How to claim your business on Google

The short answer

Claiming your business on Google takes five steps:

1. Check whether a profile already exists. Search your business name and city on Google Maps.
2. If it shows "Claim this business", claim it. Select Claim this business, then Manage now, then choose a verification option.
3. If it says someone else manages it, request access. The current owner gets 3 days to answer.
4. If there is no profile, add one. Go to business.google.com/add and follow the steps.
5. Verify, and never create a second profile. A duplicate doesn't show on Google and slows everything down.

It's free, and it works the same way for owners and for agencies acting on an owner's behalf. The sections below cover each path, including what to do when nobody answers your request.

Step 1: Is your business already on Google?

Most businesses already have a profile, even if nobody at the business made it. So before you add anything, find out what Google already has:

1. Sign in to the Google account you want to manage the business with.
2. Open Google Maps and search your business name and city.
3. Also search Google for "my business". Google says this finds any profile you already manage, as long as you're signed in to the right account (Find your business on Google).

Then match what you see to one of these:

One check before you go further: Google only gives profiles to businesses that meet face to face with customers during their stated hours, at their own location or at the customer's. Online-only businesses and addresses that are just a P.O. box aren't eligible (business eligibility and ownership guidelines).

Step 2: How do you claim an unverified profile?

If your profile shows a "Claim this business" link, nobody has verified it yet, and you can claim it yourself. These are the steps on Google's help page Add or claim your Business Profile:

On a computer

1. Open Google Maps.
2. Search your business name and city, or find it on the map and select it.
3. Select Claim this business, then Manage now. If Google suggests the wrong business, select I own or manage another business.
4. Choose a verification option and follow the on-screen steps.

In the Google Maps app

1. Search the business name and tap the right result.
2. Tap About, then Claim this business, then Manage now.
3. Choose a verification option and follow the on-screen steps.

Claiming isn't finished until you verify. Google picks which methods you get, such as a video, a phone call, a text or an email. Our guide to Google Business Profile verification walks through each one, including what to film for a video.

No profile yet? Add your business

If you searched carefully and there's no profile, create one. Google's steps:

1. Go to business.google.com/add.
2. Click Add your business to Google.
3. Enter your business details as the screens ask.
4. Choose a verification option and complete it.

Google asks you to make sure the address is correct and follows its address guidelines. If you go to your customers and don't serve them at your own address, like a plumber or a cleaner, Google says not to add your business address at all: you set up a service-area business and list the areas you serve instead (service-area and hybrid businesses).

Google says your business name should reflect your real-world name, as used on your storefront, website and stationery, with no marketing taglines (guidelines for representing your business). Our guide on editing your Google Business Profile covers the rest of the details once you're in.

What if someone else manages your profile?

This is the most common snag. A former employee, a previous agency, the person you bought the business from or a listing service verified the profile years ago, and now you see the message "Someone else may manage this Business Profile." Google's fix is an ownership request (Request ownership of a Business Profile):

1. Go to business.google.com/add.
2. Enter your business name and address.
3. Choose your business from the list. You'll see "Someone else may manage this Business Profile."
4. Select Request Access.
5. Fill out the form and select Submit.

Those steps are for storefront and hybrid businesses. For a service-area business with no shop or office, Google says to contact its support team instead: type "Transfer ownership of listing" in the "Tell us what we can help with" field, and choose the same option as the issue description. You'll find the Contact us link at the bottom of Google's Business Profile help pages.

Our advice, before you send the form: if you know who manages the profile, ask them directly to add you as an owner and then make you primary owner. Google's rules for agencies and other representatives say they must hand over ownership to the business owner "immediately upon request" ( ownership guidelines), so a polite email that quotes that line is often the quickest route.

What happens after you request ownership, and what if nobody replies?

Google emails you a confirmation, then emails the current owner, who has 3 days to respond. You can check the status by signing in to your Business Profile or through the link in the confirmation email. There are three outcomes:

• The owner approves. You get an email and can manage the profile.
• The owner denies it. You get a rejection email. Google says you can still suggest an edit to the profile on Maps, and you can try to appeal the decision.
• The owner doesn't answer within 3 days. You may be able to claim the profile yourself.

