🛠️ How-to tutorials

Connect Google Sheets to your chatbot: lookups, appends and lead logs

Updated 2026-09-19 · 5 min read · By the Convo360 team

In short

Connecting Google Sheets to a Convo360 flow lets a bot look up data (like stock or pricing), append new rows (like leads) or update existing ones, all without a developer. Connect your Google account once, pick the sheet and tab in the Google Sheets block, choose the operation, and map flow variables to columns. It's a fast way to keep a live lead log or check simple data mid-conversation.

Key takeaways

The Google Sheets block supports three core operations: lookup, append and update.
You authorise your Google account once per workspace; individual flows then just pick the sheet and tab.
Column mapping connects flow variables (like name or phone) to specific spreadsheet columns.
A lookup is ideal for simple stock checks, pricing tables or eligibility rules kept in a spreadsheet.
An append is the fastest way to build a live lead log without setting up a full CRM integration.

Prerequisites, and why Google Sheets is a useful integration point

You need a Google account with the spreadsheet you want to use already created, and a rough idea of which flow step should trigger the lookup, append or update. It helps to add clear column headers to your sheet before connecting, such as 'Name', 'Phone' and 'Status', since the block's mapping step is much faster with a well-labelled sheet than a bare one.

Not every business wants to manage data in a database or CRM from day one. Many run perfectly well on a well-organised Google Sheet for stock lists, pricing, staff schedules or a simple lead log. The Google Sheets integration lets your chatbot read from and write to a real spreadsheet mid-conversation, so that spreadsheet stays useful without your team manually copying data out of chat transcripts.

This matters especially for businesses that already run their operations from a spreadsheet out of habit, such as a shop that tracks daily stock in Excel-style sheets, or a small team that manages leads in a shared Google Sheet. Connecting the bot to that same sheet means adopting automation without forcing everyone to learn a new system overnight.

Exact click path: connecting your account, sheet, tab and operation

In the Flow Builder, drag a Google Sheets block into your flow.
Click Connect Google Account and sign in, granting Convo360 access to Google Sheets under your account.
This connection is saved at the workspace level, so you only need to authorise once, and every subsequent Google Sheets block can reuse it.

In the block's settings, select the specific spreadsheet and the tab (sheet) within it you want to work with.
Choose the operation:
- Lookup: search a column for a matching value (e.g. a product code) and return data from that row.
- Append: add a new row at the end (e.g. a new lead entry).
- Update: find a matching row and update specific columns (e.g. mark an order as 'Delivered').

A worked example: a fabric store's stock-check flow

A fabric wholesaler in Surat keeps a live stock sheet with columns for Design Code, Colour, Metres Available and Price per Metre. Their WhatsApp flow asks the customer for a design code, runs a Lookup block matching it against the Design Code column, and returns the colour options, remaining stock and price directly into the conversation. If stock is zero, a Condition block routes to a 'notify me when back in stock' path instead, which appends the customer's number to a separate 'Restock Alerts' tab using an Append operation. The whole flow took under thirty minutes to wire up because both operations reuse the same Google Sheets connection.

Column mapping: connecting flow variables to columns

Once you pick an operation, map your flow's variables to the spreadsheet's column headers. For an append (lead log) block, this typically looks like:

Column	Flow variable
Name	name
Phone	phone
Enquiry	enquiry_type
Date	system date

For a lookup block, you instead map which column to search (e.g. 'Product Code') against a variable, and which columns to pull back into new flow variables for use later in the conversation.

Troubleshooting common issues

Issue	Fix
Lookup returns no result	Check the search value matches the sheet's data exactly, including spacing and case, since matching is typically literal.
Append adds a row but columns are blank or shifted	Re-check the column mapping after any change to the sheet's column order.
Connection fails or shows expired	Reconnect the Google account under the block's settings; this can happen if account access was revoked externally.
Update block edits the wrong row	Confirm the matching column contains unique values, since duplicate values can cause the wrong row to update.

Common uses worth setting up, and what to test

Stock or availability check: a customer asks 'is size M available in blue', the bot looks up the row and answers instantly.
Live lead log: every qualified enquiry appends a row your sales team can filter and sort in real time, no CRM needed to start.
Pricing tables: a jewellery store's daily gold rate kept in a sheet, looked up live rather than hardcoded into the bot.
Order status updates: a bot updates a 'Status' column when a customer confirms delivery, keeping your ops sheet current.

Before relying on any Google Sheets block, test with a real row already in the sheet (for lookup), confirm a test append appears in the correct columns, and check that an update only changes the intended row, ideally on a duplicate test sheet before pointing the flow at your live data.

A note on scale

Google Sheets integration is genuinely good for small to medium data volumes and simple lookups: a few hundred to a few thousand rows works comfortably. For larger catalogues or a business that has outgrown a spreadsheet, look at the CRM pipeline, a proper database via HTTP/API request, or the REST API on the Business plan instead.

A reasonable signal that you've outgrown a sheet: lookups start taking noticeably longer, multiple team members are editing the same sheet and occasionally overwriting each other's changes, or you need to filter and search a way spreadsheets weren't designed for. None of these mean Google Sheets was the wrong starting choice. A spreadsheet integration is meant to get you moving fast, not to be the permanent system for a business at full scale.

Step by step

Add column headers to your sheetLabel columns clearly (Name, Phone, Status) before connecting.
Drag a Google Sheets block into your flowAdd it at the point where the lookup, append or update should happen.
Connect your Google accountAuthorise access once; the connection is saved at the workspace level.
Select the spreadsheet and tabPick the exact sheet and tab this block should work with.
Choose the operationPick Lookup, Append or Update depending on what the flow needs to do.
Map columns to flow variablesConnect each relevant column to the matching flow variable.
Test with real and duplicate dataConfirm lookups match correctly and appends/updates land in the right columns before going live.

Example conversation

Do you have the red kurti in size L available?

Let me check... yes, we have 4 pieces of the red kurti in size L in stock. Would you like me to reserve one for you?

Connect Google Sheets free for 14 days

Start free in minutes — no code, no credit card. Bring your own AI keys and pay no per-message markup.

Start 14-day free trial →See pricing

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a developer to connect Google Sheets to my chatbot?

No. Connecting your Google account and mapping columns to flow variables is done entirely through the Flow Builder's visual Google Sheets block — no coding required.

Can the bot both read and write to the same sheet?

Yes. You can use a Lookup block to read data and a separate Append or Update block later in the same or a different flow to write back to the sheet.

What happens if the spreadsheet structure changes?

If you rename or remove a column that a flow references, the block's column mapping needs to be updated to match — check and re-test the flow after any structural change to your sheet.

Is there a limit to how many rows Google Sheets can handle for a chatbot?

Google Sheets works well for small to medium datasets, roughly a few thousand rows. For larger catalogues, a proper database via the CRM pipeline or REST API is a better fit.

Can multiple flows use the same Google Sheets connection?

Yes, once your Google account is connected at the workspace level, any flow can add a Google Sheets block and pick the same or a different spreadsheet without reconnecting.

Why did my lookup fail even though the value is clearly in the sheet?

Check for hidden extra spaces, different capitalisation, or the value being stored as a number in the sheet but sent as text from the flow (or vice versa) — these mismatches are the most common cause of a lookup silently failing.