How to Claim and Verify Your Google Business Profile

Until you claim and verify your Google Business Profile, you cannot control what customers see when they search for you. This guide takes you from "I am not sure if I have one" to a verified profile. Plan on about 20 minutes of work, plus waiting time for Google to confirm you.

You need: a Google account you will keep using (a shared business email is better than a personal one), your business name exactly as it appears on your sign, your address or service area, and a phone you can answer.

Step 1. Check whether your business already has a profile

Google often creates profiles on its own from public information, so yours may already exist.

1. On a computer, open Google Maps.
2. Search for your business name and city.
3. If your business appears, click it and look for Claim this business. If you see that, nobody has verified it yet. Go to Step 2.
4. If you see a profile that is already managed and it is not you, go to "If someone else already owns it" below.
5. If nothing appears, go to Step 3.

Step 2. Claim an existing profile

1. Select Claim this business, then Manage now.
2. Choose a verification option (see Step 4).
3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

If it shows a business that is not yours, choose I own or manage another business and search again.

Step 3. Create a new profile

Only do this if you searched first. A second profile for the same business is a duplicate, and Google allows one profile per business.

1. Go to business.google.com/add.
2. Select Add your business to Google.
3. Follow the on-screen steps. Enter your name, category and either your address or your service area. If customers do not come to you, set a service area and do not show your address. For more on that, see How to Choose Your Google Categories, Services and Service Area.
4. Choose a verification option.

Use the name on your sign. Google does not allow extra words in the name, such as your services, hours, a tagline or your city, to help you rank. Google's rules do not allow it.

Step 4. Verify that you are the owner

Google decides which methods you can use, based on your business type and other details. You do not get to pick. The usual options are:

• Phone or text. Google sends a code to your business number. A phone menu system cannot receive it.
• Email. A code goes to an email address you can open.
• Video recording. You record a short video showing your business and proof that you run it. Google recommends this when you qualify.
• Live video call. A Google representative walks you through it. It only works during your business hours and is not available to everyone.
• Postcard. Google mails a 5-digit code to your business address. It usually arrives within 14 days and the code expires after 30.

If you picked the postcard, do not change your business name, address or category while you wait, and do not request a second code. Do not share the code with anyone. Enter it when it arrives by signing in at business.google.com and choosing Get verified.

Google says review of a verification can take up to 5 business days, sometimes longer.

Step 5. If it does not work the first time

• If Get verified shows up again, Google could not fully verify you. Try again or pick another method.
• If Google asks for more information, it is often because you recently changed your name, address or category.
• If a video recording gets a "Review issues" notice, follow the on-screen instructions and record it again.
• Do not create a second profile for the same business. Google allows one per business, and a duplicate only adds a cleanup job.

If someone else already owns it

This happens when a former employee, web designer or agency set it up. Ask them to give you ownership first. If you cannot reach them:

1. Go to business.google.com/add and enter your business name and address.
2. Choose your business. You will see "Someone else may manage this Business Profile."
3. Select Request Access and fill out the form.

The current owner gets an email and has 3 days to respond. If they approve, you can manage the profile. If they decline, you can appeal or suggest an edit on Google Maps. If nobody answers in 3 days, you may be able to claim it by opening the confirmation email, selecting View request, then Verify. Google says that last option is not always available.

Check your work

• You can sign in at business.google.com and see your business.
• The profile shows as verified. You will no longer see Get verified.
• Searching your business name and city shows one profile, not two.
• More than one person can reach it. Add a second owner or manager (a spouse, a partner) so you are not locked out if one account goes away.

What to do next

A verified profile with nothing in it is a start, not a finish. Go in order:

1. Choose your categories, services and service area.
2. Write your business description.
3. Add real photos.
4. Set your hours, and your holiday hours.

Google's own page for this is Add or claim your Business Profile, and for verifying, Verify your business on Google. Screens change now and then, so if a button has a slightly different name, look for the closest match.

If you would rather hand this off

We set up, verify and maintain Google profiles for clients as part of the monthly plan. See Google Business Profile Management, or get started.