Prepare the evidence before opening the recording flow
Your verification video needs to connect the business to its location, show the real operation and demonstrate your authority to represent it. Plan each scene before recording so a locked door or private customer record won't interrupt the route.
Google's video recording requirements call for live, unedited, continuous footage of at least 30 seconds, recorded and uploaded through the mobile Business Profile flow. They exclude sensitive information, private information and other people's faces.
This guide helps you prepare when recorded video is offered. Google determines the available verification methods, and a live video call is a separate option with limited availability. If you're unsure whether verification is the problem, first diagnose why your Business Profile isn't showing.
Check the facts and the person responsible
Start with the real business facts. Google's business representation guidelines require accurate representation, exclude mailing-only virtual offices and require permanent business-name signage where an address is displayed. Resolve eligibility problems before recording.
Before choosing evidence, choose the right profile type and address settings. Your evidence sheet should describe that operating model.
For a network, confirm the authorised location representative before arranging the visit. A central marketing contact may know the approved name but have no keys to the branch. The person on site needs both the agreed facts and access to the evidence chosen for the route.
Use this readiness check before scheduling the recording.
- Confirm you can open the intended profile in the correct account on the recording phone.
- Check the business name and location against the approved business records.
- Confirm who can unlock each door, workspace or vehicle in the proposed route.
- Choose a quiet time when customers, colleagues and private records can stay outside the frame.
Build an evidence sheet for the real operation
Google's business-type evidence guidance covers location, business existence and management. Storefront names must match the profile. Service-area evidence can include local markers, working equipment and access to business assets.
This Off Piste worksheet gives illustrative evidence choices. Choose those that reflect your operation. Acceptance remains Google's decision.
| Evidence | Storefront or hybrid | Service area |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Street marker and entrance in one route | Nearby street marker connected to the operating base |
| Operation | Permanent business sign and working workshop | Tools and equipment used for customer work |
| Management | Representative unlocking a staff storage room | Operator unlocking the business's branded van |
The location scene makes the setting identifiable. The operation scene connects that setting to the work the business does. The management scene explains why the person recording can represent it. A workshop full of tools may show activity, but the route still needs a clear connection to the profile's location and the representative's access.
For each category, record your chosen evidence, what it establishes and who holds the key or permission needed. Add its position in the route, anything to move out of frame and any access problems found during rehearsal. Keep this rehearsal sheet private.
If the proposed management scene depends on a supervisor who won't be there, change the arrangement before the visit. If the camera must cross a busy reception area, choose a quieter time.
Rehearse the route through a customer-facing location
Consider Banksia Cycle Workshop, a fictional repair business with a customer entrance, permanent signage and a staff-only parts room. This is an Off Piste planning example. It describes a rehearsal, with no claimed verification outcome.
The owner chooses the parts room because they can unlock it without exposing customer booking screens. They arrange the recording before customers arrive and move repair tickets away from the camera's path. The permanent sign represents the business as it normally operates.
- Begin where the street marker and building number can be read, then walk towards the workshop entrance.
- Show the permanent business sign clearly and continue into the workspace without breaking the route.
- Show the working area, then unlock the staff-only parts room to demonstrate the owner's access.
The access dependency matters. If the parts-room key is held off site, the route isn't ready. If the entrance glass reflects people behind the phone, adjust the recording time or camera angle during rehearsal. Walk the route once without recording and check that the evidence remains legible while moving between scenes.
Hold the sign in view long enough for someone unfamiliar with the premises to read it.
Rehearse the route for a service-area business
Consider Wattle Mobile Repairs, a fictional operator who travels to customers and stores tools at a home base. Customers don't visit that base. This second Off Piste example adapts the worksheet to the actual operation.
Google's service-area video instructions allow neighbourhood markers near a home base. Public address settings still belong in the service-area configuration guide.
The operator selects a nearby street sign, the route to the branded business van and the tools kept inside it. They choose that route because it can be filmed continuously without entering private living spaces. Their preparation includes checking for neighbours in view and removing customer paperwork from the van.
- Establish the immediate area using a readable local marker.
- Continue to the branded business van and unlock it.
- Show the equipment used for the work, keeping private papers outside the frame.
The useful planning question is whether the equipment is understandable in context. A closed box gives the viewer little to assess. Arrange genuine work equipment so it can be seen safely, and check that opening the van doesn't expose a customer address on a job sheet.
If the proposed route crosses a neighbour's property or needs access you don't control, revise it. Use evidence of the real mobile operation and resolve any uncertainty about the business model before recording.
Record and submit through the available mobile flow
Use Google's current submission instructions. The documented route is Get verified, Business video, recording, review and Upload video. Follow your account's prompts for permissions and any additional steps.
Use your rehearsal sheet to complete these steps.
- Open the intended profile on site and read the instructions presented to your account.
- Walk the route for a final privacy sweep. Check windows, screens, work orders and vehicle interiors.
- Record the prepared route, keeping the evidence readable as you move.
- Review the footage for missing evidence, unreadable details or private material. Re-record if needed before uploading.
- Upload through the offered flow and record the resulting notice in your private status log.
Keep enough attention on the surroundings to record safely. A route that requires awkward movement while holding a phone needs another rehearsal.
Use the outcome to choose the next action
Upload failure
Google's upload troubleshooting guidance says to retry an unsuccessful upload. Record the exact error so the team can distinguish a transfer problem from review feedback. An upload attempt alone doesn't establish that the recording reached review.
Pending review
Google documents review taking up to five business days, with occasional longer waits. Treat that as guidance rather than a guaranteed completion date.
Keep a private status log with the submission date, exact notice, responsible person and next check date. Add the business location and profile reference if you manage several branches. Keep private footage out of public project notes.
Missing-evidence feedback
Google's resubmission instructions provide rejection reasons and require the replacement to retain the original information while adding what's missing.
The feedback categories below come from that guidance. The proposed recording changes are Off Piste planning judgements to test during rehearsal.
| Feedback | Evidence gap | Next recording change |
|---|---|---|
| Storefront name not visible | Business identity unclear | Rehearse a readable view of the permanent sign |
| Nearby area absent | Location connection missing | Add a clear local marker to the continuous route |
| Authority evidence missing | Representative's access unclear | Arrange genuine access to a business-only asset |
Copy the exact feedback into the evidence sheet before changing the route. If the sign was unreadable, decide where the phone needs to pause. If access wasn't clear, arrange a scene that demonstrates it. Rehearse the revised route as a whole so correcting one gap doesn't remove evidence that was already present.
Verified status
Once the profile confirms verification, hand the evidence sheet back to the location owner and return to the wider Google Business Profile optimisation guide. Keep the confirmation in the status log so verification has an explicit completion record.
Another profile-state problem
If the notice concerns ownership, suspension or duplication, return to the profile diagnostic guide. Use the remedy for the state shown in the account. If verification remains blocked, follow Google's official verification support guidance, using another method only when it's available to your profile.
Resolve the wider facts when they block preparation
Sometimes the rehearsal exposes a wider coordination problem. The website uses an old branch name, the profile lists another address and nobody knows who can approve the correction. Give one responsible person the task of reconciling those facts before the next recording visit.
If those inconsistencies span location pages, profile facts and ownership across branches, it may help to coordinate location data and local search. Persistent platform verification problems still belong with Google's official support route. Google controls the verification decision.
Start with your own evidence sheet. Choose the genuine location, operation and management evidence, confirm who can access it, then walk the route with the phone before opening the recording flow.