Situations that precede successful registration of a company on a Google map
First of all, you need to understand that there are several main situations in confirming or registering a profile on a Google map:
- There is no point on the Map, and you want to create/add it
- There is a point on the map and you want to claim it
- There is a point on the map, but someone else is managing it, you forgot your account password, lost your phone, an employee quit, etc.
Additionally, there are some additional factors that may affect confirmation:
- Company documents
- Your company’s format of operation (Permanent address or no address, services only)
- Violation of the rules for publishing on the map in your profile
- Is your company an online store
And we remind you that we have a service for registering and verify a point on a Google Map!
The company is not on the Map and you want to create/add it
If your company is not on the Google map, I recommend that before registering your company, you still try to search for your company on the map. Maybe someone added it, and you just don’t know about it. You can do this by company name, company website, or address. I still recommend doing all three of these searches. I often even check neighboring addresses, especially if the address has some letters or fractions.
If your company is still not there, you need to follow this link and follow the instructions on the screen.
In general, the procedure will consist of entering data about your company: this is the name of your company, address, phone number, website, work schedule, photos of your location. A little later, you will also be able to fill in information about your products and services.
You should adhere to the rules for placing a business on Google Maps because Google’s algorithm checks the information you provide against the rules. If, for example, your name does not comply with these rules, the verification process will be delayed or will not be completed at all.
There are several main ways to verify your Business Profile on Google:
- Letter by regular mail to your address
This letter will be sent to your physical address. It will be delivered to you by the postman. The algorithm chooses this confirmation option when there is absolutely no information about your company online or this information is unreliable in Google’s opinion. This confirmation method is not very reliable, since letters very often do not arrive. I recommend checking your mail, talking to the postman. But if the letter does not arrive, do not worry. After the delivery time of the letter (the time will be specified when ordering the letter), you can contact support and ask for an alternative confirmation method, most likely it will be video confirmation.
- By phone or SMS
This verification method will be available in your company, provided that somewhere on the network there is a reliable source that the algorithm trusts, with the same phone number that you specified during registration. If for some technical reason the phone call or SMS does not come, you can also contact support, but very often it happens that support still requires you to go through the paper letter procedure before providing you with an alternative method. This way they relieve themselves of additional burden.
- Email confirmation
Very often people misinterpret this type of confirmation. Email confirmation can only be to a corporate email, which is located on your website’s domain name. For example, the website is located at supercompany.com. So, one of the corporate email options could be info@supercompany.com or service@supercompany.com. These can be created in the domain name control panel or at your hosting provider. And this email must be listed on your website as a method of contact. It should also be listed in the privacy policies and legal information of the company.
- Video verification of profile on Google Map
This method of confirmation is most often chosen as an alternative method of confirmation, since video can often prove that the object really exists. After all, most companies do not understand that Google Maps is a service, first of all, about the place, about the physical location. Namely: shops, bars, restaurants, company offices. The physical location should have a sign, a sign with the working hours, a photo where it is clear how to find this company and how to get to it. These are the kind of photos that I recommend adding to letters to support when you contact them. Use the widest possible frame so that not only your object is visible, but also nearby objects, this also applies to the video about your object itself. So that the support employee does not doubt that this object is really where you indicate.
Google also recently outlined guidelines for filming video for verification videos.
There is a point on the map and you want to claim it
In this case, you have found your company on a Google map and can claim it. You can do this through Google maps by clicking the “I am the owner of this company” button. Or through the “Create a company” link. When you enter the name of your company, the system will ask: “Is this your company?” And you can select your company from the list.
Then the confirmation procedure is the same as in the first case. But if the data in the confirmation option by phone, via SMS or by letter to the address is not true, you can correct this information before submitting a confirmation request (provided that the system allows you to do this).
Or you can try as a Google maps user to suggest correcting the information on the Google map for the data that you consider incorrect before confirmation. Just note that Google also compares data with photos, the company’s website, as well as with information about the company on the Internet.
So if you want to change some data, I first recommend changing it on your website, in catalogs on the Internet, in social networks, on the sign. Then take photos with these changes and publish these photos on the company map, even as a simple map user. After some time, you can try to change the data. Then the chance of this change will be higher.
The chance also depends on your level in the local experts program.
If any of the above fails, you can always contact support and ask for manual confirmation.
The point is on the map, but it is controlled by someone else.
There is a special procedure to confirm the rights to an organization, provided that this company is currently managed by someone else. Very often people turn to the expert forum with this problem because they have:
- access to the account is lost
- the former employee does not want to give up the account
- Or this happens if there is a division of business or conflicts. Google does not participate in these conflicts and take away the profile, if the profile is really managed by someone else and you, as the applicant, do not have the opportunity to prove physical presence and the right to manage the profile, then only a court decision will help you.
