# How to Get a Business on Google Maps: The Steps Agencies Run for Every Client

Source: https://lots.business/blog/how-to-get-a-business-on-google-maps
Published: 2026-10-19T15:40:46.711+00:00

To get a business on Google Maps, add or claim its Google Business Profile at business.google.com/add, enter its real name, address or service area, category, hours and phone, then verify it with a method Google offers. It costs nothing. Google says verification reviews take up to 5 business days, and verification is what puts you in control of how the business shows on Search and Maps.

That's the short version. When you run it for every client, the details decide whether it takes a week or a month: which Google account owns the profile, whether a profile already exists, what Google lets the business call itself, and which verification method Google offers. Below are the steps exactly as Google's own Business Profile help pages describe them, checked on 19 October 2026, in the order I'd run them for a new client. Sources are at the end.

## Before you start: what you need from each client

| You need | Why (per Google's help pages) |
|---|---|
| A Google Account the business owns | You need a Google Account to sign up. The owner should hold the profile; you get added as a manager. |
| The business name exactly as it appears on signage | The name must reflect the real-world name. Taglines, service descriptions, locations and phone numbers in the name aren't permitted and can get the profile suspended. |
| Storefront address, or the areas it serves | Customers visit, or the business travels to them. Up to 20 service areas, no radius. |
| One main category, as specific as possible | Use the fewest categories that describe the core business. |
| Regular customer-facing hours | Plus special hours for holidays. Appointment-only businesses shouldn't list hours. |
| A phone the owner can answer, or an email they can open | For phone, text or email verification. Automated phone menus can't receive the code. |
| Someone at the business with a phone | For video verification, if Google offers it. Live video calls run only during business hours. |

**Is the business eligible?** Google's guidelines allow a profile if the business has a physical location customers can visit, or travels to customers where they are. An online-only business isn't eligible. A virtual office (a rented mailing address the business doesn't operate from) isn't eligible, and a co-working desk only counts if it has clear signage and is staffed and receiving customers during business hours.

## Step 1: Check whether a profile already exists

Search the business name and city on Google Maps before creating anything. Google allows one profile per business, and duplicates cause problems with how the business shows on Maps and Search. You'll land in one of three cases:

- **No profile exists.** Go to Step 2.
- **A profile exists but nobody has verified it.** Open it in Google Maps, select **Claim this business**, then **Manage now**, choose a verification option and follow the steps. In the Maps app, it's under **About**.
- **A profile exists and someone else verified it** (a former agency, an old employee, the previous owner). Go to business.google.com/add, enter the name and address, choose the business and select **Request Access**, then fill in the form. The current owner gets 3 days to respond. If they don't, you may get the option to claim the profile from the link in your confirmation email. For a service-area business without a shop, Google asks you to contact its support with "Transfer ownership of listing".

## Step 2: Add the business

1. Sign in with the business owner's Google Account (or have the owner do it with you).
2. Go to **business.google.com/add** and select **Add your business to Google**.
3. Follow the on-screen steps to enter the business details.
4. Choose a verification option (Step 4).

Google's own words: you can add or claim your business at no charge.

## Step 3: Get the details right the first time

Google's guidelines are specific here, and a detail that breaks them can lead to changed details or a suspended profile, so this is where your checklist earns its keep.

- **Name:** the real-world name only, as on the storefront, website and stationery. Google's examples of what's not allowed include marketing taglines, store codes, hours, phone numbers or URLs, service descriptions and location details. "Midas Auto Service Experts" becomes "Midas". Legal terms like LLC are only allowed with real-world proof such as signage.
- **Address or service area:** a precise, real-world address. P.O. boxes and remote mailboxes aren't accepted. A plumber or cleaner who doesn't serve customers at their address should remove the address and set service areas instead: cities, postal codes or areas, up to 20, and no more than about 2 hours' drive from the base. A business that does both (a restaurant that also delivers) is a hybrid and can show the address and a service area.
- **Category:** the fewest categories that describe the core business, as specific as possible, and never a category used as a keyword.
- **Hours:** the regular customer-facing hours. Seasonal businesses use the current season's hours; set special hours for holidays.

