Google Changed How It Verifies New Business Profiles. Here’s What to Know Before You Apply

Getting a Google Business Profile up and running used to be straightforward: request a code, wait for a postcard, type in a few digits when it showed up. That process no longer applies to most new listings.

In its place, Google now asks businesses to record a short video walkthrough of their location using the Maps app or the Business Profile app. Because the app checks your phone’s location while you’re filming, the video can’t be shot somewhere else, recorded ahead of time, or borrowed from another location. Anyone planning to open or verify a business should understand this before they sit down to film. A video that gets sent back can cost several weeks of listing downtime, and that’s time you’d otherwise spend showing up in searches for customers looking for what you offer.

Why Google Made This Change

A mailed postcard could confirm an address existed. It couldn’t confirm a business was actually running there. That gap became a bigger problem as more consultants, service providers, and home-based businesses started claiming listings without a traditional storefront to point to.

Video closes that gap. Because the app verifies your location in real time as you record, Google now has proof the business exists at the address, in person, at the moment of filming, rather than just a claim typed into a form. Google has stated plainly that footage recorded earlier and uploaded later won’t satisfy the requirement. It has to be live.

The result is a meaningfully higher bar for proving a business is legitimate, current, and operating where it says it is. Anyone verifying a new location now needs to plan for that ahead of time instead of treating the video as an afterthought.

What Your Video Needs to Show

Google is looking for three things: an accurate location, evidence the business is operating there, and proof that you’re the one running it. All of it needs to happen in a single take, filmed straight through, without cutting between separate clips or editing pieces together afterward. Thirty seconds is the minimum, though most businesses land somewhere between one and two minutes once they’ve covered everything Google is looking for.

If you have a storefront or dedicated suite, a typical sequence starts outside with the street number or building signage, so the address is easy to match to your listing. From there, walk toward the entrance and capture your business name on something permanent, like a sign or window decal, rather than something taped up for the occasion. Continue inside to show your workspace or equipment, and finish with an action that only someone who actually manages the space could do: unlocking a door, switching on equipment, or opening a drawer or cabinet.

Businesses without a private storefront, such as a shared studio, a home office, or a space you don’t fully control, follow the same logic on a smaller scale. A directory listing or door sign in place of street signage, paired with your workspace and equipment, communicates the same thing to Google.

The Signage Detail That Trips Up New Applicants

This is where a lot of otherwise well-prepared businesses run into trouble, and it’s worth sorting out before you ever open the app. Google wants to see your business name displayed somewhere fixed, not a sheet of paper taped up the morning of filming. That might mean a permanent sign or window decal for a storefront, a printed page in a proper holder or slot for a suite or shared space, or any other signage carrying your logo and details, as long as it’s secured in place rather than loose. Whatever form it takes, make sure your name and logo are clearly legible, and have it ready before you start recording, regardless of what kind of space you operate out of.

Consistency matters just as much as legibility. If the business name on your listing doesn’t match what’s on your signage, that mismatch is one of the more common reasons Google sends a video back for another attempt. Before you record anything, check that your listing name, your signage, and the name your customers actually know you by all line up exactly.

What to Leave Out

A few things will get a submission rejected almost every time. Other people shouldn’t appear in the frame or on the audio, so plan to film during a quiet stretch rather than narrating over it; Google is looking for documentation, not something polished enough to double as marketing. Anything sensitive that happens to be visible, like account numbers or tax paperwork on a screen or desk, should be kept out of the shot. And no matter how well everything else is executed, footage filmed in advance and saved for later won’t get approved. Google can detect this, and it’s one of the quickest ways to have a submission rejected outright.

Turnaround is typically around five business days. A passing video moves your profile live, and you can move on to filling out the rest of the listing. A rejected one usually comes back without a specific explanation, which puts the burden on getting it right the first time rather than troubleshooting after the fact.

Why This Matters Even More for Home-Based and Shared Spaces

A large share of businesses run out of small studios, home offices, or shared workspaces rather than traditional storefronts, and these are exactly the setups Google tends to examine most closely during verification.

A lit storefront sign isn’t required. What matters instead is that every other detail in the video pulls its weight: legible signage, a workspace that’s clearly active and in use, and a clear moment of you accessing or operating that space. Those smaller signals, taken together, are what convince Google this is a real, functioning business at a real address rather than just an entry in a database.

Businesses that keep their name, logo, and address consistent across their website, paperwork, and physical signage before recording tend to pass on the first attempt. Inconsistencies between those pieces are what typically send a video back for a second try.

The Bottom Line

Video verification isn’t optional, and it isn’t something to put off. A profile that hasn’t cleared verification won’t show up when customers are searching Maps or browsing local results, so the people looking for a business like yours are landing on a competitor’s listing instead.

A little preparation before you hit record goes a long way here. Businesses that get their signage squared away and know exactly what the video needs to capture tend to clear verification on the first try, which means less time waiting and more time focused on running the business itself.

Sources
Google Business Profile Help, Verify your business with a video recording: https://support.google.com/business/answer/14271705