Google Listing Verification | Yext Hitchhikers Platform

What You’ll Learn

In this section, you will learn:

• How Google approaches verification
• How bulk verification works
• How single location verification works
• How to manage verification through the Yext platform

Overview of Google Verification

Google manages the delivery of data from Google Business Profile to its consumer-facing properties like Search and Maps only for verified Listings. If your Listing is not verified, the data will sit in Google Business Profile but will not be delivered to consumers.

What does it mean to be a verified Listing? It means that Google has enough trust that you are the rightful owner of the location and therefore trustworthy enough to provide good data. Google cares tremendously about the quality of data that their users see — it’s a huge part of their value and the reason they’re used by so many people. If consumers stop trusting the data they find on Google, this could significantly impact Google’s valuation and operations.

At a high level, Google has two methods of verification:

• Bulk Verification: You can apply for this if you are a chain with more than 10 locations with physical locations. All of your listings will be published and verified shortly after you update or add them through Yext, unless flagged by Google’s algorithms as suspicious or a duplicate.

• Single Location Verification: You must use this method if you are a business with less than 10 locations or you don’t have a physical presence (e.g., service area business). As the name implies, you must do this for each location individually.

You can learn more about Google’s verification policies in Google’s Verify your business on Google article. As a trusted partner with Google, Yext can help assist and advise you through the process but Google has ultimate say on your verification status.

Bulk Verification

Bulk verification is available for any brands with more than 10 locations and that have a physical presence that customers can visit during the stated business hours. If you are a service area only business, unfortunately you will not be eligible for bulk verification and will need to use single location verification.

If your business is eligible, Yext can help set up your account for bulk verification. For more information on how this works, visit our Bulk Verification for Google Business Profile (GBP) help article. With bulk verification, all of your listings will be published and verified shortly after you update or add them through Yext.

Once you’re verified, it will become much easier to manage your brand’s data. By default, new listings should become verified within a few days. That said, your listings can always get flagged as “suspended”, “disabled” or “duplicates” — we will surface this information for you in the Yext platform on the All Listings screen. You can also read more about what these statuses mean in Google’s Understand your Business Profile status for bulk uploads article.

Single Location Verification

If you represent a brand that has less than 10 locations or does not have a physical presence, you’ll need to use single location verification. This means that each location must be verified individually.

Google provides a few different methods for verification and is often experimenting with additional methods with subsets of users. Each method will involve sending you, the business representative, a verification code that you can then submit back to Google to complete the process. In all cases, the verification code will expire after 30 days so you want to make sure to complete the verification in a timely manner. The standard verification options are:

• Postcard: This will trigger a postcard sent to your business address.
• Phone Call: An automated caller will call the phone number on your Listing. Make sure to tell whoever is answering your phones to expect this call so they don’t hang up!
• Text Message: This will trigger a text message to be sent to the phone number on your Listing.
• Email: This will trigger an email to be sent to the email address listed in the platform.
• Video: This will launch the video verification process in Google Business Profile.

It is important to note that not all of the above options will always be available when you attempt to verify your listing. Verification methods differ by location, and Google determines which options to provide for your business. This is especially relevant for single location businesses, as oftentimes the postcard verification is the only available option.

We recommend putting together a process for your brand to manage this if you have more than 10 locations to verify to make sure that the process runs smoothly. You should identify:

• Who will be responsible for requesting verification — either directly on Google or via Yext
• Who will be responsible for receiving the verification code
• Who will be responsible for making sure that code is submitted to Google — either directly on Google or via Yext

This person might be the same for all three steps or it may be a different person for each step, which would require additional coordination.

Note

Any significant changes to a location’s category, address, business name or other core information could trigger the need for re-verification, so be careful about making unintended changes to these fields. This is because Google’s algorithms may consider the change significant enough that it would represent a new business on their end. If this happens, you’ll need to go through the process again, although oftentimes Google will make faster forms of verification, like phone verification, possible.

Managing Verification in Yext

In the Yext platform, we will surface your entity’s verification status via Listings Status. If for any reason your entity is not verified or pending verification, your Listing will have an associated unavailable reason.

You can also initiate and complete single location verification through the Yext platform. For any eligible listings, you will see a Verify Listing button.

When you click this button, you will be provided with the verification options that Google will allow for your location (e.g., phone, postcard, etc). Once you receive your code — whether that’s immediately or days later via postcard — you can enter the code in the Yext platform directly to complete the verification. Don’t forget that the code expires after 30 days!