under the business's direct control. Do not use a number that redirects customers to another business or destination, and do not use a premium number.2
Read the full section
Test the phone action from the public profile after the change. Record whether Google displays the number, what number a customer sees, where the call reaches, and the date of the test. A hidden phone number is a visibility state to record, not a reason to invent a passing call result. Keep the phone check separate from the website and booking checks because each can point to a different destination.
How do I audit WhatsApp or text chat?
Chat is an optional contact surface. Google says a claimed and verified Business Profile can add WhatsApp or text messaging, but the option is available only in select regions and might not be available for a particular profile. Treat an unavailable chat control as a scope result, not as proof that the profile failed the audit.4
To check a configured chat action:
- Go to your Business Profile.
- Select Edit profile, then Contact.
- Next to Chat, select Edit.
- In the Chat dropdown, select WhatsApp or Text message.
- Check the URL or Phone number field, then select Save.4
Open Contact in the customer view and follow the displayed action. If both WhatsApp and text messaging are configured, Google says only the text message option appears. Record the option that actually appears, the destination it opens, and the date. Do not mark the chat check as failed simply because the profile or region does not offer the control.
How do I test the final destination and crawlability?
Test the final destination twice, once as Google's business-link verification system may access it and once as a customer. Google says it can check business links daily at most and may remove links it cannot crawl or that do not comply with its policies. The crawl check follows redirects and includes required images, scripts, and stylesheets.3
Use this final-destination checklist:
- Confirm the final page is accessible without a CAPTCHA, login, or other verification step.
- Confirm the site does not block the
Google-BusinessLinkVerificationUser-Agent, rate-limit the relevant requests, block by IP, cloak the content, or use DNS or geographic blocking.3 - Confirm the link returns a successful response such as
200 OK, not404,403,500, or503. - Confirm the page loads the resources needed for the customer action.
- Confirm the customer can complete the designated action from the public profile, not just reach a page that describes it.
Google's policy says its verification crawlers do not follow robots.txt rules. Do not turn that statement into a claim that a robots.txt allow rule is required. Record the URL, final destination, response evidence, loading result, customer result, and date instead.
How should I record the post-change audit?
Run the same rows after the edit and compare them with the preflight record. Open the public profile in Search and Maps, follow each visible action, and write the result in the row for that surface. Keep the audit date separate from any later Google processing or review window. The goal is an evidence trail for the destination and customer path, not a promise that Google will keep displaying a link.
Use this closeout sequence:
- Capture the updated profile view and note which actions are visible.
- Recopy the submitted URL and record the final URL after redirects.
- Test the customer path for the website, transaction action, phone, and chat when each surface is available.
- Mark each row pass, fix, follow-up, or not applicable, with one sentence explaining the decision.
- Save the log with the date and schedule a recheck when the link is provider-managed, the destination changed, or Google shows a pending approval.
If the customer view differs from the editor, keep both observations. A saved value is not proof that the public profile has updated, and a visible action is not proof that its final destination completes the intended task.
Common questions
- No. The website action points customers to the business website. A booking or other transaction link is a separate action that should lead to a dedicated destination where the named action can be completed. Audit both surfaces independently, even when they use the same domain.
- Check verification, business and region eligibility, the transaction type, the current link count, and duplicate domains. Google also distinguishes self-managed links from provider-managed links. If the profile does not offer the transaction type, record it as unavailable for that profile instead of substituting the homepage.
- Record it as provider-managed and audit its destination in the same customer-view test. Use the transaction type’s provider controls to review or remove it. Do not treat a provider integration as the same thing as a URL entered through Add link.
- No. Google says chat is available only in select regions and might not be available for a particular profile. Record the chat control as not available, then audit the phone or other visible contact action that customers can actually use.
- Not on the basis of this policy alone. Google says the verification crawlers do not follow robots.txt rules. Check the final URL, response, required resources, access restrictions, and customer completion path instead.
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Where your profile stands now
Visibility Score 0-100 · 20 scored factors · free · no signup
- Profile Completeness
- 11 checks · 40% of score
- Performance
- 4 checks · 35% of score
- Competitive Position
- 5 metrics · 25% of score
Sources
All read Oct 25, 2026