Add your intake link to Apple Maps
Apple Business Connect is Apple's free portal for how your business shows up on Apple Maps. It lets you add a Custom Action Link — a button like “Schedule Appointment” — pointed at any URL. Point it at your IntakeOwl link, and Apple Maps users get a button that opens your intake page.
Why Apple Maps is worth the five minutes
Every iPhone opens Apple Maps by default, and the place card is what a customer sees when they tap your pin or search your name. Most businesses leave that card as a name, a phone number, and directions. A Custom Action Link adds the one thing most cards are missing: a way to start the job on the spot.
Set it up in four steps
Claim your business in Business Connect
Go to Apple Business Connect and sign in with an Apple Account. Search for your business, claim the location, and confirm you manage it. This first step is one the Google route skips: Apple wants the listing claimed before you can change it.
Copy your IntakeOwl link
From your panel, in the form
intakeowl.com/i/your-business. It's the same link your QR code carries, so the Maps button and the printed code lead to one place.Add a Custom Action Link
Open your claimed location, add a Custom Action Link, choose the action type — “Schedule Appointment” suits a service request — and paste your IntakeOwl link as its destination.
Publish
Save and publish. The button shows on your Apple Maps place card, so anyone who taps your pin can open your intake page from there.
Any URL, no partner needed
Apple keeps a list of scheduling partners for some deeper integrations, but the Custom Action Link route in this guide doesn't use it — the free Business Connect portal takes any URL you paste, including your IntakeOwl link. That's the whole path, and there's nothing gated behind it.
What happens after they tap
The action opens your intake page on their phone. It walks them through your trade's questions, takes a photo or two of the problem, and lets them talk their answers instead of typing. What lands in your inbox is a structured brief. See the sample brief for what one looks like.
Cover the offline side too
Your link is also a QR code in your panel. Print the QR pack for a counter stand, a business card, or a window cling — the walk-up customer reaches the same intake page as the one who found you on the map.
Questions about Apple Business Connect
- Is Apple Business Connect free?
- Yes. Managing your Apple Maps listing and adding a Custom Action Link in Business Connect costs nothing on Apple's side, and your IntakeOwl link is already part of your plan — there's no extra charge from us.
- What is a Custom Action Link?
- It's a button Apple lets you place on your Maps place card that opens any URL you choose — for example one labeled “Schedule Appointment.” It's how your IntakeOwl link turns into a tappable button on Apple Maps.
- Do I need an iPhone or a Mac to set this up?
- You need an Apple Account to sign in to Business Connect, but you manage everything from a web browser. The setup isn't done on the phone — it's done in the portal.
- How is this different from the Google guide?
- The idea is the same — your one link becomes a button where customers find you — but the steps differ. With Apple you first claim your business inside Business Connect, then add the Custom Action Link. Google, by contrast, takes the link straight into an existing profile field and reviews it before it shows.
- Which action type should I choose?
- Pick the action that matches what a customer actually does on your page. For a repair or service request, “Schedule Appointment” fits well. Whatever the label, the button opens your intake page and your page handles the rest.
On Google as well? The steps there are different — see adding your link to Google Business Profile.