I receive Google Doc links periodically via email; fortunately they're almost never important enough for me to actually log in and see what's behind them.
My point, though, is that there's no real alternative when someone sends you a doc link. Either you follow the link or you have to reach out to them and ask for some alternative distribution channel.
(Or, I suppose, leave yourself logged into the platform all the time, but I try to avoid being logged into Google.)
I don't know what to do about that situation in general.