The checker
For owners who work from a home, a van or a small office in Virginia or DC. Up to 12 questions; your answers stay in your browser, and only the verdict name goes to analytics.
| Topic | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Customers | |
| Address | |
| Age limit | |
| Appointments | |
| Service area | |
| Profiles | |
| Locations | Use 1 if you have one. |
| Name | As it appears on your sign. |
5 questions left.
How it decides
A blocker means the business or address is ineligible as described. A fix is a written limit you can change, such as 20 areas. A check is a "should" or a judgement code cannot make. To verify a row, open its page and search the phrase shown.
| Rule | What Google's page says | What the checker does |
|---|---|---|
| In-person contacteligibility page. Search: in-person contact | A business must meet customers in person during its stated hours. Online-only businesses are ineligible. Google names a few exceptions, such as ATMs and some delivery-only food services. | Blocker if you never meet customers in person. |
| Address typeguidelines page. Search: remote locations, virtual office, co-working space | A P.O. box or a mailbox at a remote location is not acceptable. A rented mailing address where you do not operate (a virtual office) is not eligible. A co-working office needs clear signage, customers received there in business hours, and your own staff there in those hours. | Blocker for a P.O. box, a remote mailbox or a virtual office. For a co-working space, a blocker unless all three conditions hold. |
| Customers come to youservice-area page, guidelines page, eligibility page. Search: not eligible as a storefront, staffed by your team, in-person contact | A business without permanent on-site signage is not eligible as a storefront. A location that serves customers should be staffed by your team and able to receive them during its stated hours. | Blocker when customers only come to you and signage or staff is missing. The staff test is our reading of the eligibility page, which requires in-person contact during stated hours. |
| Profile type and addressguidelines page, service-area page. Search: hide your business address, hybrid | A business that travels to customers should hide its address: a plumber who works from home clears it. A hybrid business, which also serves customers at its address, may show the address, set its hours and set a service area. | Travel only: service-area business, hide the address. Both, with signage and staff: hybrid, show the address and set a service area. Both, without signage: service-area business, hide the address. Both, without staff: service-area business, hide the address (our reading). |
| Minimum customer ageservice-area page, guidelines page, eligibility page. Search: minimum age, age requirement | A business whose product or service needs a minimum customer age, like alcohol, cannabis or weapons, is not permitted as a service-area business without a storefront. | Blocker if you answer yes and the profile type is service-area. |
| No radiusservice-area page. Search: radius distance | A service area cannot be set as a radius around the business. Use cities, postal codes or another type of area. A radius set earlier cannot be edited. | Fix if you plan a radius. |
| Up to 20 service areasservice-area page, guidelines page. Search: up to 20 service areas, designated service area | You can set up to 20 service areas, based on cities, postal codes or other areas. A service-area business needs a designated service area. If approved, edits can take up to 48 hours to show. | Fix above 20. Fix when a service-area business sets none. |
| Who a service area is forservice-area page. Search: service-area or hybrid business | To use a service area, a business must be a service-area or hybrid business. | Check if customers only come to you and you still plan a service area. |
| About 2 hours of drivingguidelines page, service-area page. Search: 2 hours of driving | The overall service area should not extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where the business is based. Google adds that larger areas may be appropriate for some businesses. | Check above 2 hours of driving. Exactly 2 or less passes. |
| One profile per locationguidelines page, service-area page. Search: one profile for each location, one profile for the whole area | A business should have one profile. Locations with separate staff and separate service areas are allowed one profile each. A service-area business has one profile for the whole area. | Fix if you plan more profiles than locations with their own staff and service area. |
| Business nameguidelines page. Search: Your name must not include | The name should be the real-world name on your sign, website and stationery. It must not include taglines, store codes, trademark signs, fully capitalized words, hours, phone numbers or URLs, special characters, legal terms such as LLC, or service or location information. Special characters and legal terms are allowed only with real-world proof, such as signage or invoices. Extras can lead to suspension. | Check for each pattern listed in the second table. Code cannot read taglines, store codes, service words or places. |
| Hoursguidelines page. Search: only by appointment | Businesses that operate only by appointment should not provide hours of operation. | Check if you answer yes. |
| Pattern | What it looks for | What Google says |
|---|---|---|
| Phone number | 7 or more digits in a row, with spaces, dots, dashes or brackets allowed between them | Google lists phone numbers as not permitted in a name. Its examples allow a vanity name such as 1-800-Got-Junk, but not a number added after the name. |
| Web address | www., http:// or https://, or a word ending .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us, .co, .io or .app | Google lists website URLs as not permitted in a name. |
| Trademark or registered sign | the signs ® and ™ | Google lists trademark and registered signs as not permitted in a name. |
| Special character | % $ @ / and double quotes | Allowed only with real-world proof, such as signage, business cards or invoices that show it as part of the name. |
| Legal term | LLC, L.L.C., LTD or INC, in any capitalization | Allowed only with the same real-world proof. Google calls these irrelevant legal terms. |
| Fully capitalized word | a word of 2 or more capital letters, other than the legal terms above | Google's examples show SUBWAY as not acceptable and KFC and IHOP as acceptable, so a real acronym can pass. |
| Hours word | the words open or closed, 24/7, 24 hours, 24 hour, 24 hrs | Google lists business hours as not permitted in a name. If Open is part of your real name, ignore this flag. |
Whitespark's 47 practitioners also rank suspension risks, and four match rules above. That is opinion from a local SEO vendor.
