When someone on Long Island searches for your business, your Google Business Profile is often the first thing they see and the first thing they tap. According to a new report from Search Engine Roundtable, Google appears to be adding booking links to some Business Profiles automatically, and in some cases those Google Business Profile booking links lead customers straight to an error page instead of your calendar. That means your listing may now carry a "Book Online" button you never set up, and it may not work.
This post walks through what was reported, why it matters for an appointment-based business, and a simple check you can do this week to fix or remove any booking link you did not create. It takes a few minutes, and you do not need to be technical. If you would rather hand it off, keeping your listing accurate is exactly what Google Business Profile management is for.
Your Profile May Now Show a "Book Online" Button You Never Added
The story started with Barry Schwartz, the executive editor of Search Engine Roundtable. He noticed a booking link had been added to his own company’s Business Profile. It showed up as a "book online" button both in Google Search and on Google Maps.
He was not alone. Several people who work in local search, Brandon Schmidt, Joy Hawkins and Syed Amir, posted that this seemed to be happening for more businesses. Brandon spotted "Book Online" links on a home care business that did not have any special booking software installed or connected to its profile. He also saw it on a home services client’s profile.
The report did not include a statement from Google, so the honest way to describe this is: people who watch Business Profiles closely are seeing booking buttons appear on listings where the owner did not set up online booking. Whether this is an intentional feature, a test, or a glitch is not clear from what has been reported.
For you, the practical point is simple. Your listing might look different today than it did the last time you checked, and the new button is making a promise to your customers ("book online") that your business may not actually be set up to keep.
Why Some of These Booking Links Send Customers to an Error Page
Here is the part that should get your attention. In some cases, the booking links break and go to a "500 error" on Google’s website.
A 500 error is a generic "something went wrong on the server" message. In plain English: the customer clicked a button, the page they were sent to failed to load, and they saw an error screen instead of a way to book. It is not something your customer did wrong, and it is not something they can fix.
Joy Hawkins shared a screenshot of a schedule button on a profile. When she clicked it, it served a 500 error. Barry tried the same button on Friday and it took him directly to the company’s contact and scheduling page, so he was not sure whether the error was a temporary bug.
Joy and Brandon added a useful detail. If the booking link goes to Google’s own reservation program (the "maps/reserve" pages), it was showing a 500 error. If the business has its own link or booking software set up, the button works.
Think about what that looks like from your customer’s side. A homeowner in Smithtown needs a plumber, finds your listing, sees "Book Online," taps it, and gets an error. Some people will scroll back and call you. Plenty of others will tap the next listing in the results. You will never know you lost that job, because the failure happened on Google’s page, not your website.
How Booking Buttons Used to Work, and What Seems Different Now
To understand why this is surprising, it helps to know how booking buttons have typically worked.
According to the report, home service companies have been able to have these links, but only through one of Google’s approved partners, a program called Reserve with Google. Many CRMs (customer relationship management software, the system a business uses to track customers, jobs and appointments) have built this into their scheduling tools. So if your business used one of those systems and connected it, a booking button was a deliberate choice you made.
What the local search folks are seeing now is different. The profiles they looked at did not use any booking software. The "Book Online" button was going to the business’s regular contact form.
Syed Amir added another observation. Across several client profiles, simply adding a website’s Contact page in the booking link section of the profile is now triggering the "Book Online" button. Previously, he said, that functionality seemed to require setup through Google’s booking partners.
That gives you two different situations to watch for:
- A booking link you never added at all. This is the one most owners will want to remove or replace.
- A link you did add, now dressed up as "Book Online." If you (or a past employee, or a past marketing company) once put your contact page URL in the booking link field, Google may now be presenting it as an online booking button. The link works, but the label promises something your contact form may not deliver.
Both deserve a look. A customer who taps "Book Online" expects to pick a time. If they land on a generic "send us a message" form, some will feel misled, even if you respond quickly.
Which Long Island Businesses Should Look First
The report specifically mentions home care and home services businesses, and that is where most of the examples came from. On Long Island, that covers a lot of ground: HVAC and plumbing companies, electricians, landscapers, cleaning services, pest control, roofers and similar trades. If you run one of these, check your listing first. We covered how booking is changing for these businesses in a related post on AI Mode home services booking for Long Island contractors.
But do not assume you are safe because you are in a different industry. Any business where customers make appointments is worth checking, including salons and spas, dental and medical offices, law firms that do consultations, fitness studios, auto repair shops and tutoring services. The reports describe something that appears to be spreading, not something limited to one category.
Businesses that already use a connected booking system should still look. Your button may be fine, but it costs nothing to confirm it still lands on the right page.
How to Check Your Google Business Profile Booking Links This Week
You can do this from your phone in a few minutes. Here is a straightforward routine.
- Search your business name on Google. Do this while signed in to the Google account that manages your profile. Look at your listing the way a customer would and note any button labeled "Book online," "Schedule," or something similar.
- Check Google Maps too. The report showed the button appearing in both Search and Maps. Open the Maps app, find your business, and look for the same button.
- Tap the button like a customer. Where does it go? Your real online booking page? Your contact page? A Google page? An error screen? If you can, also try it from a phone that is not signed in to your business account, since that is closer to what a stranger sees.
- Look at the booking link setting. Per the report, you can manage your booking links by going to your Business Profile in Google Search and clicking on the booking link. Note exactly what is listed there and whether you recognize it.
- Take screenshots. Capture the button, where it leads, and what is in the setting. If something changes later, or you need to ask Google support about it, you will have a record.
Google changes the layout of its profile tools fairly often, so the exact labels you see may not match these descriptions word for word. If you get stuck, the official Google Business Profile Help Center is the place to look up the current steps.
