How to verify your Google Business Profile

To verify your Google Business Profile, sign in at business.google.com with the Google account that should own it, open your profile and choose Get verified. Google then offers one or more ways to prove you run the business: a phone call or text, an email, a short video you record on your phone, a live video call, or a postcard with a code. You cannot pick the method; Google decides from your business type and history. A code by phone can take minutes, while a video or postcard takes days, so it pays to prepare before you press the button.

Why verification matters

An unverified profile is a listing anyone can suggest changes to and you cannot fully control. Verification is Google's way of checking that the person managing it really runs the business. Once verified, your edits to hours, phone number and photos carry your authority, and you can answer reviews as the owner.

Before you start, make sure you are signed in with the right account. Use a Google account the business controls, not a nephew's Gmail or an agency's login, because whoever verifies the profile becomes its owner. Website ownership and Google: who controls your listing explains why that choice matters years later.

What to have ready

Check these before you request verification, because changing them afterwards can break the process.

Your business name exactly as it appears on your sign, vehicles and invoices. No added keywords like "Best Plumber Austin".
Your address. If customers come to you, the real street address. If you go to customers, set the profile up as a service-area business, which can hide your home address. Service-area businesses on Google: hiding your home address covers that.
Your main business category, the single best description of what you do.
A phone that a person answers. Google's help notes that automated phone menus cannot receive the code.
Your website address, if you have one, matching the details on the profile.

The methods Google may offer

Phone or text

Google calls or texts a code to the business number on the profile. Type the code in, and you are usually done. Answer the call yourself: a phone tree or a busy receptionist can lose it.

Email

Google sends a link to an email address shown on the screen. Click it from the same Google account you are verifying with. If the address shown is not one you can open, choose another method if one is offered.

Video recording

This is now common, and Google recommends it when you are offered it. You record one continuous clip on your phone, through the Business Profile itself, at least 30 seconds long, with no cuts or editing. Google's help lists three things the video should show:

Where you are. Street signs, the building number, a neighboring business or a landmark.
That the business exists. For a shop or office, your sign with the business name on a permanent fixture. For a business that goes to customers, your tools, equipment, branded van or uniform.
That you manage it. Something only staff can do: opening the front door with your key, opening the register, the back kitchen or stockroom. A service business can show you doing the work or opening the van with your key; a business permit or utility bill matching your profile name also counts.

Keep other people's faces, bank details and ID numbers out of the shot.

Live video call

A Google support person checks the same things with you on a video call. It only runs during business hours for your location, so plan to be at the premises with the keys.

Postcard

Google mails a postcard with a five-digit code to your address. It usually arrives within about two weeks, and the code expires after a month. Enter it under the profile's verification option.

After you submit

Google's help says reviews usually take up to five business days. You will get a message when it is done. While it is pending:

Do not change the name, address, phone or category.
Do not create a second profile "to be safe". Duplicates slow everything down.
Never share the code with anyone, including an agency or anyone who calls claiming to be from Google. Google says it will never ask you for it.

When verification fails

The video was rejected

Open your profile and look for Review issues. Google lists what was missing, such as no visible signage or no clear sign of the address. Record a fresh video that shows everything from the first one plus the missing piece. Walk slowly, say nothing confusing, and film in daylight.

Get verified appears again

That means Google could not complete the check. Try again, or try a different method if more than one is listed. If Google asks for more details, a recent change to your business information is often the reason; supply what it asks for.

The method you want is not offered

You cannot choose. If only video is offered and you have no sign, think about whether your profile should be a service-area business; Google's own guidance says a business without permanent signage should be listed that way. If you are truly stuck, Google's Business Profile help center has a contact option for verification problems.

Someone else already verified it

If Google says the business is already managed by someone, the profile exists under another account, often a former designer or agency. Getting your Google Business Profile back from an old agency walks through requesting access.

Once you are verified

Add one or two trusted helpers as managers rather than sharing your password; adding a manager to your Google Business Profile shows how. Then fill in your hours, services, photos and website link, and keep them matching your site.

What to do this week

Decide which Google account will own the profile, and sign in with it.
Check the name, address, phone and category match your sign and your website.
Request verification and follow the method Google offers.
If it is a video, plan the route: street sign, your sign, the inside.
Note the date you submitted and check back after five business days.

Your profile links to your website, so the website should say the same things the profile does. If yours no longer does, you can see your site rebuilt first with your current details and decide from there.