Google Business Profile Request a Quote: What to Use Now

You saw a message or quote option on a competitor's listing, went looking for the same switch on yours, and cannot find it anywhere. Or you read an older tutorial that walks through turning on a Google Business Profile request a quote button, and your dashboard looks nothing like the screenshots. Google retired Business Profile chat and quote requests on July 31, 2024, so there is no Request a quote button to switch on. What eligible profiles can use instead is a Text message or WhatsApp option, offered only for claimed and verified profiles in selected regions. That leaves the question you actually care about: will it bring in leads, or just give you one more inbox to miss? The answer depends far less on Google than on whether a real person is ready to reply. The steps below take about ten minutes to check, and they end with a clear yes or no for your business.

What can customers use on your profile instead of Request a quote?

Customers still have several ways to reach you from your Business Profile, and which ones show up depends on your profile and region. Phone calls, your website link and your listed details continue to work. A booking link is a separate feature, so do not present it as a way to ask for a price; the booking link post covers it. The newer options are Text message and WhatsApp, which Google describes in its help page on chatting with customers from your Business Profile.

Google explains the change on its page about changes to Business Profile chat and call history. The old inbox, chat history and quote workflow are not part of the current options, and nothing you do in settings brings them back. If both a WhatsApp link and a text number are added, customers see only the text option.

Availability is limited to selected regions and profiles. Open the Contact section of your own profile to see whether the option is offered to you. If it is not there, a monitored phone number, your website and a form cover the same ground.

How do you check which contact buttons customers see?

Look at your profile the way a customer does, because the dashboard shows what you can set, not what a searcher is shown. This takes about ten minutes and needs a phone and, ideally, a second phone number for testing.

1. Search your business name and city: Do it on your phone, signed out of your business account or from a family member's phone.
2. Write down every button: Note whether you see Call, Website, Directions, Booking, Text message, WhatsApp or something else.
3. Tap each one: Confirm the call rings the right line, the website opens the right page, and the booking link works.
4. Send a test message: If Text message appears, send one from a different phone and see who receives it and how quickly.
5. Open the WhatsApp link: If WhatsApp appears, confirm it opens the business account you meant, not a personal one.
6. Write down the owner of each route: Next to every button, name the person who answers it.

The last step matters most. A route with no named owner is a route that will leave a customer waiting.

How do you add a text or WhatsApp option?

If the option is available to your profile, Google's steps are short. The setup lives in your profile's editing screen, and the WhatsApp text documentation for developers describes the same two channels. Menu names can change, so follow what your own screen shows. If you cannot find where to edit, the post on where to edit your Google Business Profile walks through the entry points on phone and computer.

1. Open your profile: Search your business name while signed in to the account that manages it.
2. Choose Edit profile, then Contact: Look for a Chat section.
3. Pick WhatsApp or Text message: Enter a WhatsApp click-to-chat URL, or a phone number that can receive texts.
4. Save, then test it: Message the number from another phone before you tell anyone it exists.

Use a number the business owns. Google lets you add additional phone numbers, so a business line can sit here without your personal cell ever appearing; the help page on adding your phone number covers the basics. If a WhatsApp account is the better fit, WhatsApp Business offers features such as greeting and away messages, and the WhatsApp Business app post compares the setup choices.

To switch the option off, remove or change the contact value you saved in the same Contact and Chat section, then check your profile on a phone to confirm the button is gone. Where your screen offers a different control, use that one.

Who should answer, and how fast?

Pick one person as the primary responder and one backup. A message button without a named owner turns into a missed lead within a day. Turn on notifications for the business phone or WhatsApp account, and decide what covers evenings and weekends, since customers search at all hours.

Short saved replies save time and keep answers consistent. Prepare one for each question a quote request usually raises:

• Service area: Which towns or neighborhoods you cover.
• Starting price or range: What you are willing to say before seeing the job.
• Availability: The next openings or your usual lead time.
• What you need for an estimate: Photos, measurements, address or a short description of the problem.