To claim it after the 3 days, Google says to:

1. Open the confirmation email about your request.
2. Select View request, then Verify.
3. Follow the steps to verify your business.

You can also sign in to your Business Profile and look for a "Claim" or "Verify" button. Google adds that the option to claim "isn't always available", and its pages don't say what decides it or what to do when it's missing. For a denied request, Google says you can appeal but doesn't describe how. In both cases, the route we'd use is Google's support team, through the Contact us link at the bottom of its help pages, with proof that you run the business, such as a business registration or a utility bill in the business name.

Whatever happens, don't make a new profile to get around it. Google treats a second profile for the same business as a duplicate, and duplicates don't show on Search or Maps.

Owner or manager: which access should you ask for?

A profile can have several owners but only one primary owner. Managers can do most of the daily work but can't control who has access. Here is a short version of Google's table in Manage your Business Profile owners & managers:

To add someone, Google's steps are:

1. Go to your Business Profile.
2. Select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
3. Select Add, enter their email address, choose Owner or Manager, and select Invite.

Each person needs their own Google account, so nobody shares a password. New owners and managers also wait 7 days before they can delete the profile, remove other users or transfer primary ownership.

If you're an agency or freelancer

The setup Google asks for is simple: the business owner owns the profile, and you are added as a manager. Google's guidelines say representatives must never claim a profile without the owner's express consent, must work with the owner to complete verification, and should, whenever possible, encourage the owner to own the profile and add them as managers. Google's page on working with third parties also reminds owners that third parties can't access a profile without their permission.

Manager access is enough to reply to reviews, post and add photos for a client. With it, you can connect the profile to Mekomi with your own Google account and handle every client from one inbox; see Mekomi for agencies.

How do you transfer ownership when the business changes hands?

If you're selling the business, or an agency is handing a profile back, transfer primary ownership rather than deleting anything. Google says this keeps all the business info, like reviews (Transfer primary ownership of a Business Profile). Only the primary owner can do it:

1. Add the new person as an owner or manager first, as above.
2. Go to More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
3. Select the person, then Edit next to "Access".
4. Select Primary owner, then Save.

Remember the 7-day rule: someone who became an owner less than 7 days ago gets an error if they try to make themselves or someone else primary owner. Plan the handover a week ahead.

Why you shouldn't create a second profile

When a claim gets stuck, making a fresh profile looks like the quick fix. It isn't. Google allows one profile per business and says a profile considered a duplicate "won't show on Google Search or Maps" ( Resolve duplicate profiles & ownership issues). Your reviews stay on the old profile, too.

• If you created a duplicate by mistake, remove it. Google says this doesn't affect your verified listing, but it removes all content and managers on the duplicate, so check you're removing the right one.
• If two listings for your business are live on Maps, ask Google to merge them. You report it as a suggested edit on Maps. Google says merged profiles combine their reviews, but replies to reviews may be lost.
• If you moved, edit the address. Google says not to create a new profile for a new location.

Our guide to duplicate Google Business Profiles covers each case step by step. If a profile you claimed later shows as suspended, that's a different problem with a different fix: see Google Business Profile suspended.

After you claim it: what to check

Once you're verified, Google sends you a confirmation email and you can edit the profile. Three things are worth doing in your first week:

• Check every detail against your sign and your website. Name, address or service area, phone, hours and primary category. Fix anything an earlier owner or Google got wrong.
• Add a second owner from the business. If the only owner leaves, you're back to an ownership request. Two owners from the business avoids that.
• Search for yourself from a private window. Google says rankings for new businesses can take up to a month to appear, and edits up to 3 days (Find your business on Google).

If you still can't find your business after that, work through why your business isn't showing on Google.

Lost the password to the account that owns the profile? Recover that account with Google's account recovery steps before you try anything else.

Once Google is done, add your business to Apple Maps and the other free business listing sites worth claiming.