How to Claim Your
Google Business Profile
How to claim a Google Business Profile that already exists, finding your listing, requesting ownership and verifying it, so you take control of how your business appears on Google.
To claim your Google Business Profile, find your business on Google or Maps, select the option to claim or manage it, then request ownership and verify the business.
Many businesses already have a profile that Google created automatically or that someone else set up, so claiming is how you take control of an existing listing rather than creating a new one.
Once you have requested and verified ownership, you can manage the profile fully, editing details, adding photos, responding to reviews and optimising it, so claiming is the essential first step to controlling how your business appears on Google.
Claiming your listing
Many businesses are surprised to find they already have a Google listing they have never managed. Claiming it is how you take control. The process is straightforward but has a few steps worth getting right. Here is how to claim your Google Business Profile and take ownership of your listing.
Find your existing listing
Start by searching for your business on Google or Google Maps. If a listing appears that you have never managed, it exists already, created automatically by Google or set up by someone else and claiming it is how you take control rather than adding a duplicate alongside it.
Claim, do not duplicate. Adding a brand new business is covered in How Do I Add My Business to Google?
Select claim or manage
On the listing, look for an option such as Own this business or Claim this business, often shown on the profile in Search or Maps. Selecting it begins the claim process, signing you in with a Google account and starting your request to take ownership of the listing.
This starts your ownership request. The basics are in What Is Google My Business?
Request ownership
Google will guide you through requesting ownership of the profile. You confirm the business is yours and provide the details Google asks for, which begins the process of linking the listing to your account so that you, rather than anyone else, control it.
Ownership links the listing to you. Setting it up fully is covered in How to Set Up a Google Business Profile for a New Business
If someone else has claimed it
Sometimes a listing is already claimed by someone else, perhaps a former employee or agency. Google offers a process to request access from the current owner, who can grant it or, if they do not respond in time, you may be able to claim it after a waiting period.
There is a route to regain access. Why visibility matters is covered in Why Is My Business Not Showing Up on Google?
Verify the business
As with a new listing, you must verify the business to complete the claim, usually by post, phone, email or video. Verification proves the business is yours and until it is done you will not have full control, so this step is the gateway to managing your profile.
Verification completes the claim. The methods are covered in How to Verify Your Google Business Profile
Take control of the profile
Once claimed and verified, you can manage the profile fully: correct details, add photos, set hours, respond to reviews and optimise it. Claiming often reveals a neglected listing with wrong information, so taking control and tidying it up can quickly improve how you appear.
Now you can manage everything. Optimising it is covered in How to Optimise Your Google Business Profile for Local SEO
Why claiming matters
An unclaimed profile is a listing you do not control, which can show wrong details, lack photos and miss reviews. Claiming it puts you in charge, so you can keep it accurate and optimised, which is essential for ranking and for the impression customers get of your business.
Control is the point of claiming. Reviews are covered in Do Google Reviews Help SEO?
The first step to control
Claiming your Google Business Profile is the essential first step to controlling how your business appears on Google. Whether the listing was auto created or set up by someone else, claiming and verifying it hands you the keys, so you can manage and improve it from there.
Take the keys to your listing. The whole guide is gathered in the Google Business Profile Guide
In short, to claim your Google Business Profile you find your existing listing, select claim or manage, request ownership and verify the business. Claiming takes control of a listing that often already exists, so you can manage and optimise how your business appears on Google.
This guide is part of our complete Google Business Profile Guide. The hub brings together every question a business asks about Google Business Profile, from setting up and verifying through to optimisation, reviews, insights and ranking in the map, each written in plain UK English.