Google selects the verification method. Video is the most common method now. Record one continuous video with no edits. Show your location or your work vehicle, your tools or equipment, your business name on a sign or a vehicle, and proof that you manage the business. Record in daylight. Do not stop the recording.
The verification methods
Google selects the method. You cannot choose it, and different businesses in the same trade get different methods.
- Video recording. The most common method now. You record a video in the Google app, or you upload one.
- Live video call. A Google representative asks you to show the same items in real time.
- Postcard. Google mails a code to your address. Slower, and less common now.
- Telephone or text message. Google sends a code. Used for some established businesses.
- Email. Rare, and only for some business types.
- Search Console. Available when your website is already verified in Google Search Console with the same account.
What the video must show
Record one continuous video. Do not stop, and do not edit. Google rejects edited video.
Show these four things, in this order.
- Your location. For a shop: the street, the building, the street number and your sign. For a service area business: your work vehicle with your business name, at your home or your yard.
- Your equipment. Tools in the van, machines in the shop, stock on the shelves. Show the items that prove that the work is real.
- Your business name. On a sign, on the vehicle, on a uniform, on a work order or on an invoice.
- Proof that you manage the business. Open the cash register or the office door with your key. Show your business license, your insurance certificate or a utility bill with the business name. Show your phone with a business email account open.
Record in daylight. Speak while you record, and say what you show. Keep the video between one and five minutes.
Why verifications fail
- The video stops or has an edit. Record one time, in one take.
- No business name in the video. A vehicle without graphics needs a magnet sign, a uniform or a document.
- The address does not match. The building, the street and the number must match your listing.
- A home with no visible business. Show the vehicle, the tools and the documents in this case.
- Dark or unclear video. Record in daylight, and hold the phone steady.
- A mailbox store or a virtual office. Google rejects these addresses.
- The category does not match what the video shows. A plumbing listing must show plumbing tools.
After you submit
Google usually answers in less than one week. Some businesses wait longer.
- Do not make changes to the listing while Google reviews it. Changes restart the process.
- Do not create a second listing. This is the most common mistake, and it makes the problem worse.
- If Google rejects the video, read the reason, then record again. Correct the one item that was missing.
- If the second attempt fails, prepare documents before the third attempt: your business license, your insurance certificate and a utility bill with the business name.
Prepare before you record
- Clean the vehicle or the shop entrance.
- Put the magnet sign on the vehicle if it has no graphics.
- Collect your license, your insurance and one utility bill.
- Charge your phone, and find a quiet time with good light.
- Walk the route one time before you record.
Ten minutes of preparation prevents a second attempt.