Google Already Has a Listing for Your Business. Have You Claimed It?

What Comes Up for a Local Search

In October I ran 28 searches from Shoreham for gyms, personal trainers, web designers, aesthetics clinics, fire safety and PAT testing. 22 of them put a map and a short list of local businesses above the ordinary results. Three more showed one business's own panel down the right-hand side instead.

The businesses in that map come from Google Business Profiles. Your website helps, but the listing is what gets you into the map, and on a phone the map takes up most of the first screen.

An unmanaged listing can still turn up there, but it's up against listings where someone is adding photos and asking for reviews. Members of the public can also suggest changes to it, and you won't hear about them.

Reviews on Other Sites

The stars in Google's map are Google reviews. A business with dozens of five-star reviews on a booking site and one on Google is shown in the map with one review.

Keep the booking site. It's where the bookings come from. Once the listing is yours, though, Google gives you a short link that opens its review box, and it's worth sending to the same happy customers. Someone who has already written you a nice review somewhere else has done the hard part.

Check Whether You Already Own It

Claimed listings get lost more often than you'd think. Someone set it up years ago with an old Gmail address, or whoever built your last website did it for you, and the login went with them.

• Go to business.google.com and sign in with each Google account you might have used: the one on your phone, any old Gmail address, a work account.
• If one of them shows your business, you already own it. While you're in there, add your current email address as an owner so you've got a way back in next time.
• Google's own rule of thumb: if the "Own this business?" link disappears when you're signed in, you may already be the owner.

Otherwise, claim it.

Claiming the Listing

On a computer:

• Open Google Maps and search for your business name and town.
• Click your listing, then Claim this business, then Manage now.
• Pick a way to verify (more on that below) and follow the steps.

On a phone it's the same in the Google Maps app: open your listing, tap About, then Claim this business. The "Own this business?" link in the search panel takes you to the same place.

Verification

Google wants proof that you run the business before it hands the listing over. Which options you're offered depends on the business. The list includes a code by phone, text or email, a short video recording, a live video call during your opening hours, and a postcard.

Google recommends the video if it's offered to you, and shows you what it needs to see when you choose it.

After that, Google says its review can take up to five working days. A postcard can take up to 14 days to arrive. If you're waiting for one, Google asks you to leave the business name, address and category alone until the code is in.

If Someone Else Has It

Sometimes the claim screen says the profile is managed by someone else, and shows part of their email address. It's usually an old account of yours or whoever built your last website, so check those first.

If it really is a stranger, or someone you've lost touch with:

• Click Request access and fill in the form.
• Google emails them, and they have three days to reply.
• If the three days pass without an answer, Google may give you the option to claim it yourself. If they say no, you can appeal.

Once It's Yours

Three things for the first day:

• Make sure the website button goes to your website, and to the right page.
• Check the primary category. It largely decides which searches you can appear in.
• Get your review link and send it to a handful of recent, happy customers.

Everything after that, from photos and services to opening hours and the mistakes that quietly cost you calls, is in my longer guide to the Business Profile.