How to Set Up a Google Business Profile in 2026, Video Step Included

This week I'm doing for my own studio what I usually do for clients: verifying a Google Business Profile. Google didn't send me a postcard or a text message. It asked for a short video instead: show where the business is, show the tools of the trade, and prove that I'm the one running it. If that sounds unfamiliar, you're not alone. A lot of the advice still online ("just wait for the postcard") is out of date.

In the five western Romanian counties, many business owners search for "google business profile" themselves. Below is the process as Google's help pages describe it in October 2026, plus the mistakes I see most often. Google varies the steps by country, business type and account history, so your screens may differ slightly.

Before you start: does a profile already exist?

Search for your business name on Google Maps. Very often a profile is already there, created by Google itself or suggested by customers. When I first looked at La Lavinia, a family cake shop in Arad, its profile was unclaimed, had no opening hours and showed the wrong postcode.

• Nobody manages it: claim it, then verify.
• Someone else verified it: go to business.google.com/add, find your business and choose Request access. The current owner is notified and has 3 days to respond. If they don't, Google may let you claim it through a link in your confirmation e-mail, but not always.
• Never create a second profile for the same business. Duplicates can lead to suspension.

Step 1: Create or claim the profile

Go to business.google.com/create and sign in with a Google account you control, ideally tied to your business e-mail, not one a former employee or web designer owns.

Enter your business name exactly as it appears on your sign and paperwork. No city, no "best", no phone number. Google's guidelines say unnecessary information in the name isn't permitted.

Step 2: Pick the right primary category

The primary category tells Google what your business is. Google asks you to use as few categories as possible and to make them as specific as possible. Categories describe the business, not every service you offer: a dental clinic is a dentist, not "teeth whitening". Add secondary categories only for genuine main lines of business.

Step 3: Address or service area?

Google asks one question: can customers visit a staffed location during your business hours?

• Yes: enter your address or place the pin on the map. Check the pin carefully, especially in villages and on new streets.
• No: define a service area instead (cities, postcodes or regions, up to 20 entries) and hide your address. Google recommends staying within roughly two hours' driving time of your base.

A typical expat trap: a registered seat at your accountant's office or a virtual-office address is not where customers meet you. Virtual offices and P.O. boxes are not eligible; co-working spaces only count with your signage, your staff and customers received during business hours.

Step 4: Phone, website and hours

Use a phone number you control that rings at this location, and link your own website. List the hours customers can really come in, plus special hours for holidays. Google notes that businesses working only by appointment shouldn't list regular hours at all.

Step 5: Verification, including the video

Google decides which verification methods you see, and you can't change them. Depending on your case it may offer a phone call or text, an e-mail, a postcard, a live video call or a recorded video. Your profile only becomes visible to customers after verification.

The recorded business video

This is the one I got. In the Business Profile on your phone, tap Get verified, then Business video. Google's requirements:

• Recorded live, in one continuous take, unedited, at least 30 seconds long, from your mobile device.
• Location: street signs, the building number, neighbouring businesses or landmarks.
• The business exists: your storefront or signage, with the name matching your profile. Service-area businesses can show tools, equipment, a workspace, business cards or branded clothing.
• You manage it: areas or tasks only staff can access, such as the till, the kitchen or the storeroom. For service-area businesses: performing a service, opening a branded van, or a permit, invoice or utility bill in the business name.
• Don't film bank, tax or ID numbers, and don't show other people's faces.

Review can take up to 5 business days. If it fails, Google tells you why, and you record a new video that contains everything from the first one plus what was missing.

My tip: plan it as one short walk, from the street sign to your door, inside to your tools, ending with something only the owner can open. Rehearse once, film in daylight.

If you get a postcard

The code usually arrives within 14 days and expires after 30. While you wait, don't edit your name, address or category, and don't request a new code.

Step 6: After verification

• Photos: real ones. The entrance, the inside, your products or work, your team if they agree.
• First posts: in Posts, choose Add post: Update, Offer or Event. Google reviews every post before it goes live.
• Review link and QR code: open Read reviews, then Get more reviews. Copy the link for WhatsApp or e-mail; the QR code can only be generated in a computer browser, so print it for the counter. Never offer discounts for reviews: Google treats that as fake engagement.

Mistakes that block or suspend a profile

• Keywords or the city in the business name.
• A virtual office, P.O. box or duplicate profile.
• Editing name, address or category while verification is pending.
• Rewards for reviews.

If a profile does get suspended, don't create a new one. Use Google's appeals tool once, with documents whose name and address match the profile exactly.

Don't want to do it yourself?

The profile itself is free; what it costs is your time. If you'd rather hand it over, I set up or fix your Google Business Profile for a fixed 199 € (about 1,050 lei or 73,000 Ft): verification guidance, categories, services, description, hours, photos, the first 4 posts and a QR card for reviews. The profile stays in your own Google account; I only get manager access while I work. The verification video is the one thing I can't do for you: Google wants the person at the business, so we plan it together and you press record.

First, a 10-minute self-check: find your business on Google Maps on your phone. Is the name right, the pin at your door, the hours real, and does the website button open your own site? If not, ask for my free check: within 24 working hours you get a short PDF with how you appear on Maps and in search, your phone speed and 3 concrete fixes.