Google verification checklist for locksmiths

For a mobile locksmith who goes to the customer: a service-area business with the address hidden.

• Create the profile at business.google.com with a Google Account you'll keep for the business.

  You need a Google Account to create a profile, and you have to sign in to that same account to manage it later.

  Source: Verify your business on Google

• Use your real business name, exactly as it appears on the van, cards and invoices.

  No taglines, city names, phone numbers, service words like "24/7" or "cheap", or website addresses in the name. LLC or Inc only if real-world documents show it.

  Source: Guidelines for representing your business on Google

• Pick the fewest, most specific categories: Locksmith as the main one.

  Google's test is "this business IS a". Don't add categories as keywords or to describe services.

  Source: Guidelines for representing your business on Google

• If customers don't come to you, remove the address from the profile and list a service area.

  Source: Manage your service areas for service-area & hybrid businesses

• Don'tDon't use a P.O. box, a mailbox store or a virtual office as your address.

  A virtual office only counts if it's staffed during business hours.

  Source: Guidelines for representing your business on Google

• List up to 20 cities, ZIP codes or regions, all within about 2 hours of driving from your base.

  A radius isn't allowed. Edits can take up to 48 hours to show.

  Source: Manage your service areas for service-area & hybrid businesses

• Don'tKeep one profile for your whole service area. No extra profiles for nearby towns.

  A second profile is only for a separate location with its own staff and service area.

  Source: Manage your service areas for service-area & hybrid businesses

• Use a local phone number you control that reaches your business. No premium numbers.

  Source: Guidelines for representing your business on Google

• Link your own website for this business, not a social page or a link that redirects.

  Source: Guidelines for representing your business on Google

• Set the regular hours you take customers. Add special hours for holidays.

  Source: Guidelines for representing your business on Google

• Write a description with no links, prices or sales.

  Source: Guidelines for representing your business on Google

• Verify with the method Google offers you. Google recommends the video recording when it's offered.

  Other methods can include a live video call, phone or text, email or a postcard. Which ones you see depends on your business.

  Source: Verify your business on Google

• For the video: record live on your phone in the profile, at least 30 seconds, in one unedited take.

  Pre-recorded videos aren't allowed. Keep bank, tax and ID numbers and other people's faces out of the shot.

  Source: Verify your business with a video recording

• In the video, show where you operate, your tools and branded gear, and proof you run the business.

  Google's list for service-area businesses: street signs or landmarks at your business address; your tools, equipment, business cards or branded clothing; you doing a job or opening your branded van; a business permit, invoice or utility bill that matches your profile name.

  Source: Verify your business with a video recording

• Don'tWaiting on a postcard: don't edit the name, address or category, and don't request a new code.

  Edits stop the code from working and a new request cancels the old code. Postcards usually arrive within 14 days and codes expire after 30 days.

  Source: Verify your business on Google

• Don'tNever share your verification code. Google says it will never ask you for it.

  Source: Verify your business on Google

• Allow up to 5 business days for Google's review, sometimes longer.

  If the Get verified button comes back, Google couldn't finish: try again or use another method.

  Source: Verify your business on Google

• Expect extra checks. Owners report locksmith profiles get more scrutiny and verification can take several tries.

  This is from a volunteer-written guide on Google's community forum and from owners, not from Google's help pages.

  Reported by owners, not official

Locksmiths are an urgent category for Local Services Ads, so Google adds background checks and Advanced Verification.

• Get your Business Profile verified and public first. The person doing the checks must be an owner or manager of it.

  A public, verified profile is required. Profile status can take up to 24 hours to update on the ads dashboard.

  Source: Understand the screening and verification process

• Know the extra level: locksmiths get service professional background checks and Google's Advanced Verification.

  Source: Business screening and verification requirements

• Line up background checks for the business, each owner and every tech who does the work.

  Identity and criminal history checks, plus civil litigation history for the company. No credit check, free to you. Office and support staff are generally exempt.

  Source: Understand the screening and verification process

• Prove the business is registered: a D-U-N-S number from Dun & Bradstreet, or a state registration, IRS EIN or Department of Revenue registration.

  Getting a D-U-N-S number can take up to 30 days, so start early.

  Source: Understand the screening and verification process

• The business representative needs an unexpired government photo ID, checked by Google's partner Evident.

  The representative must be listed in D&B's data, or you send a document linking them to the business. Names must match exactly on every document.

  Source: Understand the screening and verification process

• Upload a certificate of insurance that meets the minimum on your dashboard.

  Valid for at least 14 days after you submit it, with a policy number, signed and not editable. The name must match your advertised name, or add a DBA document.

  Source: Understand the screening and verification process

• Have your locksmith license ready where your state or city requires one, for every tech and every location.

  Google checks state licenses against official databases where it can, and expects local licenses too.

  Source: Understand the screening and verification process

• Prepare for Advanced Verification: a review of your ads account and public records, and a recorded video interview with Google.

  Required for locksmith services in the United States and Canada. You have to be 18 or older and give honest, complete answers.

  Source: Advanced Verification policies

• Plan on about 3 to 4 weeks after you send your documents.

  That's Google's stated average, and Google says to start as soon as you create the account.

  Source: Business screening and verification requirements

• Budget for longer than Google's average. Owners and agencies report it can take 2 to 3 months.

  Reported by owners and marketing agencies, not by Google.

  Reported by owners, not official

• Expect to verify again: Google may ask every 12 months, and after a move or a new website.

  Source: Advanced Verification policies

• Don'tIf a background check fails, you wait 30 days to reapply, and 180 days after a second denial.

  Source: Understand the screening and verification process

• Don'tIf Advanced Verification is denied, you can appeal only once, so read the policy before you do.

  Source: Advanced Verification policies

Read the whole list before you appeal. You only get one appeal per decision.

• Find out what was hit: one profile, or your whole Google Account.

  If your account is restricted, appeal that first at myaccount.google.com/restrictions. Once it's lifted, appeal the profile.

  Source: Fix suspended or disabled profiles

• Fix the profile against Google's guidelines before you appeal.

  Check the name (no keywords or cities), the hidden address, the categories and the service area against the set-up list above.

  Source: Fix suspended or disabled profiles

• Gather evidence: business registration, business license, tax certificate, or a utility bill (electric, phone, water or internet).

  The business name and address on each document must match the profile.

  Source: Fix suspended or disabled profiles

• Open the appeals tool, pick the profile and the decision, explain why it should be reinstated, attach your files and submit.

  The tool is at support.google.com/business/?p=manage_appeals. You can attach several files.

  Source: Fix suspended or disabled profiles

• Wait for Google's email. Track the status in the appeals tool.

  Statuses: Submitted, Approved, Not Approved, Can't be appealed, Eligible for appeal. Google doesn't give a time frame.

  Source: Fix suspended or disabled profiles

• If it's denied, ask for another review with new evidence through Google's contact form.

  support.google.com/business/contact/local_appeals

  Source: Fix suspended or disabled profiles

• Don'tDon't create a new profile for the same business.

  Source: Fix suspended or disabled profiles

• Don'tDon't send a rushed appeal. Google says appeals can only be submitted once.

  Source: Fix suspended or disabled profiles

• Don'tDon't send documents whose name or address don't match the profile.

  Source: Fix suspended or disabled profiles

• Don'tDon't keep editing the profile while the appeal is open.

  Reported by owners and forum volunteers, not official. They also describe a "soft" suspension (profile still shows, edits locked) and a "hard" one (profile gone from Search and Maps); Google's help page doesn't use those terms.

  Reported by owners, not official