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Phone, email, mail, or video: how to verify your Google listing
Know which verification methods Google might offer you and what to prepare for each one, whether you have a storefront or go to the customer, so you avoid mistakes that delay verification or put your listing at risk.
By Yodai · Published September 6, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026
You've claimed your listing, set the category based on whether customers come to you or you go to them, filled in your hours with no gaps, put every service in its own field, and picked your photos on purpose. You go to check the listing and the notice is still there: "Business not verified." It doesn't show up on the map. It doesn't show up in search. And you have no idea which button to press to finally get it published.
This isn't just busywork. Without verification, the listing exists but it's not fully yours: according to Google's help center, verifying it makes you the owner, able to edit details like the name or hours, and to message customers directly from it. Verifying it tells Google that the business is real and that you're the one running it.
There's more than one way to tell Google that. And you don't get to pick which one applies to you.
Google picks the method, not you
Google doesn't show you a menu with four buttons so you can pick your favorite. It decides the verification methods automatically, and you can't change them: according to its help center, they depend on the type of business, public information, region, and hours of operation. Sometimes it asks for more than one.
Google doesn't explain how much weight each factor carries, so there's no trick to picking a method: whatever shows up on your screen is what you get. If it offers phone or email, the code arrives instantly. If it offers mail, the code travels by postal mail.
That's why a hair salon with a storefront and a plumber who doesn't see walk-in customers might get different methods. And if Google offers you the option to prove it on video, it recommends you use it.
If your screen shows both phone or email and mail at the same time, request the code by phone or email: you'll get it instantly instead of waiting up to two weeks for the letter. Either way, Google reviews the information afterward, and according to its help center that review can take up to 5 business days.
Save the postcard option for when it's the only one offered to you. And before you request it, make sure someone picks up the mail at that address every day. A card that lands in a mailbox that only gets opened on Fridays means one more week of your listing staying invisible for nothing.
No storefront: video
If you go to the customer (home renovations, locksmith services, in-home tutoring, mobile hairstyling), Google doesn't have a door to check, so it may ask you to prove it on video. There are two ways: a recording of at least 30 seconds, continuous, with no cuts or edits, that you record and upload from your phone; or a live video call with Google's Support team, which isn't offered to every business, only works during your business hours, and starts by choosing your language.
In both cases, you show what Google's help center asks for from a business without a storefront: where you work (your street sign or a recognizable landmark in your neighborhood, if you run it from home), that the business exists (your tools, equipment, business cards, or branded clothing), and that you're the one running it (opening your branded van, or a business document with the same name as the listing, like a utility bill). No private information: no invoices with a customer's address and no other people's faces.
Treat it like a real appointment, not something you throw together. Find a stretch of time with no interruptions and have what you're going to show within reach. And decide the order ahead of time: the recording has to be one continuous take, no pauses, so if you forget something, you'll have to record it again.
So you don't forget anything, write down the three things Google asks for, in the order you'll show them:
- 1Log in and look for "Verify"
From your Google Business Profile, or straight from your listing in search results, find the pending verification notice. It's usually right at the top, not hidden in a menu. - 2If phone or email comes up, use it right away
Request the code, check your phone or email, and enter it on the spot. Afterward, Google reviews the information: it can take up to 5 business days, and you'll get an email when the listing is verified. - 3If postcard is the only option, confirm the address first
Make sure someone picks up mail at that address every day before you request the card. While you wait, don't touch anything else on your listing. - 4If you get video, prepare ahead of time
Find a stretch of time with no interruptions, have what you're going to show and your script on hand, and record it all in one take. - 5While you wait, don't change the name, address, or category
According to Google's help center, if you change any of those three details while waiting for the letter, the code they send you won't work, even if you'd already been waiting ten days. Don't request another code either: it cancels the one already on its way.
- Your listing ends up with a verification method you chose on purpose, not one you accepted at random.
- If phone or email was available, the code arrived instantly and all that was left was waiting for Google's review.
- If it was mail or video, you know what to prepare so it doesn't drag on or get rejected.
- With this, your listing is complete: category, hours, photos, services, and verification, all done and published.
Test yourself
Answer before opening each one. If one gives you trouble, go back to the section that explains it.
1. You run a clothing store with a storefront on the street. On the verification screen you see two options: postcard and phone. Which one do you pick?
Phone. The code arrives instantly instead of waiting up to two weeks for a letter. Either way, Google reviews the information afterward before marking the listing as verified.
2. You're a locksmith, you always go to the customer's home, and you don't have a storefront open to the public. Google asks you to verify your listing with a video. What do you show?
The three things Google asks for: where you work (your street sign or a recognizable landmark in the neighborhood), that the business exists (tools, branded clothing, business cards), and that you're the one running it (opening your branded van or a business document with the same name as the listing). No invoices with a customer's address: the video can't include anyone else's private information.
3. You requested postcard verification using your accountant's office address instead of your business address, because it looked better. What can happen, and what should you have done instead?
That address isn't your business's address, and Google's guidelines don't allow an address where the business doesn't operate: you could end up unverified, and worse, with your listing suspended. The postcard is always requested to the real business address, where someone picks up the mail every day.