How to Claim Your Business on Google When You Have No Shop

To claim your business on Google, search your business name and city on Google Maps, select Claim this business, then Manage now, and verify with whatever method Google offers. Google calls your listing a Business Profile: the one on the map with your reviews and the Call button. Google says "You can add or claim your business at no charge."

If you go to the customer and don't have a shop, a few things work differently. If someone else already holds your listing, Google sends you to its support team instead of the usual ownership request. Your address stays hidden from customers, but it still has to be real. And if Google asks for a video, you film your street and your truck, not a storefront.

Google's rules below come from its own help pages, read on 30 September 2026.

No listing yetadd it at business.google.com/addA Claim this business buttonclaim it, then verifySomeone else verified itcontact Google with no shop, or request ownershipYours to manageonce Google or the owner says yes

If this is youDo thisSomeone else has it, and you have no shop or officeContact Google: Transfer ownership of listingSomeone else has it, and customers come to youRequest ownershipYou go to your customersHide your address from them

First, which of these is you?

Open Google Maps and search your business name and the city you're in. What comes up tells you which route you're on.

What you find	What it means	Your route
No listing for your business	Nobody made one	Add it
Your listing, with a Claim this business button	Nobody verified it	Claim it
Your listing, with no claim button	It's verified: by someone else, or by you under another Google Account	Check your other Google Accounts, then see Someone else has it

If you see no Claim this business or Own this business button at all, Google says "you might already be the owner." Either way, don't start a second listing. Google allows one profile per business, and "If a profile is considered a duplicate, it won't show on Google Search or Maps."

No listing yet? Add it

Go to business.google.com/add, select Add your business to Google, and follow the screens. Google's note on that step: "Make sure your business address is correct and meets our guidelines." If customers don't come to you, Google's help says you can choose not to show the address and list your service area instead. Then pick a verification option.

If you already have a listing and the address on it is wrong, changing your address on Google walks through it without starting over.

Nobody manages it? Claim it

On your phone, open the Google Maps app and search your business name. Select your business, tap About, then Claim this business and Manage now. On a computer, search your business name and city in Google Maps and select the same two buttons. Then pick a verification option and follow the screens.

Until you verify, you can't change what the listing says. Google: "To edit your business info on Google, such as business name or business hours, and interact with customers, you need to verify your business."

Someone else has it? Start with the no-shop route

If the listing is already verified by someone else, it may be whoever set it up years ago: an old web company, a former employee, a relative.

No shop or office? Contact Google's support team

Google's usual ownership request is written for "a storefront or hybrid business." For a business like yours, Google's page says: "To request ownership of a service-area business that provides services at the customer's location and doesn't have a physical shop or office, contact us."

1. Open Google's Request ownership of a Business Profile page and select contact us under Tips.
2. Sign in to your Google Account.
3. In the "Tell us what we can help with" field, enter Transfer ownership of listing, and choose it again as the issue when you submit.

The page doesn't say what proof the support team asks for. Google's video rules accept a business permit, invoice or utility bill "that matches the name on your Business Profile" as proof you run a business, so have those ready.

Customers come to your shop or office? Ask for ownership

Google's steps: go to business.google.com/add, enter your business name and address, choose your business, and you'll see "Someone else may manage this Business Profile." Select Request Access, fill out the form and submit. Google emails the current owner, who has 3 days to respond.

• If they approve it, you can manage the listing. Google makes a new owner wait 7 days before removing other owners or managers.
• If they deny it, "You'll get a rejection email but you can still suggest an edit to the profile. You can also try to appeal the decision."
• If 3 days pass with no answer, "you may have the option to claim the profile." Google adds: "The option to claim a profile isn't always available."

If a marketing company set it up

Google's rules for companies that manage listings say "all end customers must retain ownership or co-ownership of their Business Profile at all times." Once you tell the company you're ending its service, Google's rules give it 7 business days to let you "regain exclusive control of it." Put it in writing.

If it's yours and you lost the login

Google sends you to its Accounts troubleshooter to recover the Google Account you used to claim and verify the listing.

Your address: hidden from customers, but real

If customers don't come to you, Google doesn't want your address showing. Its guidelines say "If you're a service-area business, you should hide your business address from customers," and the example they give could be you: "if you're a plumber and run your business from your residential address, clear the address from your Business Profile." With it hidden, "your Business Profile will only show your service area."

