How to get verified when Google asks for a video

The postcard is mostly gone. These days, when you claim a business on Google, there is a good chance you get asked to record a video instead.

People find this out about four seconds before they have to do it, standing in the carpark with the phone in their hand, wondering what on earth to film. Then it gets knocked back, and they have to do it again.

It is not hard. It is just badly explained. Here is what Google is actually looking for.

The three things Google is checking

Every verification video, whatever your business type, has to answer three questions. If you can tick all three in one take, you pass.

Where are you? Google needs to tie your listing to a real point on the map. Street signs, building numbers, the shop next door, a landmark.

Does the business exist? Permanent signage with your name on it, or if you have no shopfront, the tools and gear you actually work with.

Do you run it? Something only a person who works there could do. Unlock the till. Open the storeroom. Unlock the branded ute.

That is the whole exam. Everything below is detail.

Before you press record

Google will not let you film something earlier and upload it later. It has to be recorded live, in the app, on a phone or tablet. You cannot do it on a desktop.

So plan the walk first.

• Charge the phone and check you have signal and storage.
• Walk the route once without recording. Work out where the street sign is, where your signage is, and what you will unlock at the end.
• Check the name on your sign matches the name on your profile exactly. This is the single most common failure and we will come back to it.
• Clear the path. Move the bins, unlock the doors you are going to open, get the invoice out of the filing cabinet before you start.
• Tell anyone nearby you are filming, because faces are a problem.

It must be one continuous take, no editing, no pausing, at least 30 seconds long. You do not need to be a filmmaker. You need steady hands and a plan.

If you have a shopfront

Google calls this a storefront business, or a hybrid if you also go out to customers, like a restaurant that delivers.

Film in this order.

1. Stand on the footpath. Get the street sign or the building number in frame. Pan slowly to catch the businesses either side of you.
2. Walk to your signage. Hold on it. Your name has to be clearly readable on something permanent: a signboard, a painted wall, vinyl on the window. A sandwich board is not permanent. A banner cable-tied to a fence is not permanent.
3. Go inside. Show the counter, the fit-out, the stock, the workspace.
4. Do something only staff can do. Open the register. Log into the point of sale. Unlock the kitchen or the storeroom.

Keep filming the whole way. Do not stop between the street and the door.

If you have no permanent signage at your address, do not submit as a storefront. Google says to list as a service-area business instead. Read the next section.

If you are a trade, a mobile service, or you work from home

This covers most sparkies, plumbers, cleaners, mobile mechanics, dog groomers, physios who do home visits, and anyone else who goes to the customer.

Google's own advice for a home-based service business is to film the landmarks and signs in your immediate neighbourhood. You do not need signage on your house.

1. Start at the street. Street name, house or unit number, a recognisable landmark, the corner shop. Google warns against filming empty land or anywhere with no clear markers, so if your driveway is a paddock, walk to the road.
2. Show the gear. Your tools, your van, your workshop, the racking in the shed, branded shirts, business cards.
3. Prove you run it. Unlock the branded vehicle. Perform part of a job on camera. Or hold up a document with your business name on it: a permit, an invoice, a utility bill.

One more thing, and it matters. If you do not serve customers at your address, Google says do not put your address on your profile at all. Set your service areas instead. Plenty of tradies list their home address, get customers turning up at the front door, and then wonder why.

What must not be in the video

Google is explicit about this. Your video must not include:

• Bank account numbers, tax numbers or ID numbers
• Private information about you or anyone else
• Other people's faces

That last one catches people. Google also tells service businesses to show branded apparel worn by staff or customers. So film the shirt, not the person wearing it. Chest down. If your team is on site, brief them first, and do not film through the front window of a busy cafe.

What happens after you upload

You preview the video before it goes. Watch it back properly. If you missed the street sign, re-record now, not in five days.

Review takes up to five business days. Two outcomes: verified, or not.

If it fails, Google tells you which of the three things you missed. The messages are blunt and useful, things like the business name not being visible on the storefront, or no nearby area shown, or missing proof of authorisation.

The critical bit on a second attempt: your new video has to include everything from the first video plus the missing piece. It is not a top-up. It is a fresh, complete take. People lose a week by filming only the bit that failed.

The Australian traps

Trading name against registered entity. Your sign says "Hunter Valley Auto Care". Your ABN is registered to "J & S Bragg Investments Pty Ltd". Your Google profile has to match the sign, because that is what customers see and what Google is comparing against. Your ABN structure is a tax matter, not a Google one.

Your documents have to match too. If you are holding up an invoice or a power bill as proof, the business name on it needs to line up with the profile. A bill in your personal name proves nothing to a reviewer.

Online-only businesses are not eligible at all. If you have no premises customers visit and you provide no in-person service, Google will not verify you and there is no workaround worth trying. Becoming a service-area business does not get you out of the video.

Changing details later can trigger re-verification. Editing your name, address or category can send you back through this process. Get the details right the first time rather than tidying them up a fortnight later.

One thing nobody can do for you

Verification has to be done by someone physically at the business, on a phone, in one take. No agency, consultant or manager account can do it on your behalf, and anyone offering to is either lying or planning to fake it, which is how profiles get suspended.

What someone else can do is tell you exactly what to film, check the name matching before you start, and read the rejection notice properly if it comes back. That is the difference between one attempt and four.

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Sources. Requirements and steps are from Google Business Profile Help: verify your business with a video recording, plus Google's guidance on service-area and hybrid businesses and business eligibility. Google changes this process regularly. Check the help page before you record.

Last checked: 25 July 2026.