Today I’m going to show you how to claim ownership of your Google my business listing if it’s unclaimed, you’ve claimed it a long time ago but forgot your login details and now need access, it’s been claimed by someone who used to work for your business but has now left the company, or worse someone you’ve never heard of has already claimed it and verified it.
If you fall into one of these scenarios, you’ll want to read this.
Google would have created a business listing on the back of it whether you like it or not, just like in this example.
While this is great free advertising, the downside is, the owner of this business will not be able to update information, reply to review, add images, or maximize the visibility overall of his listing because he has not claimed it which is a huge, missed opportunity.
If your business falls into this scenario, and you’re not sure whether Google has created a listing for it, go to Google Maps and search for your business name.
If a listing for your business comes up, and you can see the “Claim this business” label in the panel, it means it is unclaimed.
To claim it, just click on the link. Login to a Google account using the email address you want associated with the listing, if you don’t have a Google account, you’ll need to create one, then click on manage now.
The listing will automatically be linked up to your Google account in just a few seconds. You’ll then be asked to verify your listing by confirming you are the true owner of the business.
To do this, Google will send a postcard that contains a verification code to the business address, which you can use to verify your listing a few days later.
I’ll start with listings that display a physical address like this one, listings without an address, which are used by service area type of businesses such as plumbers and electricians, are a bit different, and I’ll cover that in just a minute.
Imagine, you’ve claimed a listing for your business a while ago, but you can’t remember which email address you used to verify it. Here is what you can do.
First Login into a Google account. At this stage it doesn’t matter which account it is, if you don’t have one just create one, then click on the “own this business link” directly from the listing.
This will take you to a screen with the following message, “This Business Profile has already been claimed”.
Although we already know that because you remember creating it, it will also give you a clue as to which email address was used to claim this business.
If you recognize the email address and remember the password for it, just go to google.com/business/ and sign in using those credentials.
You should now have full access to the Google my business dashboard for this listing.
If you can’t remember the password for the email address, just follow the account recovery process.
Now, let’s say you don’t recognize the email address clue that is provided. This means someone you don’t know is the primary owner of your listing.
This happens quite often when a former employee has claimed the listing on your behalf then left the company or a third party like a freelancer or an agency claimed if for you or simply someone else has claimed and verified it.
This will open a new window in which you will be asked to share information with the current owner and specify the type of access you require.
In this instance you will want to request ownership of the listing as you are the owner of the business. Don’t forget to add your phone number, then click on submit.
You should be taken to a screen to confirm your request has been sent to the owner and that If you haven’t received a response from them in the next 3 days, you will be able to verify your affiliation with the business to gain access.
You will also receive an email confirmation which includes the same information but also includes a review request button that will make it easier to verify your affiliation to the business should the current owner of the listing ignore your request and three days have gone by.
In the meantime, the current owner will also receive an email from Google to notify him or her that someone has requested ownership of a listing they own.
At this stage three scenarios are possible:
The current owner reviews your request and decides to grant you access. You will receive an email notification to inform you, you are now the primary owner of the listing.
If you go to google.com/business and sign in with your email address, you should be able to access the listing and have full control.
The current owner ignores your request and three days have gone by. Dig out the email you received when you initially submitted your request, then click on the view request button.
You should now be able to legitimately claim the listing, verify it and manage it.
The current owner rejects your request. You will receive an email notification to let you know your request has been rejected, however you have the ability to appeal.
If you are the genuine owner of the business obviously you should appeal, and You should now be able to legitimately claim the listing just like in the previous example.
Whichever scenario your case falls into, if you are the true business owner, you will be able to claim your listing.
I’m now going to run through the process of claiming the listing for a business that does not display a physical address in its panel, which is typically used by service area type of businesses such as plumbers or electricians.
Sign in to google using the email account you would like to be associated with the listing you want ownership for.
Once again bring up the business listing you want to claim in google and click on the link “own this business”
Just like before, you should see the same screen you’ve already seen if you try to claim a business with a physical address. Copy and paste the business name and select the relevant business from the drop-down.
This is when the process defers from claiming a business with a physical address.
Here google will ask you to recreate a listing all together as if it was a brand new one.
Go through the process and wait for a few days until you receive the postcard which includes the verification code.
Go ahead and verify the listing. When you do, the listing should automatically be flagged as duplicate in your Google My Business dashboard, and you should see a button that says request access. Just click on it.
You should now be able to follow the same process I have already described when claiming a listing which has a physical address.
That’s it for today guys, I hope this will help you claim what’s rightfully yours.
As a business owner, I can’t recommend enough you take full control of your Google My Business listing and be the primary owner of it.Although this may seem like common sense for many of you, plenty of business owners leave this task to someone else within their organization only to find out later on they can no longer access their listing and update it, which could become the cause of some major marketing headaches. As mentioned in the introduction, there are multiple scenarios in which you would want to claim ownership of an existing listing. Let’s start with the simplest one.
Unclaimed and Unverified Google listings.
