Feature Image Not Used in Gmail Chat Link Preview

Developer Support CMS Development
1

Hi Team,
I’m facing an issue with a HubSpot-hosted website page.
I have configured the Feature Image in the page settings. When I share the page URL on social media platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, X, etc.), the correct feature image appears in the link preview.
However, when I share the same URL in Gmail Chat (Google Chat), it ignores the feature image and instead displays the first image from the page content.
I expected Gmail Chat to use the page’s configured feature image (Open Graph image), but it doesn’t.
Could anyone help me understand:
Is this expected behavior in Google Chat?
Does Google Chat ignore Open Graph images and generate its own preview?
Is there any way to force Google Chat to use the HubSpot Feature Image instead of the first image on the page?
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

2

Hey @PBaBu4,

this might depend on the theme setup.

While og_image is basically the internet default, Google is known for doing it’s own thing.

As far as I know, there’s nothing you can do to “force” Google Chat to display the selected image.

Nontheless, something you can check/try is adding following code to your blog or base template like this

<meta property="og:image" content="{{ content.featured_image }}">
<meta property="og:image:secure_url" content="{{ content.featured_image }}">
  {% if content.featured_image is string_containing ".jpg" %}
    <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/jpeg">
  {% elif content.featured_image is string_containing ".png" %}
    <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/png">
  {% endif %}
<meta property="og:image:width" content="1200">
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630">

And just a tipp:
if you’re using webp, it might be an source of error as well.

hope this helps

Best,
Anton

3

Hi Anton,

I was referring to the website pages, not the blog pages.

The issue is occurring on the website pages. I added the code you shared to the Head HTML section of that specific HubSpot page’s settings, but it still didn’t work.

When I share the same page link in Gmail/Google Chat, the correct preview image still doesn’t appear.

5

Hello @PBaBu4, I think Google prefers you use specific schemas over the og:image, see: Image SEO Best Practices | Google Search Central  |  Documentation  |  Google for Developers

It would look like this:

<script type="application/ld+json">{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "WebPage",
  "url": "https://example.com/url",
  "primaryImageOfPage": "https://example.com/images/cat.png"
}</script>

I would give it a try to see if that changes the preview image :slight_smile:

6

Hi Albert,

I’m facing the same issue again. When I share the page URL in Google Chat, the feature image doesn’t appear in the link preview, even though it works correctly on other social platforms.

If you’ve come across this issue before or know of any solution, I’d really appreciate your guidance.

If it’s easier, I’m happy to connect on a quick call. If you’re nearby, I’m even okay meeting in person to discuss it.

Thanks in advance for your help!

8

Hi @PBaBu4
This is likely expected behavior with Google Chat. It doesn’t always use the (og:image) from the page and may pick the first image it finds in the page content instead.
If the HubSpot page source has the correct (og:image) and it works on LinkedIn/Facebook, then there’s probably nothing wrong with the HubSpot setup. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a way to force Google Chat to use the HubSpot Feature Image.
So this is most likely controlled by Google Chat’s preview behavior.

I hope this helps you out. Please mark it as Solution Accepted and upvote to help another Community member.

Thanks!