How to Ask Someone for Their Location (and Get a Yes)

Asking someone where they are is easy when they expect the question. It gets hard when a link arrives from a number they don't recognise, with no explanation, asking for something as personal as their location. Most people say no to that, and they're right to.

We run location requests on Track Link, so we can see which ones get answered. The pattern is plain: people share when they can see who is asking and why. This guide covers what the other person sees, what our numbers showed, and how to ask in a way that gets a yes.

What the other person sees

A location request is a link. When they open it, they don't get a map or a download. They get a short screen that tells them who is asking and why, and asks them to choose.

• Who is asking. If you added your name, the heading reads "[your name] is asking for your location". If you didn't, it reads "Someone is asking for your location".
• Why. If you wrote a reason, it appears in quotes as a message from you. The page says Track Link hasn't checked it, because we haven't: the name and the reason are your words, not something we verify.
• What sharing means. The screen says the location is shared once, right now, and doesn't keep tracking them. It also says only the account that sent the link can see it.
• Two buttons and a report link. One button shares, the other doesn't. A "Report this link" option sits at the bottom.

Nothing precise is shared at this point. Only if they tap share does their phone or browser show its own permission prompt, and only if they allow it there does the location reach you. That's two separate yeses, and the page can't skip the second one. If they tap "Don't share", the screen tells them nothing was shared and their location stayed on their device.

They don't need an app or an account. The link opens in whatever browser their phone already uses. If you set a page for them to go to next, they continue there after they answer. If you didn't, the screen simply ends.

What our requests showed

We looked at requests sent through Track Link over a few days in late October and early November 2026. It's a small sample, so treat these numbers as rough. We only counted opens by someone other than the sender.

The gap holds among people who actually opened the link, too. When a name was shown, about half of them shared. Without one, just over a quarter did. Same screen, same two buttons. The difference was whether they could see who was on the other end.

One honest caveat: this isn't a controlled test. People who take the time to type their name may also be people the recipient already knows and expects to hear from. Still, a name costs you nothing to add, and it's the first thing they read.

How to ask so they say yes

1. Use the name they know you by. Not a company's legal name or an internal label. "Sam from Acme Couriers" or "Aunt Lena" tells them at a glance whether to trust it.
2. Give a specific reason. "So I can find your drop-off point" works better than "Please share your location". Say what you'll do with it, in one line.
3. Send it where you normally talk. If you usually message them on WhatsApp, send it there, in the same chat. A link from an unknown number reads as spam whatever it says. Our WhatsApp guide shows how.
4. Warn them it's coming. A short message before the link ("Sending you a link so I can see where you parked") means the screen confirms what they expected instead of surprising them.
5. Send it when they can act. A precise fix needs the phone's Location switched on, and it works best outdoors or near a window. Someone driving or in a meeting will ignore it and forget. If their Location is off, the page tells them how to turn it on and lets them try again.
6. Make clear it's a one-time share. The screen says so, but saying it yourself helps: you want to know where they are now, not to follow them around.
7. If you're a business, send it from your own domain. When the request comes from a custom domain you've connected, the screen shows that it was sent from your domain. One more thing they recognise.

Test it once, and expect to see your test

Open the link yourself before you send it, so you know exactly what they'll see. Nearly everyone does this: in our sample, the sender opened their own link on about half of all requests, usually to check it.

That test shows up in your list of visits like any other open. So when you judge whether a request worked, leave out the visit that was you. A request with one open and no location may only mean nobody but you has opened it yet.

If they don't share

Without a precise location, you still see that the link was opened, when, and the approximate area of the internet connection it came from. Treat that area as a hint, not an answer. On mobile data it often points to wherever the network hands traffic to the internet, which can be a different city from where the person is standing. We go into why in can you track a phone number with a link?

If they said no, the best next step is the plain one: ask them. Call or message and say what you need. They may have missed the prompt, tapped the wrong button, or would rather type an address. Or they may not want to share, which is their call. Sending the same link again and again won't change that, and it's the kind of thing that gets a link reported.

If they're using a VPN, the page may ask them to turn it off and open the link again. Worth mentioning if they tell you the link didn't work.

When a link isn't the right tool

A location request is for one-off moments: a courier who can't find the door, a friend somewhere in a crowd, a delivery confirmation, a technician checking in from a site. If you need to know where someone is over hours or days, with their agreement, a live location share in WhatsApp, Google Maps or Apple's Find My fits better. Those are built for that, and the other person can stop sharing whenever they like.

A request is never a way to find someone who doesn't want to be found. Covert tracking is against our terms, every request carries a report link, and reported links are reviewed. Abusive ones are disabled and the account can be suspended. More on how we handle misuse in how we keep a free link shortener from being used for phishing.

What it costs

Anyone can create a location request and collect answers, including on the Free plan. On Free, the first precise location on your account is shown in full, and later ones show the area only. Starter ($5.60 a month) and every plan above it show every precise location, on every request.

Creating an account takes a Google or Microsoft sign-in, with no credit card. The person you're asking never needs one. See pricing for the full plan list, or how Pinpoint links work for the details.