If your business has been running for a while, chances are, it’s already been picked up by Google through information they have collected around the web.Google would have created a business listing on the back of it whether you like it or not, just like in this example.
While this is great free advertising, the downside is, the owner of this business will not be able to update information, reply to review, add images, or maximize the visibility overall of his listing because he has not claimed it which is a huge, missed opportunity.
If your business falls into this scenario, and you’re not sure whether Google has created a listing for it, go to Google Maps and search for your business name.
If a listing for your business comes up, and you can see the “Claim this business” label in the panel, it means it is unclaimed.
To claim it, just click on the link. Login to a Google account using the email address you want associated with the listing, if you don’t have a Google account, you’ll need to create one, then click on manage now.
The listing will automatically be linked up to your Google account in just a few seconds. You’ll then be asked to verify your listing by confirming you are the true owner of the business.
To do this, Google will send a postcard that contains a verification code to the business address, which you can use to verify your listing a few days later.
Claim ownership of Google My Business listings that have already been claimed.
I’ll start with listings that display a physical address like this one, listings without an address, which are used by service area type of businesses such as plumbers and electricians, are a bit different, and I’ll cover that in just a minute.
Imagine, you’ve claimed a listing for your business a while ago, but you can’t remember which email address you used to verify it. Here is what you can do.
First Login into a Google account. At this stage it doesn’t matter which account it is, if you don’t have one just create one, then click on the “own this business link” directly from the listing.
This will take you to a screen with the following message, “This Business Profile has already been claimed”.
Although we already know that because you remember creating it, it will also give you a clue as to which email address was used to claim this business.
If you recognize the email address and remember the password for it, just go to google.com/business/ and sign in using those credentials.
You should now have full access to the Google my business dashboard for this listing.
If you can’t remember the password for the email address, just follow the account recovery process.
Now, let’s say you don’t recognize the email address clue that is provided. This means someone you don’t know is the primary owner of your listing.
This happens quite often when a former employee has claimed the listing on your behalf then left the company or a third party like a freelancer or an agency claimed if for you or simply someone else has claimed and verified it.
Word of warning. At this stage it can be tempting to create a brand-new listing instead of claiming ownership of an existing one. Please don’t as you will end up creating a duplicate of the original listing which will be a problem further down the line.This is what you need to do instead. Sign in the Google account you would like the listing you want to claim ownership for to be associated with. If you are already using a Google account for your Google Analytics, Google Ads or search console, I recommend you use the same one. This will make it easier for Google to verify you are the true owner of this business later on. Just like before, click on the own this business link from the listing panel and this time you’ll need to click on the request access button.
This will open a new window in which you will be asked to share information with the current owner and specify the type of access you require.
In this instance you will want to request ownership of the listing as you are the owner of the business. Don’t forget to add your phone number, then click on submit.
You should be taken to a screen to confirm your request has been sent to the owner and that If you haven’t received a response from them in the next 3 days, you will be able to verify your affiliation with the business to gain access.
You will also receive an email confirmation which includes the same information but also includes a review request button that will make it easier to verify your affiliation to the business should the current owner of the listing ignore your request and three days have gone by.
In the meantime, the current owner will also receive an email from Google to notify him or her that someone has requested ownership of a listing they own.
At this stage three scenarios are possible:
The current owner grants you access
The current owner reviews your request and decides to grant you access. You will receive an email notification to inform you, you are now the primary owner of the listing.
If you go to google.com/business and sign in with your email address, you should be able to access the listing and have full control.
The current owner ignores your request
The current owner ignores your request and three days have gone by. Dig out the email you received when you initially submitted your request, then click on the view request button.
You should now be able to legitimately claim the listing, verify it and manage it.
The current owner rejects your request
The current owner rejects your request. You will receive an email notification to let you know your request has been rejected, however you have the ability to appeal.
If you are the genuine owner of the business obviously you should appeal, and You should now be able to legitimately claim the listing just like in the previous example.
Whichever scenario your case falls into, if you are the true business owner, you will be able to claim your listing.
I’m now going to run through the process of claiming the listing for a business that does not display a physical address in its panel, which is typically used by service area type of businesses such as plumbers or electricians.
Sign in to google using the email account you would like to be associated with the listing you want ownership for.
Once again bring up the business listing you want to claim in google and click on the link “own this business”
Just like before, you should see the same screen you’ve already seen if you try to claim a business with a physical address. Copy and paste the business name and select the relevant business from the drop-down.
This is when the process defers from claiming a business with a physical address.
Here google will ask you to recreate a listing all together as if it was a brand new one.
Go through the process and wait for a few days until you receive the postcard which includes the verification code.
Go ahead and verify the listing. When you do, the listing should automatically be flagged as duplicate in your Google My Business dashboard, and you should see a button that says request access. Just click on it.
You should now be able to follow the same process I have already described when claiming a listing which has a physical address.
That’s it for today guys, I hope this will help you claim what’s rightfully yours. 
