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Google Business Profile
Pre-Verification Checklist

Correct the listing, wait for the corrections to publish, then verify. Google chooses the method. You prepare for it.

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Business: Owner's Google account: Date:

Step 1: Audit open Google Maps signed out and compare every field to the real business

Field What Google shows (signed out) What the real business shows Match?
Business namevs. permanent sign, word for word
Addressvs. door, lease, licence
Phonecall it: who answers?
Primary categorywhat the business mainly does
Hoursvs. door and website
Websiteand its name, address, phone
Duplicate listings?search name and address separately

Step 2: Storefront or service area?

  • Customers visit this address during stated hours.
  • There is permanent signage on the building or window. Not a vehicle magnet or sandwich board.
  • The address is the real operating location. No PO box, mailbox store or virtual office.
  • Any "no" above: set up as a service area business and hide the address.

Steps 3 to 5: Fix rules

  • Name matches the sign. No added city, services or keywords. Trading name beats legal name.
  • Phone is answered by a person. Auto-attendant off. Landline is fine for the call option; only a mobile can receive a text.
  • Do not swap a landline for a mobile just to chase SMS verification. Google picks the method.
  • Address matches door, licence and website, unit number and abbreviation style included.
  • Primary category is accurate. Leave secondary categories until after verification.
  • Website contact page shows the same name, address and phone as the profile.
Mismatches found on this page are the work. Fix them on the website first (you control it), then on the profile, then wait.
Page 1 of 2. Audit and corrections. Full guide: omnimetrics.ca/Google-Business-Profile-Pre-Verification-Checklist.php

Submit, Wait, Then Verify

Once the public listing is correct. Not before.

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Step 6: Submit and wait

  • Claim the profile with the owner's account and correct each field from the dashboard.
  • If the dashboard says verify first: Suggest an edit on Google Maps from an account with a clean contribution history, one field per edit.
  • Check signed out until the public listing is correct. Human review can take weeks.
  • No verification request while a name or address edit is pending.

Step 7: Accounts

  • Primary owner = the business owner's established Google account.
  • Helpers added as managers. Never handed the owner login.
  • Domain email on the profile if the business has one.
  • Website verified in Search Console under the owner's account.

Step 8: Documents business name on each must match the profile

  • Business licence
  • Certificate of incorporation or registration
  • WCB clearance (trades)
  • Insurance or bonding certificate
  • Utility bill for the address, in the business name
  • Recent customer invoice with name, address, phone in the header

Step 9: Request verification from the owner's account. Take what Google offers. Then touch nothing

Phone or textBusiness phone beside you, unmuted, auto-attendant off. Landline: choose "Phone". Enter the code immediately.
EmailSigned into that mailbox first. Check spam. Follow the link from the same device.
PostcardUp to 14 days. Code expires after 30. No edits to name, address or category while waiting. No second card unless the first is certainly lost.
Video recordingLive in the Google Maps app, signed into the managing account. Cannot be pre-recorded. Use the shoot storyboard. Review up to 5 business days.
Live video callThrough support after other methods fail. Same evidence: location, signage or vehicle, an owner-only area.
Do not resubmit while a review is pending. Repeated attempts can trigger a "No more ways to verify" lockout. If locked out, use Google's verification status tool to open a support ticket and ask for a live video call.

Step 10: After approval

  • Leave name, address, category and phone alone unless genuinely wrong.
  • Add the safe things first: photos, services, description, posts.
  • If a core field must change, one at a time, and let it publish before the next.
  • Owner stays primary owner. Helpers stay managers.
Page 2 of 2. Submit, accounts, documents, request, after. Full guide: omnimetrics.ca/Google-Business-Profile-Pre-Verification-Checklist.php