Does Google Call to Verify Businesses?
There are a number of different ways to be able to verify your Google My Business Listing. The 4 main ways are:
· postcard
· text
· automated call
· email
Once you have carried out any of the verification methods then your business listing will appear live on Google. After the verification has been performed you will be able to update content on your Google My Business Listing such as images, offers, videos and much more.
Different ways of verification and how to carry them out:
Postcard Verification - Postcard verification should be available on all listings. A postcard is sent in the post to the address you wish the Google My Business Listing to be for. The address will then be live on your Google My Business Listing once the code is entered. If customers do not come to your business address then, if the steps while uploading your listing were followed correctly, your address will not appear. When sending the postcard it will ask for the name you wish the postcard to be sent to – Contact Name - once you have entered this press the ‘Mail’ button and Google will then send out the postcard to your address which usually takes up to 4 days to arrive.
Upon receiving the postcard that will arrive in an A5 envelope with tearaway edges there will be a 5 digit code within the envelope. You then will need to sign in to your Google My Business account and follow the steps to enter the 5 digit code; once this has been entered you Google My Business Listing will then be live.
Phone Verification – This option is quicker but may not always be available when you are going to make your business live. When carrying out the phone verification you should have previously added the number you wish to have on your listing when uploading your business to Google My Business. This is the number you should be able to carry out the phone verification on. When you go ahead to do the verification screen there will be your number and a button that says ‘call’, once you press this button you will get an automated call from Google which will give you a 6 digit code on the call, this is your verification code. When entered, this makes the listing go live on Google.
Email Verification - An email verification is another one that may not always be available to make your business live. If this is available then Google will have gathered information from your website or somewhere online to gain your email address. Similar to the phone verification method there will be a button at the side of your email address on the verification page which says ‘email’. Once you have pressed this then you should receive an email with the code on, when you have received this sign in to your Google My Business account and enter the code. After the code has been entered then your Google My Business Listing will be live.
Text Verification - Text verification is similar to both the phone verification and the email verification. This way of verification will only be available if your main business number is a mobile number, the text verification would never be available on a landline number. When you go ahead to verify this way on the verification page there should be your mobile number and a button to the right hand side which says ‘text’. When you click this button it will send a text message with the verification code attached to you mobile. Once you have received this code you will need to sign in to your Google My Business account and enter the code, when this has been entered to your Google My Business Listing will be live.
Things you may need to know:
Google will never contact you to verify your Google My Business Listing. You will only ever hear an automated person; receive a postcard, text or email from Google with a verification code. In order to get the verification code you would have to create your Google My Business listing and go to claim your listing.
Re-verification - this is something that not many business will come across with their Google My Business Listing. The only time you should ever come across this is in cases when you change the business address. When you change the address this will then trigger a re-verification, the steps of a re-verification after you have entered your new address would be firstly to send a new code to the new business address. The code can only be sent in postcard form as this is Google’s way of proving that you have permanently moved to that address.
Please feel free to contact our Digital Team Leader, Jack Ashton, and his team should you require help and support verifying your Google My Business listing.