Troubleshooting Google My Business Verification

In order to gain access to all of the features of Google My Business, you need to make sure your businesses is added on Google, claim it, and then verify it. This can be a confusing process, and that's why we're here to help! 

How to Tell if Your Business is Added on Google

The first step is ensuring that your business is added on Google My Business. The easiest way to do this is to go to Google and search for the name of your business. If your business is added on Google My Business already, it should show up in the Knowledge Pane on the right hand side of the page, like in the example below: 

If you need to add your business to Google, you can follow our instructions to Add or Claim Your Business on Google. 

How to Tell if Your Business is Claimed on Google

The next step in the process is making sure that you have claimed your business on Google My Business. When you claim your business, you are telling Google that you are the person who owns or operates the business and this gives you access to manage it on Google My Business. If you have already claimed your business, you should have a login to Google My Business where you can manage the information that displays about your business on Google. 

If you don't have a login to Google My Business, it is likely that you have not claimed your business yet. If you don't yet have a Google My Business login but your business is listed on Google, follow our instructions to Claim Your Business on Google. 

If you try to claim your business and Google informs you that it has already been claimed, it's possible that someone else (usually a former employee or owner) has claimed it in the past. If this is the case, follow our instructions to Request Ownership of Your Google My Business Page. 

How to Tell if Your Business is Verified on Google

Many people claim their businesses and then think that the process is over, but to gain full control over all Google My Business features, you must also verify your business. The verification process is how Google makes sure that you are the real business owner and that your business is where you say it is. 

The easiest way to tell if your business is verified is to log in to your Google My Business account and look for messages about verification. When you haven't verified yet, Google will prompt you to verify and you should see messages on different pages saying so. Prompts asking you to verify should appear on the home tab of Google My Business, as well as many of the other navigation tabs like the Reviews tab: 

If you go to the Manage Locations navigation tab at the bottom of the Google My Business navigation, there should also be an indication of whether your business is verified or not: 

If you have not yet verified your business, you can follow our instructions to Verify Your Business on Google.