What Google is checking in the video
Google states that verification review can take up to five working days. A video that shows all three clearly, in one continuous take, is the whole job. A video that shows two of them beautifully is rejected.
- Location: that you are physically at the address on the profile. Street name signs, neighbouring shop fronts or a recognisable building exterior do this.
- Business: that the business operates there. Permanent signage with the business name, branded vehicles, stock, equipment or tools of the trade.
- Management: that you personally are authorised. Unlocking the door, opening the till or back office, showing business paperwork or a branded uniform, accessing a staff-only area.
The six reasons videos fail
- No proof of management. The most common miss: a tour of the premises that never shows you doing something only an owner or manager can do.
- No location context. Filmed entirely indoors, so nothing ties the footage to the address on the profile.
- No permanent signage or equipment. A laptop on a kitchen table is not a business to a reviewer, even when it genuinely is.
- Name or address mismatch. Signage that says a different trading name, or a video recorded somewhere other than the listed address.
- Edited or stitched footage. Cuts, overlays and separate clips are treated as unreliable; Google wants one continuous recording.
- The profile itself is the problem. A keyword-stuffed name, a virtual office or a duplicate listing fails regardless of how good the video is.
How to record a video that passes
For a shop, clinic or office: start outside, show the street and the building, walk to the door and show the signage, unlock the door yourself, walk through to the back office or till, and open something only staff can access. Say nothing or say your business name; do not narrate a sales pitch.
For a service-area business working from home or a van: start at the vehicle and show the branded livery or the tools loaded in it, show the street, walk to your home base and show business paperwork, stock or equipment stored there, then something that proves you manage the business, such as the invoicing system or scheme certificates. Google does accept this pattern for genuine mobile trades.
Keep it under a few minutes, in landscape, in daylight, in one take. If you have already had a rejection, delete the previous upload under Business Profile settings, Advanced settings, Video uploads, before recording again; a stale rejected file attached to the case does not help.
Upload problems are not rejections
A video that will not upload, or a status that never leaves pending, is a different problem from a refusal. Try a different device and a different network, keep the file within Google's size and length limits, and record inside Google's own flow rather than uploading an edited file. If the status is stuck well beyond five working days with no decision, contact Business Profile support through the help centre with the case reference; owners in the help forums report that a stuck case sometimes needs a support ticket to move.
When video is the only option
Google chooses the verification methods it offers, and for many new UK profiles video is the only one. There is no way to request a postcard or a phone code instead. If your setup genuinely cannot be shown on video, for example a home-based business with no equipment and no signage, the honest path is usually to correct how the profile is set up, most often as a service-area business, rather than to keep resubmitting.
Repeated failed videos can flag the profile for suspicious activity. Two careful attempts are reasonable; a fifth is a signal.
We can handle it
Send us the profile link and, if you have one, the rejected video or a description of what it showed. Within one working day we tell you which of the six reasons applied, whether the profile itself needs correcting first, and exactly what to film. If the problem is the profile setup rather than the video, we quote for fixing that. We cannot record the video for you, because Google requires the person on camera to be authorised for the business, but we can make sure the next one passes.