Manage verification

Providers who offer listing management directly on their platform can verify a merchant's business within their site. This eliminates the need to redirect the merchant into the Google My Business UI.

The following image provides an overview of the verification process:

Figure 1: Swimlane diagram of Google My Business location verification

Get current verification state

Users can call accounts.locations.get on a location to retrieve its current status. If the location.LocationState.isVerified boolean is true, then the location is already verified. Otherwise, use the steps in the following sections to verify the location.

Fetch verification options

Providers can use the accounts.locations.fetchVerificationOptions method platform to prompt merchants to choose a preferred contact method from a list of available verification methods.

Note: Verification methods vary due to language and regional differences.

To fetch the verification options, use the following:

HTTP

POST
https://mybusiness.googleapis.com/v4/accounts/{accountId}/locations/{locationId}
:fetchVerificationOptions

{
  "languageCode": "en"
}

Initiate the verification process

After a verification method is chosen, accounts.locations.verify is used to initiate the verification process. As a result of this call, the location moves to a verified state or an error status is returned.

An attempt to verify a new location when a location already exists returns an error and might initiate the ownership resolution process.

HTTP

POST
https://mybusiness.googleapis.com/v4/accounts/{accountId}/locations/{locationId}
:verify

// Use only one of the below verification methods

// For postcard verification:
{
  "method": "ADDRESS",
  "languageCode": "en",
  "addressInput": {
    "mailerContactName": "Ann Droyd"
  }
}

// For phone verification:
{
  "method": "PHONE_CALL",
  "languageCode": "en",
  "phoneInput": {
    "phoneNumber": "800-555-0136"
  }
}

// For SMS verification:
{
  "method": "SMS",
  "languageCode": "en",
  "phoneInput": {
    "phoneNumber": "800-555-0136"
  },
}

// For email verification:
{
  "method": "EMAIL",
  "languageCode": "en",
  "emailInput": {
    "emailAddress": "[e-mail]"
  },
}

Retrieve current verifications

The accounts.locations.verifications call retrieves the current verification state and history for the location specified in the call.

To retrieve the current verifications, use the following:

HTTP

GET
https://mybusiness.googleapis.com/v4/accounts/{accountId}/locations/{locationId}
/verifications

Complete a pending verification

Sometimes, a PIN code and the accounts.locations.verifications.complete method are required to complete the verification of a business.

To complete a pending verification, use the following:

HTTP

POST
https://mybusiness.googleapis.com/v4/accounts/{accountId}/locations/{locationId}
/verifications/{verificationId}:complete

{
  "pin": "123456"
}