Google Business Profile short names in Bangalore: why the feature is gone, and what still works

Google Business Profile short names in Bangalore: why the feature is gone, and what still works

Google Business Profile no longer lets a Bangalore business create a new short name or custom g.page link. A listing that set one up before the feature was pulled keeps it working, but nobody can create or edit one now, and Google stopped displaying it to customers on the profile itself. What still works is the plain profile link from the Maps Share button, and a separate setting called local business links that has nothing to do with the URL at all.

What Google removed

The short name feature let a business claim a memorable link in the form g.page/yourbusinessname, five to thirty-two characters, in place of the long default Maps URL with a place ID string in it. Google's own help page on managing a short name now states plainly, "you can no longer create or edit short names," and adds that any short name created earlier "will still work but will no longer be shown on the Business Profile to customers." So the link itself survives for a listing that already has one. What is gone is the badge Google used to print on the profile advertising it, and the option for a new or newly opened business to claim one at all.

Why this still matters for a Bangalore listing

Most owners never notice a feature like this disappearing until they go looking for it in a menu that has quietly moved. A short g.page link was genuinely useful in a WhatsApp confirmation or a printed flyer, somewhere a full Maps URL full of coordinates and a place ID looks clumsy next to a phone number. For a healthcare listing especially, where an appointment confirmation might carry a map link alongside the visit time, a shorter link reads cleaner. Neospinex, the spine and neurosurgery practice in North Bangalore, and Chitra's Lifeline Clinic in Yelahanka New Town are both the kind of small-team practice where that confirmation message is written and sent by one person, not an automated system, so every extra character the sender has to paste or trim is friction on a task already competing with the next patient call.

This is not the first Business Profile feature to get pulled without much warning. Google shut down the old in-app chat button the same way, moving messaging to a Contact-section setting for WhatsApp or a text number rather than keeping the original tool, and Studio Happens covered what replaced Google Business Profile chat in Bangalore when that happened. The pattern is the same: Google retires a convenience feature, existing users keep limited access, and everyone else adapts to whatever fills the gap.

What to share instead of a short name

The plain Business Profile link still does the job. From Google Maps, opening the listing and selecting Share gives a copyable URL that opens the profile directly, no custom name attached but no dead end either. It is longer than a g.page link used to be, but it works for every listing regardless of whether a short name was ever claimed, and it needs no setup on Google's side. A business that wants something shorter for print material can run that same Maps link through any URL shortener it already trusts and controls, which has the added benefit of click tracking a Google-issued short name never offered in the first place.

Local business links are a different setting entirely

A lot of the confusion around this change comes from a second, unrelated feature with a similar name. Google's help page on local business links describes links a profile can carry for actions like booking an appointment, placing an order, or checking a menu, up to ten links per category, editable at any time through the profile dashboard. These are not affected by the short name removal at all. A clinic can still set a distinct booking link and a separate telemedicine link, and choose which one shows as preferred when it lists more than one. Mixing this setting up with the old short name is an easy mistake, since both sit under the general idea of "the link on my listing," but only one of them was ever removed.

Getting this distinction right matters more than it sounds like it should, because a business owner who spends an afternoon hunting for a "create short name" button that support documentation confirms no longer exists has wasted time better spent setting up the booking and menu links that are still fully theirs to configure. Studio Happens folds this kind of Business Profile cleanup, correcting stale settings and setting up the links that still work, into the same affordable engagement it runs for small Bangalore businesses, without inflating the invoice for what is a short setup job.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still create a Google Business Profile short name in 2026?

No. Google's own help documentation states the option to create or edit a short name is gone. A short name made before the change keeps working, but no new listing can claim one.

What happened to my existing g.page short link?

It still opens your Business Profile if someone has the link, but Google no longer displays it on the profile itself, so new visitors will not discover it there.

How do I share my Google Business Profile now without a short name?

Open the listing on Google Maps, select Share, and copy the link it generates. That URL works for any verified profile, with or without a short name.

Are the booking, menu, and order links the same as a short name?

No. Those are local business links, a separate setting that lets a profile carry up to ten links per action category, and they were never part of the short name feature or its removal.

Studio Happens, Bangalore's go-to affordable digital marketing partner, can help you get started today.