Should you create a new listing or claim one that already exists?
Check before you create anything. Search your business name and city in Google Maps. If a profile comes up, even one with wrong hours or an old address, that is your listing, and you should claim it rather than create a second one. Google's guidelines say there should be only one profile per business, because more than one can cause problems with how your information displays on Google Maps and Search.
If no profile exists, create one. Go to business.google.com/add, click Add your business to Google, add your details through the on-screen instructions, then select a verification option. Google confirms you can add or claim your business at no charge. Only businesses that meet Google's eligibility rules can do this: a business qualifies if it has a physical location customers can visit or travels to customers where they are.
How to add a brand-new listing to Google Maps
Sign in and start the profile
Go to business.google.com/add and sign in with the Google Account that should own the profile. You need a Google Account to sign up, and it can use a Gmail address or your company email. Click Add your business to Google and enter your business name as it appears on your storefront, website and stationery.
Choose your category
Google's guidelines say to choose the fewest number of categories it takes to describe your overall core business. Pick the category that matches the main work you do, and leave out categories for side services.
Enter your address or service area
If customers visit you, enter a precise, accurate street address. Suite or floor numbers can go in Address Line 2. If you travel to customers, set a service area. A business that serves customers at its address and also travels can show both.
Add contact details and business hours
Add your phone number, website and hours. Enter the hours you keep: the verification options Google offers can depend on your business hours, and live video calls are only available within the business hours of your location.
Complete verification
Select one of the verification options Google shows you and follow the on-screen steps. Until the profile is verified, you cannot edit your business info or interact with customers on it. After you finish the steps, Google's review can take up to 5 business days.
What do you do when someone else already owns the listing?
A former employee or an agency you used in the past may have verified the profile under their own Google Account. If the profile is verified and you are authorized to manage the business, Google lets you request ownership from the current profile owner through its request ownership process.
If the profile is unverified, you can claim it directly. On a computer, open Google Maps, search for your business name and city, select the business, then select Claim this business and Manage now. In the Google Maps app, open the profile, tap About, then Claim this business and Manage now. In both cases you then select a verification option and follow the on-screen instructions, as set out on Google's add or claim page.
Do not create a new profile because you cannot get into the old one. Google's guidelines say not to create more than one page for each location of your business, whether in a single account or multiple accounts. Use the ownership request instead.
Verification methods Google may offer you
| Method | How it works |
|---|---|
| Phone or text | Select Get verified, then Phone or SMS. Google calls or texts your business number with a code, which you enter on your profile. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems will not get the code, so make sure you can answer the business line or receive texts on it. |
| Select Get verified, then Email, and follow the steps in the email. You must be able to use the email address shown on the verification screen. | |
| Live video call | You start a text chat with a Google support representative, who then helps you join a video call. Be at your business and ready to show your location, your products or equipment, and proof you manage the business. Available only within your location's business hours. |
| Video recording | You record a video of your business and submit it. If the video is not accepted, a Review issues notification appears on your profile. Google recommends this method if your business is eligible for it. |
| Mail (postcard) | Google mails a 5-digit code to your business address. Most codes arrive within 14 days, and codes expire after 30 days. While you wait, do not edit your name, address or category, and do not request a new code, because that cancels the one in the mail. |
Google: Verify your business on Google. Verification methods are automatically determined by Google and can't be changed. Some businesses need more than one method.
Setup mistakes that get profiles suspended
Extra words in the business name
Google's guidelines require your name to match your real-world name as used on your storefront, website and stationery. Marketing taglines, service or product information, and location information are not allowed in the name field. Google says unnecessary information in the name could result in suspension of your profile.
A virtual office or remote mailbox as your address
P.O. boxes and mailboxes at remote locations are not acceptable. If you rent a mailing address but do not operate from it, that location is not eligible. A co-working office only qualifies if it has clear signage, receives customers during business hours and is staffed by your team during those hours, per Google's address guidelines.
Showing an address customers do not visit
Google says businesses that show their address should keep permanent fixed signage of their business name there. If you work from home or a yard with no signage and customers do not come to you, set a service area instead of showing the address as a storefront.
Creating duplicate profiles
Do not create more than one page for each location, in one account or several. Google's guidelines say duplicates cause problems with how your information displays on Maps and Search. Following the guidelines also helps you avoid changes to your information or removal of your business from Google.
Editing name, address, or category during postcard verification
If you change your business name, address or category before the postcard arrives, the code Google sent will not work. Google warns against this explicitly, and also against requesting a new code, which makes the process longer.
What happens after your listing is verified?
After you complete the verification steps, Google reviews the information you gave, which takes up to 5 business days and, on rare occasions, longer. Google can verify a profile instantly in some cases, for example when you have verified your website with Google Search Console. When verification is done, you get a confirmation email.
From then on you own the profile and can edit your business info, such as your name and hours, and interact with customers. If an agency or staff member helps manage it, add them as owners or managers after verification. Never share the postcard code with anyone, even people who manage your profile: Google says it will never ask for it.
If you would rather hand this to someone else, Rankure does Google Business Profile setup and verification through manager access, and ongoing profile management costs $264 a month per profile, month-to-month, with no setup fee.
Questions people also ask
Is adding a business to Google Maps free?
How long does Google Maps verification take?
Can I choose my own verification method?
What if someone else claimed my business listing?
Can I add a business to Google Maps if I work from home and go to customers?
Why was my Google Business Profile suspended after I added it?
Sources
- Add or claim your Business Profile - Google Business Profile Help read 2026-11-06
- Verify your business on Google - Google Business Profile Help read 2026-11-06
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google - Google Business Profile Help read 2026-11-06
Facts and prices checked . Next review February 2027.