Google Now Shows a WhatsApp Button on Business Profiles: What a Dubai Business Should Set Up This Week

On 7 October 2026, Search Engine Roundtable's Barry Schwartz reported that Google is showing a WhatsApp button in local panel results, either in place of the old chat button or next to the call, directions, website and share buttons. The sighting came from Sachin Patel, and Schwartz could reproduce it himself, which usually means a wide rollout rather than a test. For a UAE business, where WhatsApp is the default way customers talk to companies, this is the most useful change to Google Business Profile in a long time.

What changed

Google retired its own native Business Profile chat on 31 July 2024. In 2025 it let businesses add a WhatsApp or SMS link under the Chat setting instead. Until now that link was buried. The new button puts it on the panel a customer sees the moment they search your name on a phone. Visibility is still inconsistent: several agencies report it appears on mobile far more often than desktop, and it varies by category and region, so do not panic if you cannot see it on your own listing yet.

How to add it correctly

• Open your Business Profile, choose Edit profile, then Contact.
• Next to Chat, select Edit, open the drop-down and choose WhatsApp.
• Enter the link in the wa.me format with the country code and nothing else, for example https://wa.me/9715XXXXXXXX. No plus sign, no spaces, no pre-filled text.
• Use a WhatsApp Business number that someone actually answers during opening hours. A number that goes unanswered for a day teaches customers not to bother.

Three mistakes UAE businesses make

Using a personal number. The link is public. If the owner leaves or changes phones, the button breaks. Use a business line or a WhatsApp Business account the company controls.

Mixing up the formats. A "+971 50 123 4567" string pasted into the field fails silently. Only digits after wa.me/ work.

Treating the chat like email. A customer who presses a WhatsApp button expects an answer in minutes, not hours. Set a greeting message and a quick-reply for your two most common questions, usually opening hours and price on request.

Why the chat the customer starts is the one you want

Under Meta's UAE pricing, a conversation that the customer opens with your business is cheaper for you than a conversation you start with a template message, and you can reply freely within the service window. The Google button, a QR code on your door and a tap card at the counter all do the same job: they get the customer to send the first message. Once they have, you are talking to a warm lead on their favourite app, without an advert, and you can send a catalogue, a location pin or a booking link in the same thread.

Join the online button to the physical counter

The Google button catches people who are searching. It does nothing for the customer standing in your shop who wants to ask about a size, a delivery date or a repair. For them, a WhatsApp NFC Chat Stand with QR on the counter opens the same wa.me chat with a tap or a scan, and a WhatsApp NFC Chat Card does it for a salesperson on the floor or a technician on a home visit. Use the same number everywhere so every conversation lands in one inbox.

Checklist for this week

• Add the wa.me link under Chat in your Business Profile.
• Search your business name on a phone and check whether the button appears. Check again in two weeks.
• Set a greeting and two quick replies in WhatsApp Business.
• Put the same number on your counter, your door and your receipts.
• Measure: count chats per week before and after. If the number does not move, the button is probably not showing yet for your category.

Google has not announced the feature formally, so expect details to shift. The setup, however, costs nothing and takes five minutes, and when the button does appear for your listing you will already be ready.