I probably get 3-4 calls a week and I know my clients get these calls as well. The gist of it is that the caller either works for Google or is a Google agency and your business listing is unclaimed. Well, first of all, I can tell you that Google is not calling millions of businesses to help them claim their listing - BIG RED FLAG. BUT you can have Google call you if you need help claiming your business. Here's some advice on checking your own listing so you don't get scammed.
First of all, your business listing on Google probably is not claimed - that's why you got the call. That part may be true. However you do not have to shell out any money to fix it. Here's how you can find out if your listing exists, if it is claimed, how you can verify it (claim it), and how you can know that your listing is working.
The short answer to the above is call us: 937-471-6277. For local Dayton businesses, we will do this for free (and for a small fee of $25 for businesses outside of the Dayton local market).
1. Find your listing.
If you want to see if your business is on Google MAPS, all you need to do is go to www.google.com/maps and search for your business. If you have a common business name, try adding location modifiers to the search (or your phone number).
2. If you're convinced that you don't even have a listing for your business, you can start here: www.google.com/mybusiness and just set yourself up. That Google site will walk you through the process. NOTE: if this is the first time your business has been listed, very likely Google will want to send you a Postcard with a verification PIN CODE. It looks like junk mail! If you miss it, you will have to get it sent again. It can take 1-2 weeks for this mail to arrive.
3. If you have a listing but you can't access it to edit and make changes there may be a couple of possibilities. First, make sure someone else in the office didn't create it. If they did, they should be able to give you the account login to access it. Second, of nobody in the office set it up, it's quite common for someone like Hibu (Yellowbook) to have set it up on your behalf (without ever giving you the access). Try to contact your local marketing agencies that might have set it up. If they did set it up, they should be able to provide login access.
4. Once you can login to the listing, you will see at the top of the page a message that the listing is not verified. (If you don't see the message, you're OK). If the listing is not verified, then you have two choices.
First Choice: Make sure the physical address is correct and follow the prompts to resend the verification.
Second Choice: Click THIS LINK and have Google call you. YES! Google does have phone support. It's just not easy to find. This is almost always the option we take when verifying listings for our clients.
If you are still having issues with Google verification on your Business Listing page, feel free to either call us at 937-471-6277 or send me an email at info@50bubbles.com and we'll help you out any way we can.