Well, for other, simpler cases, the procedures are as follows:
You follow the link above and try to add this company. Select from the list or click on the “I am the owner of this company” button on the map directly on Google Maps. Then you see a message that this company’s profile is managed by another person, and you see part of this account (the first two or three characters). This is done so that it is possible if you forgot which account you have rights to.
Now you have the opportunity to ask for access to the company profile on this account. In the application for management, you indicate your phone number so that the person managing the profile can contact you. And also choose the level of access you want to receive.
If the person on the other side clicks “Refuse”, the confirmation procedure can be initiated manually only by contacting support.
If no one presses anything, after 3 days the usual automatic confirmation procedure will begin, via the same letter that you will receive by mail in order to monitor the status of your request to the current profile administrator.
Additional factors that affect the Google Maps profile verification procedure
- Company documents
Very often people try to prove the existence of a company and get a point on the map by manipulating the fact that they have some supporting documents. You should understand that it is very important for Google that the Google Maps service adheres to its purpose. They try to maintain the purity of this service as much as possible, so not always, and until recently very rarely, documents helped to confirm the company.
If you have already contacted support, you may have noticed that the company requires you to show not just a document on the right to conduct business, but specifically that the presented documents contain the address that you declare in the company profile.
For example, in Ukraine, very often people operate as an individual entrepreneur (IE), who is registered at the address of his apartment, and such documents will not work, because the required address is not there. Or there are cases when legal entities are registered at one address, and operate at another. Such documents will not work either.
Utility bills or any services provided at this address will work great as proof. Therefore, when you draw up any agreement for the Internet or for payment of electricity, make sure that you have such a document. For example, for garbage removal, rent of premises, for communication, etc.
It greatly affects the company’s verification when documents are in public databases of enterprises on a state basis and the company can check them. Although it seems to me that they have many tools for verifying the authenticity of data that you may not even know about.
- Company no addresses
In order to register a company that does not have a physical address, but provides mobile services, you need to confirm this company by phone number, corporate email or video confirmation, provided that this data is correctly indicated on the site, and the site itself is correctly integrated into the Google search engine (Google Search Console).
If you are offered to go through the video verification procedure, you will need to demonstrate something that confirms your professional activity, such as unique professional tools, a branded car, etc.
For example, if you have a mobile dry cleaner, you need to show special cleaning products, professional (not household) vacuum cleaners, etc. A branded car with the name of your company, phone number, website and, importantly, the data must match what you indicated in the profile will greatly help to confirm such a company.
If your company is engaged in professional photography, you need to show professional software that helps you edit photos, a professional camera. Branded materials will also help: a T-shirt with your logo, a business card, etc.
- Violation of rules
If your business violates the Google Maps rules, you will not be able to verify your listing or it may be blocked or removed. Therefore, it is important for you to know and follow these rules, which can be found here.
Some of the most common violations are:
- The company name does not correspond to the real name, contains additional words or key phrases for promotion.
- The company address does not correspond to the real address, but is a virtual office, mailbox or other place where the company does not provide its services.
- The company category corresponds to the real activity, and the chosen one is to attract more customers.
- The company photos do not correspond to reality, but are stock, false or irrelevant.
- The company reviews do not correspond to the real customer experience, but are fake, paid or negative reviews about competitors.
If you find that your business is violating any of these rules, you need to fix it as soon as possible. If you find that another business is violating these rules, you can report them via Google Maps or via the form here.
- Social networks instead of a website
If your company does not have its own website, but only a page on a social network, this may be a problem for verifying your company on the Google map. Because Google prefers to see companies with their domain names and their information on their websites. This increases trust in your company and shows your professionalism. When you register a domain, you provide the domain name registrar with data about an individual or legal entity that is responsible for everything that is on the company’s website. Thus, in the Internet space, we have a responsible person. And now Google trusts such a site more. Do not forget to install an SSL certificate on the site.
Therefore, I recommend creating your own website for your company. It is not as difficult and expensive as it may seem. There are many services and platforms that will help you do this quickly and efficiently. For example, you can use Google Sites.
Social networks do not transmit data about your company to search algorithms, but only data about themselves and cannot be proof of your company’s existence. By the way, indicating a social network instead of a site negatively affects the promotion of your company’s map in Google.
Online stores
Online stores do not have the right to place points on the Google map as regular companies. By an online store we mean a resource where goods are sold on the Internet, and communication between the seller and the buyer occurs exclusively online and by phone. But the office of a company that sells goods on the Internet or a point of issue of goods can be placed on the Google map. So, if you register such a company, you still have to provide physical evidence of the existence of such a company: a sign, a sign with an address, a sign with working hours. This address must be indicated on the website of the online store.