## Step 4: Verify the business

Google picks the verification methods, and you can't change them. What's offered depends on the business type, public information, region and hours, and some businesses need more than one method. These are the methods Google describes:

| Method | How it works | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| **Phone or text** | Select Get verified, then Phone or SMS, and enter the code | The owner must answer the business phone. Automated phone menus won't get the code. |
| **Email** | Select Get verified, then Email, and follow the email | Only works if you can open the address shown on the screen. |
| **Video recording** | Record from a phone in the profile: at least 30 seconds, live, unedited, one take | Show the location (street signs, nearby businesses), proof the business exists (signage with the profile's exact name, or tools and branded equipment for service-area businesses) and proof of management (a till, a kitchen, a branded van you unlock). No other people's faces. Google recommends video when it's offered. |
| **Live video call** | A support representative joins a video call during the business's hours | Be at the business, ready to show the location, equipment and something only staff can access. |
| **Postcard** | Google mails a 5-digit code to the address | Most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30. Don't edit the name, address or category while you wait, and don't request a new code: both make the code you're waiting for useless. |

After the steps, Google reviews the information. **Reviews take up to 5 business days**, occasionally longer. Google says it sometimes verifies a profile instantly, for example when the business's website is verified in Google Search Console. When it's done, the owner gets a confirmation email.

If the **Get verified** button comes back, Google couldn't fully verify the business: try again or try another method it offers. A video that wasn't accepted shows **Review issues** with the reasons, such as the business name not visible on the storefront.

**Never share the code.** Google says it will never ask for your verification code, and the code shouldn't be shared with anyone, even people who manage the profile. For an agency, that means the owner enters the code themselves.

## Step 5: Add your agency as a manager, then fill in the profile

Once the profile is verified, the owner adds you: **More**, then **Business Profile settings**, **People and access**, **Add**, enter your email and choose **Manager**. Google's managers can do nearly everything owners can (edit hours, phone and services, post, add photos, reply to reviews) except add or remove people and remove the profile. Each person uses their own Google Account, so nobody shares a password.

Two Google rules to know:

- **New owners and managers wait 7 days** before they can remove people, transfer primary ownership, or delete a profile.
- **Only the primary owner can transfer primary ownership**, and the profile needs at least one other owner or manager to transfer it to.

Then complete the profile. Google's own advice for local results is to verify, keep information complete and accurate (address, hours including special hours, category, attributes), reply to reviews, and add photos and videos.

## What decides where the business shows up

Google says local results are mainly based on **relevance** (how well the profile matches the search), **distance** (how far the business is from the searcher) and **prominence** (how well known it is, including links to the business's website and reviews). It also says plainly: there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

So the honest promise to a client is: they'll be on Google Search and Maps with complete, accurate details. Not a position. Google's own page on working with third parties lists "guarantees placement on Google" as a warning sign, and I agree with it.

## Running it for every client

A few things change when you do this for 10 or 25 businesses instead of one:

- **No bulk verification for agencies.** Google's bulk verification is for 10 or more locations of the same business. Its help page says agencies with more than one business in one account can't bulk verify, so every client goes through Steps 1 to 4 on its own.
- **The client owns, you manage.** Google's third-party page says only profile owners control who has access, and that third parties can't remove a business from Google or access its profile without the owner's permission. Set it up that way from day one, and a client leaving is a role change, not a fight over a login.
- **Keep the details identical everywhere.** The name, phone and address on the Google profile should match the website and every directory listing, word for word.
- **Plan for the wait.** With up to 5 business days for review, and up to 14 days for a postcard, start the Google profile on day one of a new client, not after the website launches.

## Doing it for your own business?

The steps are the same, and you don't need an agency. Use your own Google Account, enter the name exactly as it's on your sign, pick the verification method Google offers, and keep the code to yourself. If someone helps you later, add them as a manager rather than sharing your password, so you always stay the owner.

