A step-by-step guide to linking Google Calendar to UniLink so visitors can book time slots based on your real availability — and every booking appears automatically in your calendar.
- Connect via Dashboard → Integrations → Google Calendar → Connect → OAuth → select your calendar → configure buffer time → save — bookings sync automatically.
- UniLink reads your Google Calendar to show only genuinely available time slots, preventing double-bookings against existing events.
- Every confirmed booking creates a Google Calendar event automatically — no manual entry required.
Sending a Calendly link to someone who already landed on your UniLink page is a missed opportunity — they're already on your page, they're already interested, and sending them somewhere else to book adds a step that some percentage of them won't complete. Connecting Google Calendar to UniLink's booking block means the scheduling happens right there, with availability pulled from your actual calendar in real time. No double-bookings, no manual syncing, no back-and-forth messages asking when you're free.
What the Google Calendar Integration Does
The Google Calendar integration connects UniLink's booking block to your Google Calendar account via OAuth. Once connected, UniLink reads your existing Google Calendar events to determine your real-time availability. When a visitor views the booking block on your page, they see only the time slots that are genuinely open — not the full grid of potential slots, but the subset that doesn't conflict with anything already on your calendar. This means a meeting you already have on Thursday at 3pm will appear as unavailable to your page visitors without you doing anything manually.
The availability calculation accounts for the buffer time you configure. If you set a 15-minute buffer between meetings, UniLink will mark the 15 minutes before and after each booking as unavailable. This prevents your calendar from filling back-to-back, giving you time to prepare, take notes, or move between physical locations. Buffer times are configured in UniLink's booking block settings and applied automatically to every booking made through your page. You can also set limits on how far in advance visitors can book and how close to the current time — useful for ensuring you're never booked for a call in 30 minutes without warning.
When a booking is confirmed, UniLink creates a Google Calendar event automatically in the calendar you've connected. The event includes the visitor's name, their email address, any notes they entered during the booking flow, and a link to the booking details. The visitor receives a confirmation email from UniLink, and both parties have the event on their calendar without either of you creating it manually. If you use Google Meet for video calls, you can configure UniLink to generate a Google Meet link automatically and attach it to the calendar event, so the meeting link is available to both parties from the moment of booking.
How to Get Started
- Open UniLink Integrations: Log in to your UniLink Dashboard at app.unilink.us, navigate to Integrations, and find Google Calendar.
- Click Connect: Click the "Connect" button. You'll be redirected to Google's OAuth authorization page, where you'll log in to your Google account and grant UniLink permission to read your calendar and create events.
- Authorize UniLink: On the Google permission screen, click "Allow" for the requested calendar access. You'll be redirected back to UniLink automatically.
- Select your calendar: UniLink will display the calendars available in your Google account. Select the calendar you want to use for availability checks and event creation — typically your primary calendar or a dedicated "Meetings" calendar.
- Configure buffer time and save: Set your preferred buffer time between meetings (commonly 10–15 minutes), configure how far in advance bookings are allowed, and click Save. The integration is now active.
How to Use the Google Calendar Integration
- Add a Booking block to your page: In the page editor, click "+" to add a block and choose the Booking block. Configure the meeting type name (e.g., "30-Minute Strategy Call"), duration, and any questions you want visitors to answer during the booking flow.
- Set your availability windows: In the Booking block settings, define which days of the week and hours of the day you're available for meetings. UniLink will show slots only within these windows, further filtered by your actual Google Calendar events.
- Preview the booking experience: Use the page preview to see how the booking block appears to visitors and verify that available time slots are showing correctly.
- Test a booking: Book a test appointment from your page using a secondary email address. Confirm the Google Calendar event is created automatically and the confirmation email is sent correctly.
- Monitor bookings: Check your Google Calendar for confirmed bookings. UniLink's analytics section also shows booking activity — how many visitors viewed the booking block, how many started the flow, and how many completed it.
Key Settings
| Setting | What It Does | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Connected calendar | Which Google Calendar is read for availability and used for event creation | Use a dedicated "Meetings" calendar if you want to keep client bookings visually separate from personal events in your Google Calendar |
| Buffer time | Minutes blocked before and after each meeting to prevent back-to-back scheduling | 10–15 minutes is standard for video calls; increase to 30 minutes for in-person meetings that require travel |
| Advance booking window | How far into the future visitors can book | 14–30 days is typical; shorter windows give you more schedule control, longer windows accommodate planning-ahead clients |
| Minimum notice period | How soon before a slot visitors can book it | Set to at least 2–4 hours to avoid surprise same-day bookings; increase to 24 hours if you need preparation time |
| Meeting location or link | The video call link or location shown to visitors in the booking confirmation | Use a fixed Google Meet or Zoom link, or enable auto-generated Google Meet links if your Google Workspace supports it |
Get the Most Out Of Google Calendar
Create different meeting types for different purposes, each as a separate Booking block on your UniLink page. A 15-minute discovery call is different from a 60-minute consulting session — they should have different durations, different qualifying questions, and potentially different availability windows. You might be happy to offer 30-minute calls any weekday, but only take 90-minute strategy sessions on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Configure each Booking block independently with the right duration and available days, and let visitors self-select the meeting type that fits their need.
