Guide · Google Maps

Google Business Profile verification: every method, step by step

Verifying is what makes a Google listing yours. Google says you need it to fully manage your business info and to deal with customers on it, such as replying to reviews. Google decides how you verify, and sometimes asks for more than one method. This is what each method needs, from Google's own help pages.

Before you start

• Sign in with the Google account that should own the listing: your own Gmail, not an employee's.
• Get the name, address and category right before you start.
• Use a phone number you actually answer. Google's help says automated phone menus can't receive the code.

The methods Google may offer

1. A video recording. When it is offered, Google recommends it. Record one continuous video: the outside (your sign, the street or the shops next door), your products or equipment, and proof you run the place (opening it with your keys, the counter, the kitchen or the store room). Keep bank details and ID cards out of it.
2. Phone or SMS. Select Get verified, then Phone or SMS. Answer the call or open the text, and type the code into your profile.
3. Email. Select Get verified, then Email, and follow the steps in the email. You must be able to open that address.
4. A live video call. It is only offered during your business hours. Be at the business: a Google support person joins, and you show the same three things on camera, live.
5. A postcard. It is not offered to every business. Most codes arrive within 14 days, and a code expires after 30. While you wait, do not change the name, address or category (the code stops working), and do not ask for a new code (the one in the post stops working).

How long verification takes

After the last step, Google reviews what you sent. Google says this takes up to five working days, and on rare occasions longer. Some profiles are verified at once, for example when the business's website is already verified in Google Search Console. A confirmation email tells you it is done.

When it doesn't work

• The "Get verified" button is back on your profile. Google couldn't fully verify it. Try again, or try another method if one is offered.
• "Review issues" after a video. The video wasn't accepted. Select Review issues and follow what it asks, then record again.
• Never share the code, not even with people who manage your listing. Google never asks you for it.
• Tried every method and still stuck? Contact Google Business Profile support from the help page.

Adding a new listing from scratch: Google Map par dukan kaise dalein. Someone else controls it: getting it back. Suspended: how to fix it. Or let the Google listing service handle it, from Rs 3,000.

Google's own help page: verify your business on Google.

Last checked: 27 September 2026 · All guides