A lot of agencies hit the same wall. The customer is happy for you to manage their reviews, but they will not share their Google or Facebook password and they have no interest in logging into yet another platform. You still need a real, signed-in connection to sync reviews properly, reply on their behalf, and pull Google performance metrics.
Customer Connect Links solve that. You generate one short link, share it with the customer, and they handle the sign-in themselves on a clean page that runs on your white-label domain. They never see the dashboard, never create an account, and never enter a password anywhere they should not.
When to reach for a connect link
This is the right tool when you want the customer to do exactly one thing: sign in to Google or Facebook and pick their listing. You handle everything else from your side after that.
- The customer will not share Google or Facebook credentials, which is the right call
- You want a full Grant Access style connection, not the lighter Public Access one
- You are onboarding the customer and want to remove the friction of a platform login
- The customer is non-technical and you want the cleanest possible path for them
- You manage many locations and want a repeatable, link-based way to get each one connected
If you would rather have ongoing direct access yourself, the Manager invite approach is still a great option. Many agencies use both. Use connect links for the initial sign-in step and Manager invites when you also want long-term hands-on control of the Business Profile.
What the link actually does
The link opens a single-page experience under your own white-label domain. Your logo, brand colours, and company name lead the page so the customer never sees the underlying platform.
From there the customer signs in to Google or Facebook directly, grants the permissions you need to sync reviews and reply, picks the correct Business Profile or Facebook Page, and lands on a short success page. That is the whole flow.
- The customer signs in on Google or Facebook, not on your platform
- Each link works for one location and one provider, so you stay in control of where the connection lands
- When the customer picks the right listing, the connection is the full Grant Access style integration. Reviews sync, replies work, auto-respond is available, and Google performance metrics are included
- There is no account creation, no password to remember, and no dashboard to navigate
What the link is not
It is worth being clear about what a connect link is not, so expectations stay clean on both sides.
- It is not a Manager invite. Google itself still owns the permission model. The customer is granting your platform-side connection, not granting your agency Google account direct access to their Business Profile
- It is not a way around Google or Facebook permission requirements. If the customer is signed in to the wrong Google account, or the page is unclaimed, the connection cannot complete
- It is not a long-lived public link. Tokens expire and can be revoked at any time
- It is not a way to bypass plan limits. Source allowances and feature gating still apply to the customer account, just like a normal connection
Where to generate a connect link
There are three places to start the flow, depending on where you are in the customer relationship.
| Starting point | Best for | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Connect modal on a location | A customer that already exists and needs a connection added or replaced | Switch into the customer, open the location, go to `Connect -> Integrations`, click `Google` or `Facebook`, then choose `Send a connect link` |
| Create Customer modal | A brand new customer where you want to send everything together | When creating the customer, toggle `Send Google Business Profile link` and `Send Facebook page link` as needed |
| White-label API | Automated onboarding from your CRM, signup flow, or internal tools | Call the create customer endpoint with `send_google_connect_link` or `send_facebook_connect_link` set to true |
The Send a connect link option only appears for tenant owners and sales agents, including when they are impersonating a customer. Regular customer users do not see it, which keeps the flow scoped to the people doing the onboarding work.
What the customer sees on their end
The customer flow is intentionally short. The goal is to remove every step that is not strictly required.
- They click the link and land on a clean white-label page showing your branding
- They see a clear explanation of what you are asking for and a single call-to-action button
- They are sent through the standard Google or Facebook sign-in, where they choose the right account themselves
- After granting permissions, they pick the matching Business Profile or Facebook Page from a list
- They land on a short success page confirming the connection is live
Because the sign-in happens directly on Google or Facebook, the customer is doing exactly what they would do for any other connected app. That is usually the framing that puts hesitant customers at ease.
Security, scope, and what a link can actually do
Connect links are designed to be safe to share inside normal customer communication, but it is still worth understanding the guardrails.
- Each link is locked to one location and one provider. A Google link cannot accidentally connect Facebook, and a link for one location cannot land on another
- Links expire after seven days by default. After that the page tells the customer the link is no longer active and asks them to request a new one
- Links are single use. Once a customer completes the flow, the same link will not connect anything else
- Links can be revoked at any time from the same modal where they were generated. Revoking a link makes the page show an expired state immediately
- Every issue, start, completion, and revoke is recorded against the token so you have a clean audit trail per customer
- Public connect pages are rate limited so the endpoints cannot be abused, even with a leaked link
Reconnecting a customer later
Connections occasionally need to be refreshed, usually after a Google password change, a permission update, or a Facebook session timeout. The reconnect flow uses the exact same mechanism.
- Open the same Connect modal on the location that needs to be reconnected
- Generate a fresh link. Any earlier active link for that location and provider is revoked automatically so there is no confusion about which one to use
- Send the new link to the customer. They follow the same short flow and the connection is back online
You do not need to delete the existing integration before sending a reconnect link. Completing the new flow replaces the old credentials cleanly and re-runs the initial sync so the data is fresh.
Sending links automatically when you create customers
If you onboard customers from your own systems, the white-label API can send Google and Facebook links for you at the moment a customer is created.
- Call `POST /api/agency/v1/customers` with the normal customer payload
- Set `send_google_connect_link` to `true` to issue and email a Google link to the customer
- Set `send_facebook_connect_link` to `true` to issue and email a Facebook link to the customer
- The two flags are independent, so you can send one, both, or neither
API-issued links use the same security model as links generated from the dashboard. They are single use, scoped to one location and one provider, and expire after seven days unless revoked sooner.
If something looks off
- The customer says the link is expired: generate a fresh one. The old link is revoked automatically so they will not pick the wrong one out of their inbox
- The customer signs in but cannot see the right business: they are almost always signed into the wrong Google or Facebook account. Ask them to switch accounts and reopen the link
- The customer completes the flow but reviews are not appearing yet: the initial sync runs in the background. Give it a short window and check again. If reviews still do not appear, the most common cause is the wrong listing being picked from the list
- Google performance metrics still say permission denied after a successful connect: the signed-in Google account needs the right Business Profile access level. The Manager invite guide covers this in detail and is linked below
- The email never arrives: confirm the email address is correct on the customer record and check whether your white-label email provider is healthy. The copy-link option is always available as a fallback