Verify Your Google My Business Page via Video (Without a Postcard)

If you haven’t received a postcard at your physical office location to verify your Google My Business location, don’t worry, Google My Business now offers video verification.

Since our digital agency has worked with hundreds of local businesses, we know the stress involved when you can’t receive a postcard and have to revert to video verification.

I’ve gone through the video verification process before. I wanted to show you first hand via video how this process works so you can be prepared to do this yourself. I’ve also listed out all of the steps involved so this process is stress-free for you and your business.

1. It is important to note that you must wait two weeks to do the video verification after requesting a postcard to your physical location.
2. Call into Google My Business if the postcard hasn’t arrived after two weeks to schedule a time for the video verification. The number is 1-866-246-6453. You’ll want to enter your Google Ads ID and then press option 3 for Google My Business. If you don’t know or don’t have a Google Ads ID, you can still get through by noting that you don’t have a Google Ads ID. The hours of Google My Business are 9 AM – 8 PM (Eastern Time). After you speak with someone at Google My Business, you will receive an email similar to what’s below. You will want to reply to this email stating a time that you are available for video verification. Google My Business will respond to you shortly after. 

   

3. Once you’ve replied to the email above, you will receive an email similar to what’s below. I crossed out the exact time of this video verification for a client but Google does state the time zone, which is nice reassurance. At first, I was not aware that you have to download Google hangouts for the video verification, but it is clearly stated within this email, so make sure you follow all instructions. I did the video verification on my phone. You will have to show Google signage of your business so if you have to leave your office to go outside, don’t use a laptop as you’ll likely cut out of service. You should also turn off the wifi on your phone, so if you do have to leave the building, you don’t lose service that way either.

Tip: I strongly recommend wearing headphones that will connect with your phone for the video verification. I did this without headphones and it was windy outside which made things a bit stressful. You should also be aware that you won’t be able to see the Google rep on the other side of the phone when going through video verification. This doesn’t impact much but it’s a bit awkward knowing they can see you but you can’t see them!

4. Showcase the signage outside of your office (if your logo is near the actual address, that’s ideal). Google will start off the video verification with the signage so be in this location prior to starting the process.

5. Be ready to do a 360-view around the outside of your office (Google will want to make sure what’s outside of your office aligns with street-view, at least that’s why I think they make you do this). You will take your cell phone and do a circle around the outside of your office.

6. Have a business card handy with your office address on it (Note: this isn’t a deal breaker if your business card doesn’t have an address but they do like to see this and asked me for this during verification).

7. Make sure to have proper documentation such as a utility bill with your name and business address on it, or another official document with your name and business information. They didn’t ask me for this during video verification but I’m assuming if you don’t have your address on a business card they would ask for this.

8. Get ready to show your workspace. It’s good to have employees present as they want to see an actual work environment. Be prepared to also show where you meet with clients or customers. I’m guessing if you are a solo shop and don’t have employees, they would ask to see the area where you meet with clients.

The entire video verification process took between 7-8 minutes. Hopefully this article provides you with some more insight on how to get your business verified via video.