Manage business identity

You can use the business identity attributes in the Merchant Center to tell customers about the identity of your business. For more information, see Add business identity attributes to Merchant Center.

This guide explains how you can retrieve and update your business identity using the following:

• getBusinessIdentity
• updateBusinessIdentity

Retrieve the business identity

To retrieves the business identity of your account, use the getBusinessIdentity method.

Here's a sample request:

https://merchantapi.googleapis.com/accounts/v1beta/accounts/{ACCOUNT_ID}/businessIdentity

Here's a sample response from a successful call:

{
  "name": "accounts/{ACCOUNT_ID}/businessIdentity",
  "blackOwned": {
    "identityDeclaration": "SELF_IDENTIFIES_AS"
  }
}

Here's a sample you can use to get the business identity for a given account using the client libraries:

Java

// Copyright 2024 Google LLC
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
//     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.

package shopping.merchant.samples.accounts.businessidentities.v1beta;
import com.google.api.gax.core.FixedCredentialsProvider;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.BusinessIdentity;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.BusinessIdentityName;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.BusinessIdentityServiceClient;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.BusinessIdentityServiceSettings;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.GetBusinessIdentityRequest;
import shopping.merchant.samples.utils.Authenticator;
import shopping.merchant.samples.utils.Config;

/** This class demonstrates how to get the business identity of a Merchant Center account. */
public class GetBusinessIdentitySample {

  public static void getBusinessIdentity(Config config) throws Exception {

    // Obtains OAuth token based on the user's configuration.
    GoogleCredentials credential = new Authenticator().authenticate();

    // Creates service settings using the credentials retrieved above.
    BusinessIdentityServiceSettings businessIdentityServiceSettings =
        BusinessIdentityServiceSettings.newBuilder()
            .setCredentialsProvider(FixedCredentialsProvider.create(credential))
            .build();

    // Creates BusinessIdentity name to identify the BusinessIdentity.
    String name =
        BusinessIdentityName.newBuilder()
            .setAccount(config.getAccountId().toString())
            .build()
            .toString();

    // Calls the API and catches and prints any network failures/errors.
    try (BusinessIdentityServiceClient businessIdentityServiceClient =
        BusinessIdentityServiceClient.create(businessIdentityServiceSettings)) {

      // The name has the format: accounts/{account}/businessIdentity
      GetBusinessIdentityRequest request =
          GetBusinessIdentityRequest.newBuilder().setName(name).build();

      System.out.println("Sending get BusinessIdentity request:");
      BusinessIdentity response = businessIdentityServiceClient.getBusinessIdentity(request);

      System.out.println("Retrieved BusinessIdentity below");
      System.out.println(response);
    } catch (Exception e) {
      System.out.println(e);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    Config config = Config.load();

    getBusinessIdentity(config);
  }
}
GetBusinessIdentitySample.java

PHP

<?php
/**
 * Copyright 2025 Google LLC
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
require_once __DIR__ . '/../../../../vendor/autoload.php';
require_once __DIR__ . '/../../../Authentication/Authentication.php';
require_once __DIR__ . '/../../../Authentication/Config.php';
use Google\ApiCore\ApiException;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\Client\BusinessIdentityServiceClient;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\GetBusinessIdentityRequest;

/**
 * This class demonstrates how to get the business identity of a Merchant Center account.
 */
class GetBusinessIdentitySample
{
    /**
     * Retrieves the business identity for the given Merchant Center account.
     *
     * @param array $config The configuration data containing the account ID.
     * @return void
     */
    public static function getBusinessIdentity($config)
    {
        // Gets the OAuth credentials to make the request.
        $credentials = Authentication::useServiceAccountOrTokenFile();

        // Creates options config containing credentials for the client to use.
        $options = ['credentials' => $credentials];

        // Creates a client.
        $businessIdentityServiceClient = new BusinessIdentityServiceClient($options);

        // Creates BusinessIdentity name to identify the BusinessIdentity.
        // The name has the format: accounts/{account}/businessIdentity
        $name = "accounts/" . $config['accountId'] . "/businessIdentity";

        // Calls the API and catches and prints any network failures/errors.
        try {
            $request = (new GetBusinessIdentityRequest())
                ->setName($name);

            print "Sending get BusinessIdentity request:\n";
            $response = $businessIdentityServiceClient->getBusinessIdentity($request);
            print "Retrieved BusinessIdentity below\n";
            print_r($response);
        } catch (ApiException $e) {
            print $e->getMessage();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Helper to execute the sample.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function callSample(): void
    {
        $config = Config::generateConfig();
        self::getBusinessIdentity($config);
    }
}

