Google Business Profile websites shut down: what to do now

If your Google Business Profile used to link to a business.site address, that link has sent people to a dead page since June 10, 2024. Google turned off the simple websites it built from Business Profiles in March 2024, and the redirect to the profile ended in June. The profile itself was never part of the shutdown and still works. For the wider work of being found, start with the local SEO checklist for service businesses.

What happened to Google Business Profile websites?

Google Business Profile websites were basic one-page sites Google generated from the information in a Business Profile, published at addresses ending in business.site or negocio.site. Google announced in February 2024 that it would turn them off, did so in March 2024, redirected visitors to the Business Profile until June 10, 2024, and then let the addresses fail.

The shutdown, step by step. The last column says how firm each row is.

Date	What happened	Source	How firm
February 27, 2024	Infoserve reports that domains ending in business.site and negocio.site will be removed from Business Profiles from March 2024, with a redirect “due to end on June 10th 2024”	Infoserve	Read on the source page
February 29, 2024	Search Engine Journal reports Google’s notice: the sites “will be turned off” in March 2024, visitors are redirected to the Business Profile until June 10, 2024, and Google Ads campaigns pointing at the sites stop running from March 1, 2024	Search Engine Journal, Kristi Hines	Read on the source page
March 5, 2024	Google updates its help article to say the sites “are no longer available” and that visitors are redirected to the Business Profile	Reported by Search Engine Land	Secondary report; the article blocks automated reading, so this row rests on its summary
June 10, 2024	The redirect ends. Addresses return a “page not found” error, and third-party domains forwarded to the old sites stop redirecting	Search Engine Journal; Infoserve; reported by Search Engine Land	Date read on two source pages; the 404 detail is from the secondary report
June 10, 2026	Google connects Business Profiles to the Gemini app and adds “Business notebooks” that can hold your profile and website. No new website builder	Google blog	Read on the source page

Google’s own description of what was lost, quoted by Search Engine Journal: “basic websites powered by the information on your Business Profile.” Google did not publish how many sites were affected, so this guide gives no count.

What should I do if my profile still links to a business.site address?

Replace the link. A customer who taps “Website” on your profile and lands on an error page assumes you have closed. Three steps:

1. Check what the profile shows now. Search your business name on Google while signed in to the account that manages the profile, or open business.google.com, and look at the Website field. Any address ending in business.site or negocio.site is dead.
2. Get a site on a domain you own. A domain costs about $10 to $25 a year, paid to the registrar, in your name, and it keeps working no matter which company builds or hosts the site. The routes and prices are in I need a website for my business.
3. Update the profile. Choose Edit profile, then Contact, then Website, paste the new address and save (Google Business Profile Help, “Edit your Business Profile”, checked October 14, 2026). Then fix the same link in your Google Ads account, social bios, email signature and printed material.

If you are not ready to replace the site yet, remove the dead link rather than leave it. An empty field is better than an error page.

Does Google Business profile have a website builder?

No. Google Business Profile stopped offering a website builder in March 2024, when it turned off the sites it had generated from profile data (Search Engine Journal, February 29, 2024). The profile still holds your hours, phone number, photos, reviews, services and a link to a website, but the website now has to come from somewhere else.

What is Google my Business website builder?

“Google My Business website builder” was the everyday name for that feature, from the years when the product was called Google My Business. Google now calls the product Google Business Profile, and creating one is free (Google, checked October 14, 2026). The builder is gone; the listing is not. A service advertising a “Google My Business website” today is a third party, not Google.

What is a good alternative to Google Business profile?

Keep the profile; nothing else puts you on Google Maps and in local results, and it is free. What needs an alternative is the website Google used to attach to it. Search Engine Journal’s report of Google’s notice (February 29, 2024) listed Google’s own recommendations: Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Google Sites, Shopify for online stores, Durable, Weebly, Strikingly and WordPress.

Every one of those hands you an editor and leaves the building to you; the guide to free websites for small business prices their free and paid plans. A done-for-you service is the other route: someone builds the site, you review it, and you pay a monthly fee for hosting. What a done-for-you website is compares the providers in that category.

How to choose a website builder for Google Business Profiles?

Choose the route that gives you a site on your own domain, states your hours, services and phone number as readable text, and will still be maintained a year from now. In order of importance:

1. Your own domain, so the address outlives any provider.
2. The same name, address, phone number and hours as your profile. BrightLocal’s 2025 consumer survey found 56% of consumers often or always check that business information is consistent across sources, and 85% say contact information and opening hours are an important factor when they research a local business.
3. A contact form that reaches your inbox and a phone number that dials on a tap.
4. A clear answer to who updates the site when your hours or prices change.
5. Exit terms you have read: what you keep, and what happens when you cancel.

If you want to do the building, a DIY builder from Google’s list fits. If you do not, FreeWebGuy builds the site for $0, charges $15 a month for hosting after you approve it, and connects the domain you own.

Does a custom website enhance a Google Business profile?

A website on your own domain gives your profile somewhere to send people and gives Google more to read about you. Google says local ranking is based on relevance, distance and prominence, that businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up, and that prominence is based partly on how many websites link to your business (Google Business Profile Help, checked October 14, 2026).

The website also does the job the profile cannot: it explains each service in your words, shows prices or ranges, lists your service area and takes requests through a form. BrightLocal’s 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey found 54% of consumers visit a business’s website after reading positive reviews, up from 32% in 2019. Good reviews on the profile send people to the site; the site has to be there when they arrive.

Can you use Google business without a website?

Yes. A Business Profile does not require a website. You will show up on Google Maps and in local results from the profile’s own information, and customers can call, message or get directions from it.

What you give up is the second step. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey found 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses and 54% then visit the business’s website; without a site, that visit has nowhere to go. The AI assistants that 45% of consumers now use for local recommendations (BrightLocal, 2026) can describe you only from what others have written. Do I need a website for my small business? weighs the decision with the full numbers.

Do I need a website to make my business appear on Google?

No. Appearing on Google Search and Maps as a local business comes from a verified Business Profile with complete and accurate information (Google Business Profile Help, checked October 14, 2026). A website is how you appear for more than your name: someone searching “emergency plumber” or “dog groomer that takes large breeds” is matched on relevance, and a page that describes that service in plain text gives Google and AI assistants something to match. How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT and AI covers what those systems read.

What is happening to Google My Business?

Google My Business became Google Business Profile, and the product is being extended rather than wound down. On June 10, 2026 Google announced that owners can connect their Business Profile to the Gemini app, which can draft review replies, update hours, post updates, read performance figures and keep “Business notebooks” that hold the profile and the website together (Google blog, June 10, 2026). The announcement contains no website builder.

That update raises the stakes on consistency. If your site and your profile disagree about hours or services, an assistant reading both will pick one, and it may pick wrong. Keep them identical and change them together.

What does a done-for-you replacement cost?

FreeWebGuy builds the replacement site for $0 and charges $15 a month for hosting, and the hosting starts only after you approve the preview and set up your SMBcrm plan. The first version arrives within 48 hours of your brief. Bigger sites, or briefs missing key details, take a few days more.

The $15 covers hosting with SSL, your domain connected, a layout built for phones first, SEO basics, a contact form that emails you, the AI builder for your own edits and the platform’s 24/7 chat support. The site states your hours, services, phone number and service area as text that matches your profile, and it links to the profile. A new domain is the only other cost, about $10 to $25 a year, paid to the registrar, in your name. Month to month, no contract. The brief takes about 3 minutes; how it works shows every step, the websites by industry pages show finished sites for your trade, and pricing lists everything included.