Google does not set a response-time rule for these options, so treat speed as your own standard. Choose a target you can keep, such as replying within the same business day, and write it down where everyone on duty can see it.

Texting also carries rules. The FCC's Telephone Consumer Protection Act materials (FCC 15-72 and FCC 24-24) treat a customer's own inquiry differently from unsolicited automated or marketing texts, and they address revoking consent. Reply to what the customer asked, and do not add them to promotional messages without proper consent. If someone says stop, stop. The 10DLC post explains why business texts sometimes fail to arrive at all.

Messages that ask for payment, passwords or a verification code are a separate problem. Google states it will not ask for those through verification messages, and its page on protecting against fraudulent calls and texts describes what to watch for.

Should you turn it on?

Decide by looking at the route behind the button, not at the button. A message option is only as good as the person and phone that receive it.

If the first row describes you, turn it on, test it from another phone, and check your profile again after saving. If it describes nothing in your column, a monitored phone number is a perfectly good way for customers to reach you.

When is a website form the better route?

A form can ask the questions a text thread cannot. If you need photos of the damage, room measurements, the project address, a budget range or consent to contact before you can name a price, a form collects all of it in one go and drops it into one place. A text thread tends to spread the same details across a dozen short messages.

Google continues to support the website link on your profile, so the button that opens your site can carry customers straight to an estimate page. Keep the form short, make sure the confirmation reaches a real inbox, and test it from a phone. The contact page post lists what belongs on that page, and if your profile mentions a number you added for tracking, call tracking on a Business Profile covers how to keep your details consistent. Google's Local Business structured data documentation describes how to mark up your business details on the page itself.

Whatever you choose, make your phone number, website and booking details match everywhere they appear. A mismatch is the most common way a perfectly good contact route sends customers to the wrong place.

When is it worth paying someone to set this up?

You can do the ten-minute check, add a business-controlled text or WhatsApp number, test it and name a responder without hiring anyone. Doing it yourself first costs nothing and shows you what your profile really offers.

Paying for help starts to make sense when the contact path is part of a bigger system: several locations, details that disagree across your profile and website, a website estimate form that needs building, requests that must flow into a CRM, staff who need different permissions, spam that needs filtering, or a profile that has been suspended. In those cases the work is making every visible contact route accurate, staffed and measurable. That is different from trying to restore a button Google retired.

Frequently Asked Questions About google business profile request a quote

Can customers still request a quote through Google Business Profile?

No. Google retired the quote-request feature on July 31, 2024, along with Business Profile chat.

What replaced the Request a quote button?

Eligible, claimed and verified profiles in selected regions can show a Text message or WhatsApp option instead.

Where do the messages go?

To the phone number or WhatsApp link you saved in the profile's Contact and Chat settings. Use a business-controlled number and test it from another phone.

Does every business get the text or WhatsApp option?

No. Availability depends on region and profile, so open Edit profile, then Contact, and see what your own screen offers.

Should I turn it on if I cannot reply quickly?

Use a monitored phone number, a website estimate form or another staffed route instead. A message option that sits unanswered costs you the customer.

Will a message button help my ranking?

Treat it as another way for customers to reach you, and judge it by the inquiries it produces.

The Bottom Line

Google ended Request a quote and Business Profile chat on July 31, 2024, so your decision today is about the Text message and WhatsApp options, not about a button that no longer exists. Check what customers see on your profile, send a test message from another phone, and keep the option only if a named person can answer it. If nobody can, a monitored phone number or a website estimate form will serve customers better.

A contact route that is accurate, staffed and tested turns searches into conversations and keeps you from losing a customer to a missed message. That is a steadier gain than any new button.

If you would like a second set of eyes on your profile, Web Leveling can look at it with you. Our Google Business Profile management covers contact details, routing and tracking, so every route a customer sees leads to a person. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas. Contact us about your Business Profile and tell us which contact options your customers use today.

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