Google Business Profile verification, step by step for a small shop
Until your profile is verified, it may not show up when people search for you. Here's how verification works, what to have ready, and what to do when Google says no.
2 min read
The short answer
Google Business Profile verification is how Google checks that your business is real and that you run it. Google picks the ways you can verify, usually a short video, a phone call or text, an email, or a postcard. Have your sign, your tools and proof that you run the business ready. Once it's approved, your profile can show on Search and Maps.
You don't get to pick. Google shows the options it has for your profile, and they can change. These are the common ones.
A video recording. You film your business and show that you run it. This is the most common one now.
A phone call or text. Google sends a code to the business number.
An email. A code goes to an address on your business's own domain.
A postcard. A code comes in the mail to your business address, often in a couple of weeks.
A live video call. You show the same things to someone from Google, on the spot.
What to show on a verification video
The video is where most shops get stuck. Keep it one continuous take, with no cuts, and show three things.
Where you are. The street, a sign or something nearby that matches your address or service area.
That the business is real. Your sign, your truck with its lettering, your tools and equipment.
That you run it. Unlock the shop or the truck, open your business software, or show a business document with your name on it.
If you work from home and go to customers, you don't need a storefront. Show the truck, the tools and the paperwork instead, and set your profile as a service-area business so your home address stays hidden.
Why Google Business Profile verification fails
Most failures come down to something not matching. Fix these before you try again.
A business name with extra words in it, like "Best Plumber Dallas"
An address that's a PO box, a mailbox store or a shared office
A video that's cut, too dark, or doesn't show you can open the door
A phone number or website that doesn't match the profile
After you're verified
Verification isn't a one-time thing. Big changes, like a new name or address, can send you back through it. Keep your hours, your service area and your categories up to date, and add photos of real jobs. Then the work that keeps a profile near the top is reviews: asking every happy customer, and answering every review, good or bad.
By hand5 steps
Remember who finished a job this week
Look up their number
Write an ask that doesn't sound pushy
Copy your review link
Text it to each one
For every finished job, when you remember.
vs
Set up onceWaiting on you
Four jobs closed out this week. Here's a review ask for each, with your link in it.
Hi Dana, it's Rosa from Linden Hollow Plumbing. Thanks for having us out for the water heater Tuesday. If we did right by you, a quick Google review helps a small shop like ours a lot: [your review link]
Every finished job gets a review ask the same week. You read it and send it.
A video or a code can be reviewed in a few days, and a postcard can take a couple of weeks to arrive. Google doesn't promise a time, so check the profile for its status rather than waiting on an email.
Often, yes. Google shows the ways it has for your profile, and for most small businesses that now means a video, a call or text, or an email instead of mail. You can't pick a method Google doesn't offer you.
No. If you go to your customers, set up a service-area business and hide your address. The video shows your truck, tools and paperwork instead of a shop.
Big edits, like changing your name, address or category, can trigger it, and so can anything that looks like a mismatch. Make changes one at a time and keep everything matching your sign and paperwork.