Add qualifying questions to your booking flow to arrive at every call better prepared. The Booking block supports custom questions during the booking flow — visitors answer them before the appointment is confirmed, and their answers appear in the Google Calendar event notes. Common qualifying questions include "What's the main goal for this call," "What's your current situation with [topic]," and "How did you find me." Even two or three short questions dramatically improve the quality of first calls and reduce time spent on context-gathering you could have gotten in advance.
Sync your booking confirmation emails with your broader client onboarding flow. When a booking is confirmed, UniLink sends an automatic confirmation email to the visitor. This email is often the first direct communication a new lead receives from you outside of your social media content. Customize the confirmation email in your Booking block settings to reflect your brand voice, include any pre-call preparation instructions, and reinforce why the upcoming conversation will be valuable. A well-written confirmation email sets the tone for a productive call and reduces no-shows by keeping the upcoming meeting top of mind.
Use the Google Calendar integration alongside the email integrations (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Klaviyo) to automatically add people who book calls to your email list. The booking flow collects the visitor's email address — you can use UniLink's Zapier integration to send that email to your email marketing platform simultaneously with the booking confirmation. People who book a call have high intent and make excellent email subscribers. Capturing them in your list at the moment of booking means they enter your nurture sequence immediately rather than only after the call, which may be days away.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| All time slots showing as unavailable | Google Calendar authorization revoked, or availability window not configured | Go to Dashboard → Integrations → Google Calendar and reauthorize via OAuth; also check the Booking block's availability window settings to confirm days and hours are selected |
| Booking confirmed but no Google Calendar event created | Calendar write permission not granted during OAuth or wrong calendar selected | Disconnect and reconnect Google Calendar in UniLink, ensuring you grant both read and write permissions on the OAuth screen. Confirm the correct calendar is selected in the integration settings. |
| Double-booking occurring despite integration | Conflicting events on Google Calendar marked as Free or Tentative instead of Busy | In Google Calendar, edit the conflicting events and set their status to Busy. Only Busy events block availability in UniLink's booking check. |
| Visitors receiving no confirmation email | Confirmation email not configured or filtered to spam by the visitor's email client | Check the Booking block settings to ensure confirmation email is enabled and the sender name is set. Advise visitors to check spam or add your sending address to their contacts if they regularly miss confirmation emails. |
- Real-time availability from your actual Google Calendar — no manual availability updates needed
- Automatic event creation in Google Calendar on every confirmed booking
- Prevents double-bookings against existing calendar events without any manual management
- Buffer time settings protect preparation and recovery time around meetings
- Requires visitors to book through your UniLink page — does not provide a shareable standalone booking link separate from your page
- Google OAuth tokens can expire, requiring periodic reauthorization if not refreshed automatically
- No two-way sync for external cancellations — if you cancel the Google Calendar event, the booking is not automatically removed from UniLink's records
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the integration work with Google Workspace accounts as well as personal Gmail?
Yes. The Google Calendar integration works with both personal Gmail accounts and Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) accounts. The OAuth flow is the same for both. If you're on a Google Workspace account with admin-restricted third-party app access, your Workspace admin may need to approve the UniLink OAuth app before you can connect it.
Can I connect multiple Google Calendars to check availability across all of them?
The integration connects to one Google account and lets you select one primary calendar for event creation. For availability checks, UniLink reads all calendars in the selected Google account — so if you have a work calendar, a personal calendar, and a team calendar all under one Google account, busy events from all of them will block slots on your booking page. Only events from the selected calendar are used for creating new booking events.
What timezone does the booking block use?
The booking block displays available times in the visitor's detected local timezone. When a visitor books a slot, UniLink converts it to your timezone and creates the Google Calendar event at the correct local time for you. Both you and the visitor see the meeting at the right local time without manual timezone conversion.
Can I add a video call link automatically to each booking?
Yes. In the Booking block settings, you can specify a fixed meeting link (Zoom, Google Meet, or any URL) that is included in the booking confirmation email and added to the Google Calendar event description. If you have a Google Workspace account that supports Google Meet link generation, UniLink can generate a unique Meet link per booking automatically.
What happens if I need to cancel or reschedule a booking?
Cancel or delete the event directly in Google Calendar. UniLink will reflect the change in availability — that time slot becomes open for future bookings. Send a personal message to the visitor to notify them of the cancellation and propose a new time, then have them rebook through your UniLink page.
- Connect via Dashboard → Integrations → Google Calendar → OAuth → select calendar → set buffer time → save — real-time availability sync activates immediately.
- Mark personal blocks (lunch, gym, pickups) as Busy in Google Calendar — Free or Tentative events do not block booking availability.
- Set a minimum notice period of at least 2–4 hours to prevent surprise same-day bookings.
- Add qualifying questions to the booking flow to arrive at every call better prepared without back-and-forth email.
- Test the full booking flow with a test email before publishing your page to confirm calendar events are created and confirmation emails send correctly.
Ready to let visitors book meetings on your page? Connect Google Calendar in your UniLink Dashboard and add a booking block to your page today.