## Where LotsBusiness fits

I built [LotsBusiness](https://lots.business) so the Google profile is part of the same job as the website, not a separate project. On a paid business:

- **The business record is the source.** Name, hours, services, address or service areas live in one record in LotsBusiness, and the website and the LotsBusiness listing follow it. You collect the client's details once.
- **Create the profile step by step, from the record.** Connect the owner's Google account, and LotsBusiness lists the Google accounts and existing locations it can see, so you link a profile that already exists instead of creating a duplicate. For a new one, it builds the exact profile from the record, with the category picked from Google's own live category list, and shows it before anything is sent. The owner approves, then it's created in Google.
- **Verification is Google's, step by step.** LotsBusiness asks Google which methods it offers for that business, starts the one you choose, and lets the owner enter the code they receive. It never picks a method Google didn't offer, and it never promises a verification outcome or date.
- **Search Console code on the site.** The website settings take Google's site verification code, so you can verify the client's site in Search Console without touching files.
- **Then post.** Offers, events and updates go to the Google profile from the same dashboard, with Google's status shown for each post.
- **For agencies:** one workspace for every client and your team, approval links the client opens without an account, and a hand-over that moves the business, website and domain to the client's own account when they want it.

What it doesn't do: it doesn't verify for you, submit directory listings for you, or promise a position on Google. Google decides.

The Google profile tools come with every paid business: from $10 a month billed yearly for one business, or $4.30 per client a month for agencies running 25. See [pricing](https://lots.business/pricing) and [how agencies work here](https://lots.business/agencies).

## Or ask your AI assistant to prepare it

Everything above works in the LotsBusiness dashboard. If your team already uses ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant, LotsBusiness works with the AI agent you already use: connect it once on the [connect page](https://lots.business/mcp), then ask:

> Which of my clients still have no Google Business Profile? For the bakery, check whether a profile already exists in the connected Google account, and if not, prepare one from its record and show me exactly what will be sent to Google.

It shows you the exact profile before anything reaches Google, and creates it only after you approve.

## FAQ

### Is it free to put a business on Google Maps?

Yes. Google says you can add or claim a Business Profile at no charge. Agencies and tools charge for the work around it, not for the profile itself.

### How long does Google Business Profile verification take?

Google says verification reviews take up to 5 business days after you complete the steps, and occasionally longer. A postcard code usually arrives within 14 days and expires after 30. Some profiles are verified instantly, for example when the website is verified in Google Search Console.

### Can a business without a shop get on Google Maps?

Yes, if it travels to customers. A service-area business like a plumber or cleaner removes its address and lists up to 20 service areas. An online-only business, or one with only a virtual office, isn't eligible for a Business Profile.

### Can my agency verify a client's business?

Google says only business owners or authorized representatives may verify a business, and the verification code shouldn't be shared, even with people who manage the profile. The usual setup is that the owner verifies from their own Google Account, then adds the agency as a manager.

### Can I bulk verify all my clients' profiles?

No. Google's bulk verification is for 10 or more locations of the same business, and its help page says agencies with more than one business in one account can't bulk verify. Each client is verified on its own.

### Can I pay Google to rank higher on Maps?

No. Google says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence.

## Sources (Google Business Profile Help, checked on 19 October 2026)

- [Add or claim your Business Profile](https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778)
- [Verify your business on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7107242)
- [Verify your business with a video recording](https://support.google.com/business/answer/14271705)
- [Request ownership of a Business Profile](https://support.google.com/business/answer/4566671)
- [Guidelines for representing your business on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177)
- [Manage your service areas for service-area and hybrid businesses](https://support.google.com/business/answer/9157481)
- [Manage your Business Profile owners and managers](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3403100)
- [Transfer primary ownership of a Business Profile](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3415281)
- [Verify Business Profiles in bulk](https://support.google.com/business/answer/4490296)
- [Tips for working with third parties](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7163406)
- [Tips to improve your local ranking on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091)
- LotsBusiness: [pricing](https://lots.business/pricing), [agencies](https://lots.business/agencies), [connect an AI assistant](https://lots.business/mcp)