Verified on Google, still invisible on Maps: what to check

You did everything Google asked. The code arrived, the profile says verified, and you still can’t find yourself on Maps.

Verification and being shown are two different things. Google says verifying tells it “you’re authorized to represent the business, so it’s more likely to show up in search results”.1 More likely is not the same as certain, and the gap is the five checks below, in the order I’d run them.

If you’re not verified yet, or not sure you’re on Google at all, start with my post on why a business doesn’t show up on Google. This one is for the business that’s verified and still missing.

Search the way a customer does first

Open a private window on your phone (in Chrome, New Incognito tab), so you search as a stranger would and not as yourself. Search your business name and suburb, then your trade and suburb, from somewhere away from your premises if you can.

If you show up for your name but not for your trade, the checks below still apply, and the last section covers what’s left.

Check one: did verification really finish?

Google says that after you complete the verification steps it reviews what you sent, and “verification reviews take up to 5 business days”.2 When it’s done, you get a confirmation email.

How to tell. Look for that email. Then sign in at business.google.com and look at your profile: Google says that if the “Get verified” button appears again, “it means Google couldn’t completely verify your business”.2

The fix. Verify again with whichever method Google offers you. If you’re waiting on a postcard, don’t edit your business name, address or category in the meantime, because Google says the code it sent “won’t work” if you do.2

One more catch. Google says that if you add or change a category, “you might be asked to verify your business again”.3 So a change made after verifying can put you back at this check.

Check two: is there a notice on your profile?

Google’s policy overview lists the reasons it restricts, suspends or disables a profile.4 Google’s appeals page says that when it removes a profile, “The public can’t go to the profile”.5

How to tell. Sign in and read any notice at the top of your profile. Then check yourself against the rules on that overview that can catch a business after it’s verified:4

• You meet customers in person during the hours you list. Google says a business “must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours”.
• Your business is where you say it is. “If we determine that your business doesn’t exist in the location you claim, Google will disable your profile.”
• The Google account that runs the profile is in good standing. If that account is restricted, “all Business Profiles associated with that account will be suspended”. A restriction on the same account in another Google product can suspend the profile too.
• You haven’t changed what the business is. Google may reject “significant changes to the business name or category”.

The same page covers post office boxes and owners who stop signing in; my post on why a business doesn’t show up on Google goes through those two.

The fix. Correct whatever breaks the rule, then appeal through Google’s appeals tool. Google lists evidence that can help, such as your business registration, a business licence and utility bills, and says the name and address on them should match the profile.5 It also says “Do not create a new Business Profile for the same business while your appeal is under review”.5

Check three: is your address set the way Google asks?

Google’s guidelines sort businesses into three kinds, and each sets its address differently:6

• A shopfront, where customers come to you. Google says a business showing its address “should maintain permanent fixed signage of their business name at the address”.
• A service-area business, where you go to the customer. Google says “you should hide your business address from customers”, and gives the example of a plumber running the business from home, who should clear the address.
• A hybrid, which does both. Google’s own example is “auto repair shops that have a garage for repairs and offer roadside service”: they can show the address and set a service area, as long as the workshop is staffed and open to customers during the hours listed.

How to tell. Sign in, open the location part of your profile, and decide which of the three you are. If you work from home and your street address shows, or you run a workshop and the address is hidden, the setting doesn’t match the business.

The fix. Set the address and the service area to match. Google’s steps: go to your Business Profile, select Edit profile, then Location, then Edit next to Service area.7

You can list up to 20 areas, by suburb or postcode rather than a distance from your base. Google says the whole area “shouldn’t be more than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based”, and that approved changes “may take up to 48 hours to show”.7

Two more rules on the guidelines page: a rented mailing address you don’t work from, which Google calls a virtual office, isn’t eligible, and a desk in a co-working space counts only with signage, staff and customers there during business hours.6

Check four: does your category name your trade?

Google says “The categories you select affect your local ranking on Google”.3 Your primary category is the one-line answer to “what is this business?”, picked from Google’s list.

How to tell. Sign in and read your primary category. Google says to pick the category that completes the sentence “This business IS a”, not “this business HAS a”,6 and to pick the specific one over the general one: “instead of ‘Salon,’ choose ‘Nail salon‘“.3

The fix. Choose the most specific category that names what you are, and add only a few more. Google’s guidelines say “Do not use categories solely as keywords”.6 Expect to be asked to verify again after the change, which puts you back at check one for a few days.

Check five: do your details match everywhere Google reads?

Your listing isn’t only what you typed into it. Google says the information in a profile is “compiled from a variety of sources”, including your own website, data it licenses from other companies, and edits people suggest.8

That has a practical sting. Google says that when someone suggests an edit and you don’t respond within 4 days, it “may automatically publish the update if it is supported by other publicly available information, such as your business website”.9 So an old address on your website, or a dead number on a directory, can find its way onto your listing.

How to tell.

1. Sign in and look for a notice about Google updates. In the profile editor, Google says blue text “Shows info changed by Google”.9
2. Put your Google listing, your website, your Facebook page and any directory you’re on side by side. Compare the name, phone number and address letter for letter.
3. Read your business name. Google says it should be “your business’s real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers”.6

The fix. Make every copy match the listing, starting with your own website, because it’s the one you control and the one Google names. Then strip anything extra from the name: Google says “Including unnecessary information in your business name isn’t permitted, and could result in the suspension of your Business Profile”.6

So the name is the one on your sign and your invoices. No suburb, no list of services, and no “open 24 hours” on the end.

Everything checks out and you’re still not showing

Then it isn’t a fault any more. You’re on the map, and other businesses are showing ahead of you for the search you tried.

Google says local results are “mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity”, and that “There’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google”.1 My post on why a business doesn’t show up on Google goes through what you can change on each of those, and why a paid place on the map isn’t something Google sells.

The five checks, in order

1. Did verification finish? A confirmation email, and no “Get verified” button on the profile.
2. Is there a notice? None at the top of the profile, and nothing on Google’s policy overview that you break.
3. Is the address set right? Shown for a shopfront, hidden for a business that travels, both for a hybrid.
4. Does the category name your trade? The most specific one that finishes “This business IS a”.
5. Do your details match? No blue text from Google, and the same name, number and address everywhere.

Want it done for you?

On our menu this is the card Your details right everywhere: the same name, number and address on every site. Start with one thing, or a bundle. If yours is different, we scope it.

Book a free hour. We’ll open your profile together on the call and run the five checks.