How to verify your Google Business Profile
First, the thing nobody selling you a fix will say plainly: Sunaam is not Google, and we cannot verify a listing on Google's behalf. Nobody can. What we can do is walk you through the step you are stuck on, in your language, and take over the parts that can be automated once you are verified. Below is what actually works, including when the postcard never comes.
The four ways Google verifies a business
You do not get to choose. Google offers methods based on your category, your address and what it already knows about you, and the list can change between one attempt and the next.
Postcard by post
Google posts a card with a five-digit code to the business address. It is the slowest option and still the most common one offered in India. Google says up to 14 days; allow longer if your address is hard to find.
Phone call or SMS
A code arrives on the business phone number on the listing. Offered only for some categories and only if the number matches what Google already knows about the business.
The quickest when it is offered, which is rarely. It usually appears for businesses whose email domain matches the website already on the listing.
Video recording or a live video call
You walk the camera through the premises, your signage, your equipment and something proving you manage the place. Increasingly Google's default, and the one people find most stressful.
When it goes wrong, and it usually does
The postcard never arrived
Wait the full 14 days before doing anything, because a second request cancels the first code. After that, request a new one from the verification screen. If two cards in a row fail to arrive, the address on the listing is usually the problem, not the post: add the landmark, the floor and the nearest recognisable building to the address line before requesting again.
The code does not work
Codes expire, usually in 30 days, and only the most recent one is valid. If you requested a second postcard, every earlier code is dead. Check you are entering it on the same Google account that requested it, and that you have not edited the business name, address or category since. Editing those while verification is pending can reset the whole thing.
You cannot find where to enter the code
It is in the Business Profile itself, not in a separate app. Search your business name while signed in to the Google account that owns it, and the verification prompt appears on the profile. If it does not, you are almost certainly signed in as a different account than the one that started verification.
There are two listings for your business
Duplicates come from a customer-created listing, an old listing from a previous owner, or a move. Do not verify both. Verify the one with the reviews on it, then report the other as a duplicate through the profile so Google merges or removes it. Reviews follow a merge in most cases; they never follow a deletion.
The listing is suspended
Suspension usually follows a name stuffed with keywords, an address that is a virtual office or a residence for a category that requires a storefront, or too many edits at once. Put the details back to exactly what is on your signage and your registration, then file a reinstatement request. Fix the cause first: appealing without changing anything gets the same answer twice.
Verification keeps failing with no reason given
Google rarely explains. The things that most often unblock it: a business name identical to your signage with nothing added, a category that genuinely matches what you do, a landline or number that appears elsewhere online, and photographs of the actual premises on the listing before you try again.
There is no Google customer care number for this
People search for a 24x7 Google Business helpline in India every night, and the results are full of numbers that are not Google. The pattern is always the same: someone answers, says your listing is about to be removed, and asks for a payment or for a code from your phone. Handing over that code hands over your listing.
- Google does not phone Indian businesses to sell verification, ranking or removal of a review. Any such call is someone else.
- Real support is the contact option inside the Business Profile and the Business Profile Help Community. Both are free.
- Never share a verification code, an OTP or your Google password with anyone, including an agency you have hired.
Before you try again, fix these
Most failed verifications fail for reasons Google never tells you. These are the ones we see most often, and each of them is a five-minute fix.
The name is not your name
It must match your signage exactly. No city, no keywords, no tagline. Best Dental Clinic Powai is not a business name, it is a reason to be suspended.
The address cannot be found
A postman has to find it. Floor, landmark, nearest recognised building. If a delivery rider needs a phone call to reach you, the postcard will not arrive either.
The number exists nowhere else
A number that appears on your website, your bills and your signage is evidence. A brand new SIM is not.
There is nothing to film
A video review wants signage, the inside, your equipment or stock, and something showing you run the place. Have all of it ready before you press record.
What Sunaam actually does here
Sunaam's Get Listed flow finds your business in Google's index or creates the listing if there is none, starts verification, and gives you the PIN screen inside Sunaam rather than sending you hunting for it. Each step has spoken guidance if you would rather listen than read. Where Google insists on its own interface, such as a video call, you are handed over with the reason explained instead of hitting a dead end.
Once you are verified, the checklist afterwards is the part that changes anything: photos, hours, categories and a completeness score, then replies to every review that arrives. Sunaam drafts those in your customers' language and posts nothing until you approve it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I verify my Google My Business listing?
Open the Business Profile while signed in to the Google account that owns it, choose the verification method Google offers you, and complete it. Google decides which methods you are offered based on your category and address. Most businesses in India are offered a postcard or a video, and you cannot switch to a faster method just because you would prefer one.
What do I do if the Google verification code is not received?
Wait the full 14 days before requesting another, because a new request kills the old code. If the second card also fails to arrive, the address is usually the reason. Add the floor, the landmark and the nearest well-known building to the address before you try again, and make sure the name on the card matches whoever receives post at that address.
Why is my Google verification code not working?
Three usual causes: the code has expired, a newer code was requested and cancelled it, or you are signed in to a different Google account from the one that started verification. A fourth catches people out often: editing the business name, address or category while verification is pending can reset it and invalidate the code in your hand.
Is there a Google Business Profile customer care number in India?
No, there is no 24x7 Google helpline for Business Profile in India, and this matters: numbers advertised as Google Business customer care are almost always scams that ask for payment or for access to your account. Google's real support is the contact option inside the Business Profile itself and the Business Profile Help Community. Nobody at Google will phone to ask you for money to keep your listing live.
How long does Google Business Profile verification take?
A phone or email code arrives in minutes. A postcard is quoted at up to 14 days. A video review is typically a few working days after you submit the recording, though a rejected video sends you back to the start, which is why it is worth filming the signage, the interior and something with the business name on it before you begin.
Can Sunaam verify my Google Business Profile for me?
No. Only Google can verify a listing, and anyone who says otherwise is selling you something they cannot deliver. What Sunaam does is walk you through it step by step, in your language, with spoken guidance if you prefer to listen: finding or creating the listing, starting verification, entering the PIN in our own screen, and the checklist of photos, hours and categories afterwards. The parts Google forces into its own interface, we hand you over cleanly instead of pretending.
Stuck? Start with a free checkup.
It reads your listing as it stands today and tells you what is missing, what is wrong and what to fix first. No card, and nothing is changed on Google without your approval. If you are still stuck after that, talk to a person: we answer by email at hello@sunaam.io, usually within a business day.
Also useful: what a Google Business Profile actually costs, the free review link generator and Sunaam pricing.
Sunaam is an independent service operated by Teknesya Networks Pvt Ltd, and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Google. Google Business Profile is available directly from Google at no charge.