Add Your Own Ordering Link to Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a hungry local sees when they search your café’s name or “coffee near me.” For most independent shops it drives more clicks than the website does. So the “Order online” button on that profile is prime real estate — and since mid-2024, you have more control over where it points than many owners realize.

This guide explains what changed with Google’s food ordering, and walks through adding your own commission-free ordering link so that button sends diners to a channel you own instead of a marketplace that skims 15-30% off the top.

What changed with Google food ordering in 2024?

For years, Google offered “Order with Google” — diners could place a food order without ever leaving the search result, with Google handing the order to a partner like a delivery marketplace or an ordering provider. Google discontinued that built-in checkout by the end of June 2024 and stopped processing food orders itself.

The button did not disappear. Instead, Google moved to a redirect model: when a diner taps “Order online,” Google sends them to an external ordering page — your own site, or a third-party platform’s page — to finish the order. Google’s stated reasoning was that “people generally prefer to complete their food orders on partner and merchant websites.”

The practical upshot for you is good news. You are no longer locked into whatever provider Google happened to wire up. You can put your own direct ordering URL on that button and designate it as the one Google features first.

Why this matters for a café on Square

If a diner clicks “Order online” and lands on a delivery marketplace, you pay a commission of roughly 15-30% on that order — even though the customer found you, by name, on your Google listing. That is the worst kind of commission: you paid the marketplace for an introduction it never made.

Point that same button at a channel you own — your Square Online site or a branded ordering app — and the order costs you only payment processing, on the order of 2.6-3.3% plus a small fixed fee. On a $22 ticket, that is the difference between losing ~$5.50 and losing ~$0.90. We work the full math in our guide to taking online orders without paying commission.

The customer who searches your name on Google is already yours. Don’t hand them to a marketplace at the last click.

How to add your own ordering link (step by step)

The exact menu labels shift as Google updates its interface, so treat the names below as a guide rather than gospel. The flow is consistent even when the wording moves.

1. Sign in to the right Google account. Use the Google account that manages your Business Profile. The fastest way in is to search your business name (or “my business”) while signed in — Google surfaces your profile with an editing toolbar directly in search results.
2. Open your profile’s ordering settings. From the profile toolbar or the Business Profile menu, look for “Food ordering,” “Order online,” or “Edit profile → ordering links.” This is where Google lists every ordering link currently attached to your listing.
3. Add your direct ordering URL. Add the link to your own ordering channel — your Square Online ordering page, your web-ordering URL, or your branded app’s order link. Paste the exact URL a customer would use to start an order, not your homepage.
4. Set it as your preferred link. Google lets you choose which link is featured first when a diner taps “Order online.” Mark your direct link as preferred so it sits above any third-party options. Google has called this the “Preferred by Business” option.
5. Review the third-party links already there. Marketplaces often attach their links automatically once you’re listed with them. Decide which you want to keep. You can reorder them, and in many cases remove or de-feature ones you’d rather not promote.
6. Save and verify on a real phone. Changes can take time to propagate. After a few hours, search your business on a phone you’re not signed into as the owner, tap “Order online,” and confirm it lands on your direct page first.

If you don’t see an ordering section at all, make sure your profile is verified and categorized as a food-and-drink business (e.g. “Coffee shop,” “Café,” “Restaurant”). Google only shows ordering controls for eligible categories.

How to keep unwanted marketplace links from taking over

The most common frustration owners report is third-party links reappearing or outranking the direct link. A few honest realities:

• Third parties can add links without asking. Being listed on a marketplace is often enough for its ordering link to show up on your Google profile. This is expected behavior, not a bug.
• “Preferred” is your main lever. Setting your own link as preferred is the supported way to make Google feature it first. It doesn’t always delete the others, but it controls the top spot — which is where most clicks go.
• Removal can require the source. If a stubborn link persists, you may need to manage it through the third-party provider that created it, or use Google’s link-management tools. Google’s official help article on managing online ordering options is the canonical reference when a link won’t budge.

The goal isn’t necessarily to nuke every marketplace link. It’s to make sure that when someone searches you by name, the default path is your commission-free channel — and the marketplace is, at most, the second option for people who specifically want delivery.

What should the link actually point to?

Adding the link is the easy part. The strategic question is where it goes. Three honest options, cheapest to most powerful:

Processing rates per Square’s published pricing, 2026. Confirm current rates for your country and plan.

For a café that just wants the button working this week, a free Square Online page is the obvious starting point. For one that wants to turn those Google clicks into repeat visits, a branded ordering app lets you layer on self-running loyalty and push notifications that bring customers back — something a bare ordering link can’t do.

Don’t stop at the ordering link

While you’re in your Google Business Profile, a few adjacent moves compound the value of fixing the ordering button:

• Keep hours and holiday hours accurate. A diner who shows up to a closed shop after ordering ahead is a refund and a one-star review.
• Add a current menu. Google can display your menu directly; an outdated one quietly costs orders.
• Post photos regularly. Fresh photos lift engagement on the profile, and engagement feeds local ranking.
• Reply to reviews. Responsiveness is a visible trust signal to the next person deciding whether to order.

None of these require a developer. They’re the local-SEO equivalent of wiping down the counter — small, constant, and cumulatively decisive.

Where a branded channel fits

If your decision lands on “I want that Google button to feed a channel that’s unmistakably mine, with loyalty and push,” the cleanest version for a Square business is a branded ordering app built on your existing Square POS — so your menu, prices, and customers stay in one place.

That’s the niche Tany fills: a branded order-ahead app for iOS and Android plus web ordering, with self-running loyalty, eGift cards, and push, live in about a day on your existing Square POS for $99 CAD/month per location with 0% commission. It’s one way to answer the “where should the link point” question — and whatever you choose, the move is the same: make your own profile feed your own channel.

Fix the button this week. It’s the highest-leverage 15 minutes you’ll spend on your café’s online ordering, because it captures the customers who were already looking for you by name.

Sources

• Google Business Profile Help — Manage online ordering options
• Swipe Insight — Google to End Direct Food Delivery Orders by June 2024
• Search Engine Roundtable — Google Discontinuing Order with Google for Food Delivery
• Restaurant Business — Google to scale back its restaurant ordering feature
• Square Pricing (Canada) — processing rates and Square Online plans