One common snag: you might discover you cannot get into your profile at all, because a former employee, a previous agency or someone else set it up years ago. If that is your situation, our guide on how to claim a Google Business Profile someone else controls walks through the process.
Fix It, Keep It, or Remove It: Making the Call
Once you know what is on your listing, the decision usually falls into one of these buckets.
The button works and goes to your real booking page
Keep it. Just confirm it lands on the correct page (not an old one), that the page works well on a phone, and that the booking actually reaches you. Make a test appointment if your system allows it, then cancel it.
The button goes to your contact page
Ask yourself whether "Book Online" is a fair description of what happens next. If a contact form genuinely is how people request appointments with you, it can be reasonable to leave it, but make the page match the promise. Put a clear heading like "Request an Appointment" at the top, keep the form short, and tell people what happens after they submit (for example, "We’ll call you back to confirm a time"). If your contact page is a generic "get in touch" page with no mention of scheduling, either point the link to a better page or remove it.
The button leads to an error or a Google page you never set up
Remove it or replace it with a working link to your own booking or appointment request page. A missing button is better than a broken one. After you make the change, check again over the next few days, since profile edits are not always instant.
The link points somewhere you do not recognize
If the booking link goes to a third-party service you have never used, remove it. Then look at who has access to manage your profile and remove anyone who should not be there. A link you did not add is a good reason to review access in general.
Make Sure You Can Tell If the Button Brings In Business
If you decide to keep a booking button, it is worth knowing whether people use it. Otherwise you are guessing about whether it helps or just sits there.
The simplest way is to add a UTM tag to the link you put in your profile. A UTM tag is a short bit of text added to the end of a web address that tells your website analytics where a visitor came from. With it in place, your analytics can show you visits and form submissions that came specifically from your Business Profile’s booking button, separate from your website button or other sources.
If you want to go further and see which calls, forms and appointments are actually turning into customers, our post on conversion tracking for calls, forms and bookings explains how to set that up without getting lost in the weeds.
Mistakes to Avoid While Google Sorts This Out
A few things to steer clear of:
- Do not panic. Nothing in the report says this affects your rankings or signals a problem with your account. It is a customer experience issue: a button that may promise something it cannot deliver.
- Do not sign up for booking software just to make the button work. If you have been meaning to offer online booking anyway, this might be a good nudge. But choose a scheduling tool because it fits how your business runs, not because Google added a button.
- Do not assume one check is enough. The same button that threw an error for Joy worked when Barry tried it. That suggests behavior may vary or change over time. Check again in a week or two.
- Do not make a dozen other profile edits at the same time. Fix the booking link on its own first. If something odd happens afterward, you will know what caused it.
- Do not ignore it because "customers just call anyway." Many of them do. But younger customers and people searching after hours often prefer to book or request a time online, and a broken button is a quiet way to lose them.
Treat Your Listing Like a Storefront Window
This story is a good reminder of something that is easy to forget: your Business Profile is not a set-it-and-forget-it listing. Google sometimes changes details on its own, adds new features, or accepts suggested edits from the public. Most of the time those changes are harmless. Occasionally, like this one, they put something in front of your customers that you did not choose.
A short monthly check keeps you ahead of it. Once a month, search your business on Google and Maps and confirm:
- Your hours, phone number and address are correct.
- Every button (call, website, directions, booking) goes where it should.
- Your business categories and description still describe what you do.
- There are no new reviews sitting unanswered.
- Nothing new has appeared that you did not add.
It is the digital version of walking past your own storefront to make sure the sign is lit and the door is unlocked. For a lot of Long Island businesses, especially service-area businesses without a physical storefront, the profile is the storefront.
Your Next Step: A Five-Minute Booking Button Check
Before the end of this week, pull up your business on Google and on Maps, tap any booking button you see, and note where it goes. If it works and lands on your real booking page, you are done. If it goes to an error, a Google page you never set up, or a contact form that does not match the "Book Online" promise, fix or remove it, take a screenshot, and check again in a week.
If you would like a second set of eyes on your listing, or you want someone to keep watch on it month to month, reach out to MJW Media and we will take a look with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Google really add a booking link to my Business Profile without asking me?
Search Engine Roundtable reported that booking links appear to be showing up on some profiles where owners did not set up online booking. The report did not include a statement from Google, so it is best treated as observed behavior rather than a confirmed feature. The only way to know about your own listing is to search your business and look for a booking button.
What is a 500 error, and why would my booking button show one?
A 500 error is a general message that something went wrong on the server, so the page could not load. In the reported cases, booking links that went to Google’s own reservation pages showed this error, while links to a business’s own booking page or software worked. Your customer cannot fix it, so the safest move is to replace or remove a link that errors.
Will removing a booking link hurt my Google rankings?
Nothing in the report suggests booking links affect rankings. The real risk is a customer tapping a broken or misleading button and choosing a competitor instead. A working link or no link at all is better than one that leads to an error page.
Should I sign up for Reserve with Google or a booking partner?
Only if online booking actually fits how your business runs. The report notes that home service companies have historically gotten booking buttons through Google’s approved partners, often via scheduling tools built into their customer management software. If you would not use a scheduling tool otherwise, pointing the link to a clear appointment request page, or removing it, is a perfectly reasonable choice.
How do I edit or remove the booking link on my profile?
According to the report, you can manage booking links by going to your Business Profile in Google Search while signed in and clicking on the booking link. Google changes its layout often, so the labels may differ from what you expect. If you cannot find it, the Google Business Profile Help Center has the current steps, and if you cannot access your profile at all you will need to regain ownership first.