| Risk on Whitespark's list | Rank of 42 | Score | Matching rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address is a P.O. box, mail store, virtual office or other false address | 1 | 202 | Address type |
| Keyword stuffing in the business name | 8 | 125 | Business name |
| Showing your address when you are a service-area business | 11 | 105 | Profile type and address |
| Setting service areas larger than 2 hours of driving | 17 | 82 | About 2 hours of driving |
What it cannot tell you
- Whether Google verifies, approves or suspends a profile.
- Taglines, store codes, service words or places in a name, beyond the patterns in the second table.
- Other cases on Google's eligibility page, such as lead generation companies and rental properties.
- Who owns the profile, or what you may ask for in reviews. See account ownership and review request rules.
Sources
| Source | What we used | Date read | Who publishes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google: Business eligibility and ownership guidelines | A business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours. Online-only businesses, lead generation companies and a P.O. box or remote mailbox address are ineligible. A minimum customer age needs a storefront. A representative must transfer ownership to the owner immediately on request. | October 6, 2026. The page prints no date. | Google, which sells Google Ads and Local Services ads. The help page sells nothing. |
| Google: Guidelines for representing your business on Google | Name rules and examples, address rules (P.O. box, virtual office, co-working), signage, the service-area and hybrid definitions, hide the address, one profile per location, about 2 hours of driving, hours for appointment-only businesses, and the phone and website rules. | October 6, 2026. The page prints no date. | Google. The help page sells nothing. |
| Google: Manage your service areas for service-area & hybrid businesses | Up to 20 service areas, no radius, about 2 hours of driving, edits that can take up to 48 hours to show, the signage rule for hybrid businesses and a service area only for service-area or hybrid businesses. | October 6, 2026. The page prints no date. | Google. The page links to Google's Local Services ads, which it sells. |
| Google: Verify your business on Google | Postcard codes mostly arrive within 14 days and expire after 30 days. Verification reviews take up to 5 business days. | October 6, 2026. The page prints no date. | Google. The help page sells nothing. |
| Google: Fix suspended or disabled profiles | Evidence examples, the 60 minute window for the evidence form, and no new profile during an appeal. | October 6, 2026. The page prints no date. | Google. The help page sells nothing. |
| Whitespark: Local Search Ranking Factors | Published November 6, 2025. 47 local SEO practitioners scored 187 factors, and none has special access to Google's algorithm. The suspension-risk list has 42 factors. Address showing ranks 7th of the Maps factors, and the text says the cause of lost rankings after hiding it is not yet known. | October 6, 2026. | Whitespark, which sells local SEO software, SEO and listings services and a profile reinstatement service. The report lists 4 of its 47 contributors under Whitespark. Practitioner opinion, not Google's rules. |
| Montrelia standard | Full Google Business Profile work: setup, optimization and review management. The plan is $2,000 per month, 3-month minimum, then month-to-month. A one-time setup fee of $1,000 is charged once when the plan starts. You own your Google Business Profile. | October 6, 2026. | Montrelia, which sells the services on this site. |
Questions people ask
How long does Google verification take?
Google chooses the method: phone or text, email, live video or postcard. Postcard codes mostly arrive within 14 days and expire after 30 days. While you wait, do not edit the name, address or category, and do not request a new code. Google then reviews the submission for up to 5 business days.
What can I do if Google suspends my profile?
Submit an appeal in Google's appeals tool. Google says evidence can help: business registration, a business license, a tax certificate or a utility bill, each with the same business name and address as the profile. Once you open the evidence form you have 60 minutes to submit it. Do not create a new profile while the appeal is under review.
Does hiding my address change my rankings?
Google says a service-area business should hide its address. In Whitespark's 2026 report, 47 local SEO practitioners rank "address is showing on GBP (not SAB)" 7th among their Maps factors, yet the report's text says some businesses lost rankings after removing the address and others did not, and that the cause is not yet known. Whitespark sells local SEO, and we have no measurement of our own.
Which phone number and website can I list?
Google asks for a phone number that connects to your location, or a website that represents it. The number must be under the business's direct control. A number or URL must not redirect or refer users to a landing page or number other than the business's own, including pages made on social media sites. Premium phone numbers are not acceptable.
Last updated October 6, 2026