// Run the script
$sample = new GetBusinessIdentitySample();
$sample->callSample();

GetBusinessIdentitySample.php

Python

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# Copyright 2025 Google LLC
#
# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
# You may obtain a copy of the License at
#
#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
#
# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
# limitations under the License.
"""A module to get BusinessIdentity."""

from examples.authentication import configuration
from examples.authentication import generate_user_credentials
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import BusinessIdentityServiceClient
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import GetBusinessIdentityRequest

_ACCOUNT = configuration.Configuration().read_merchant_info()


def get_business_identity():
  """Gets the business identity of a Merchant Center account."""

  # Gets OAuth Credentials.
  credentials = generate_user_credentials.main()

  # Creates a client.
  client = BusinessIdentityServiceClient(credentials=credentials)

  # Creates BusinessIdentity name to identify the BusinessIdentity.
  name = "accounts/" + _ACCOUNT + "/businessIdentity"

  # Creates the request.
  request = GetBusinessIdentityRequest(name=name)

  # Makes the request and catches and prints any error messages.
  try:
    response = client.get_business_identity(request=request)
    print("Retrieved BusinessIdentity below")
    print(response)
  except RuntimeError as e:
    print(e)


if __name__ == "__main__":
  get_business_identity()

get_business_identity_sample.py

Update your business identity

To update the business identity of your account, use the updateBusinessIdentity method.

Here's a sample request:

PATCH https://merchantapi.googleapis.com/accounts/v1beta/accounts/{ACCOUNT_ID}/businessIdentity?updateMask=latinoOwned%2CveteranOwned

{
  "latinoOwned": {
    "identityDeclaration": "SELF_IDENTIFIES_AS"
  },
  "veteranOwned": {
    "identityDeclaration": "DOES_NOT_SELF_IDENTIFY_AS"
  }
}

Here's a sample response from a successful call:

{
  "name": "accounts/{ACCOUNT_ID}/businessIdentity",
  "blackOwned": {
    "identityDeclaration": "SELF_IDENTIFIES_AS"
  },
  "veteranOwned": {
    "identityDeclaration": "DOES_NOT_SELF_IDENTIFY_AS"
  },
  "latinoOwned": {
    "identityDeclaration": "SELF_IDENTIFIES_AS"
  }
}

Here's a sample you can use to update the business identity for a given account using the client libraries:

Java

// Copyright 2024 Google LLC
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
//     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.

package shopping.merchant.samples.accounts.businessidentities.v1beta;
import com.google.api.gax.core.FixedCredentialsProvider;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import com.google.protobuf.FieldMask;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.BusinessIdentity;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.BusinessIdentityName;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.BusinessIdentityServiceClient;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.BusinessIdentityServiceSettings;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.UpdateBusinessIdentityRequest;
import shopping.merchant.samples.utils.Authenticator;
import shopping.merchant.samples.utils.Config;

/** This class demonstrates how to update a business identity. */
public class UpdateBusinessIdentitySample {

  public static void updateBusinessIdentity(Config config) throws Exception {

    GoogleCredentials credential = new Authenticator().authenticate();

    BusinessIdentityServiceSettings businessIdentityServiceSettings =
        BusinessIdentityServiceSettings.newBuilder()
            .setCredentialsProvider(FixedCredentialsProvider.create(credential))
            .build();

    // Creates BusinessIdentity name to identify BusinessIdentity.
    String name =
        BusinessIdentityName.newBuilder()
            .setAccount(config.getAccountId().toString())
            .build()
            .toString();

    // Create a BusinessIdentity with the updated fields.
    BusinessIdentity businessIdentity =
        BusinessIdentity.newBuilder()
            .setName(name)
            .setSmallBusiness(
                BusinessIdentity.IdentityAttribute.newBuilder()
                    .setIdentityDeclaration(
                        BusinessIdentity.IdentityAttribute.IdentityDeclaration.SELF_IDENTIFIES_AS)
                    .build())
            .build();

    FieldMask fieldMask = FieldMask.newBuilder().addPaths("small_business").build();

    try (BusinessIdentityServiceClient businessIdentityServiceClient =
        BusinessIdentityServiceClient.create(businessIdentityServiceSettings)) {

      UpdateBusinessIdentityRequest request =
          UpdateBusinessIdentityRequest.newBuilder()
              .setBusinessIdentity(businessIdentity)
              .setUpdateMask(fieldMask)
              .build();