If your address shows once you're verified, Google's steps are: go to your Business Profile, select Edit profile, then Location, select Edit next to "Business location," and turn off Show business address to customers, then select Save.

Hidden from customers isn't unknown to Google. A verification video has to show signs and landmarks near where you work, and before a postcard, Google says "Make sure your business mailing address is correct." Google also says "If we determine that your business doesn't exist in the location you claim, Google will disable your profile." So the address you give Google should be where you really work from. It can't be a P.O. box, or a rented mailing address you don't work from, which Google calls a virtual office.

Your service area can be up to 20 cities, ZIP codes or other areas. Google's guideline is that the whole area "shouldn't be more than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based," and it adds "For some businesses, larger service areas may be appropriate." The rules that trip up businesses like yours are in why your business isn't showing up on Google.

Apple Maps works differently: Apple's guide has no setting to hide your address.

Verifying: Google picks the method

You don't choose how you verify: "Verification methods are automatically determined by Google and can't be changed." What you're offered depends on "your business type, public info, region, or business hours," and some businesses need more than one method. It may be a phone call or text, an email, a live video call, a recorded video or a postcard. If a video is on the list, Google says "we recommend that you use this option." After you finish, "verification reviews take up to 5 business days," though "On rare occasions, reviews may take longer." You get a confirmation email when it's done.

If Google asks for a video

Google's video page asks your question in its own FAQ: "What if my business offers in-person services but doesn't have a physical location?" For a business that goes to customers, the video has to show three things:

• Where you work. "record street signs, nearby landmarks, or other identifiers at your business address." Google's tip for a business run from home: "you can record landmarks and signs in your immediate neighborhood to verify the address."
• That the business exists. The tools and equipment you use, "business cards, or branded apparel."
• That you run it. "unlocking a van that has your business branding," or a permit, invoice or utility bill in your business name.

It has to be one unedited take with no breaks, at least 30 seconds long, recorded live and uploaded from your phone through your profile. Google says "pre-recorded videos aren't allowed." Keep bank, tax and ID numbers, other private info and "Other people's faces" out of it.

A verification video when you work from home

Your streetsigns and landmarks near where you workYour toolsequipment, cards, branded apparelProof you run itunlock the van with your business name on itOne live take30 seconds or more, uneditedUp to 5 business daysGoogle reviews it

If it's a live video call

Google says: "Make sure you're at your business and can show your location and ownership during the call." Its examples include "a street sign that confirms your business location," "branded equipment" and "non-sensitive business documents." If you run the business from home, we'd take the call there, with your truck and tools. Calls only happen during your business hours.

If it's a postcard

Before you request it: "Make sure your business mailing address is correct." "Most codes arrive within 14 days." While you wait, don't edit your business name, address or category, because "If you do, the code we sent you won't work." And don't request a new code: Google says that cancels the one in the mail and "can make the process longer." Codes expire after 30 days, and Google says never to share yours, "even with those who manage your Business Profile."

Google's page doesn't give a separate step for a card that never arrives. Since a new request cancels the one in the mail, we'd give the first card its 14 days before asking again.

If it's a phone call, text or email

Enter the code Google sends, or for email, follow the steps in it. If your business line goes to a phone menu or answering system, Google warns that "Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems won't get the code," so answer it yourself or take the text.

When it doesn't go through

• Get verified shows up again. Google says that "means Google couldn't completely verify your business." Go through it again, and try another method if more than one is offered.
• Review issues, after a video. Your video wasn't accepted. Google lists the reasons, such as "No nearby area shown." Record a new one with everything from the first plus what was missing.
• You're asked to re-verify. Google says "it's likely because some of your business details were recently updated."
• A method isn't offered to you. Google says postcards and live video calls aren't available for every business. Try the methods that are, and "If you're still unable to verify your business, contact support." Google's help pages have a Contact us link at the bottom.

If Google says your listing is suspended rather than unverified, that's a different fix: what to check before you appeal.

Once you're verified, keep it yours

Don't hand anyone your only login. Google says "If a third party helps you manage your profile, you can add them to your profile after verification." Add your web person or marketing company as a manager: managers "have mostly the same access to the profile as owners. The only exception is they can't add or remove users or remove the profile." That way, when someone leaves, the listing stays with you.

And sign in now and then. Google says "Merchants that don't access their Google Business Profile for long periods of time may have their access revoked and content removed after adequate warning."

Once it's verified, Bing can import it: here's Bing Places for Business.

It's how we manage your Google listing too: you own it, and we're added as a manager.