      System.out.println("Sending Update BusinessIdentity request");
      BusinessIdentity response = businessIdentityServiceClient.updateBusinessIdentity(request);
      System.out.println("Updated BusinessIdentity below");
      System.out.println(response);
    } catch (Exception e) {
      System.out.println(e);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    Config config = Config.load();

    updateBusinessIdentity(config);
  }
}
UpdateBusinessIdentitySample.java

PHP

<?php
/**
 * Copyright 2025 Google LLC
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
require_once __DIR__ . '/../../../../vendor/autoload.php';
require_once __DIR__ . '/../../../Authentication/Authentication.php';
require_once __DIR__ . '/../../../Authentication/Config.php';
use Google\ApiCore\ApiException;
use Google\Protobuf\FieldMask;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\BusinessIdentity;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\Client\BusinessIdentityServiceClient;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\UpdateBusinessIdentityRequest;

/**
 * This class demonstrates how to update a business identity.
 */
class UpdateBusinessIdentitySample
{

    /**
     * Updates the business identity for the given Merchant Center account.
     *
     * @param array $config The configuration data containing the account ID.
     * @return void
     */
    public static function updateBusinessIdentity($config)
    {
        // Gets the OAuth credentials to make the request.
        $credentials = Authentication::useServiceAccountOrTokenFile();

        // Creates options config containing credentials for the client to use.
        $options = ['credentials' => $credentials];

        // Creates a client.
        $businessIdentityServiceClient = new BusinessIdentityServiceClient($options);

        // Creates BusinessIdentity name to identify the BusinessIdentity.
        // The name has the format: accounts/{account}/businessIdentity
        $name = "accounts/" . $config['accountId'] . "/businessIdentity";

        // Create a BusinessIdentity with the updated fields.
        $businessIdentity = (new BusinessIdentity())
            ->setName($name)
            ->setSmallBusiness(
                (new BusinessIdentity\IdentityAttribute())
                    ->setIdentityDeclaration(
                        BusinessIdentity\IdentityAttribute\IdentityDeclaration::SELF_IDENTIFIES_AS
                    )
            );

        $fieldMask = (new FieldMask())
            ->setPaths(['small_business']);

        try {
            $request = (new UpdateBusinessIdentityRequest())
                ->setBusinessIdentity($businessIdentity)
                ->setUpdateMask($fieldMask);

            print "Sending Update BusinessIdentity request\n";
            $response = $businessIdentityServiceClient->updateBusinessIdentity($request);
            print "Updated BusinessIdentity below\n";
            print_r($response);
        } catch (ApiException $e) {
            print $e->getMessage();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Helper to execute the sample.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function callSample(): void
    {
        $config = Config::generateConfig();
        self::updateBusinessIdentity($config);
    }
}

// Run the script
$sample = new UpdateBusinessIdentitySample();
$sample->callSample();
UpdateBusinessIdentitySample.php

Python

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# Copyright 2025 Google LLC
#
# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
# You may obtain a copy of the License at
#
#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
#
# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
# limitations under the License.
"""A module to update BusinessIdentity."""

from examples.authentication import configuration
from examples.authentication import generate_user_credentials
from google.protobuf import field_mask_pb2
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import BusinessIdentity
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import BusinessIdentityServiceClient
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import UpdateBusinessIdentityRequest

_ACCOUNT = configuration.Configuration().read_merchant_info()


def update_business_identity():
  """Updates a business identity of a Merchant Center account."""

  credentials = generate_user_credentials.main()

  client = BusinessIdentityServiceClient(credentials=credentials)

  # Creates BusinessIdentity name to identify BusinessIdentity.
  name = "accounts/" + _ACCOUNT + "/businessIdentity"

  # Create a BusinessIdentity with the updated fields.
  business_identity = BusinessIdentity(
      name=name,
      small_business=BusinessIdentity.IdentityAttribute(
          identity_declaration=BusinessIdentity.IdentityAttribute.IdentityDeclaration.SELF_IDENTIFIES_AS,
      ),
  )

  field_mask = field_mask_pb2.FieldMask(paths=["small_business"])

  request = UpdateBusinessIdentityRequest(
      business_identity=business_identity, update_mask=field_mask
  )

  try:
    response = client.update_business_identity(request=request)
    print("Updated BusinessIdentity below")
    print(response)
  except RuntimeError as e:
    print(e)


if __name__ == "__main__":
  update_business_identity()

update_business_identity_sample.py