GOOGLE MY BUSINESS VERIFICATION

The What:
When you verify your practice with Google My Business, this means that you can now control the way your information appears on Google—this includes your hours, phone number, photos and more. As long as you are a representative of your hospital, you can verify—or in other words, 'claim,' your listing.

Depending on your eligibility, there are several ways you can be verified, such as a phone call, email, snail mail or through immediate verification. What we have seen before is an unverified practice that has not updated their Google listing, therefore something as elementary as their holiday hours are not accurate. This is where you will see Google stating, 'These hours may vary depending on holidays.' With a verified Google listing, you can edit your hours and let clients know what your holiday hours or closures may be, instead of leaving them—and Google—guessing.

The How:
How to verify your Google listing: If your hospital is eligible to be verified by phone, you’ll see the 'Verify by phone' option when you request verification. From there, sign in to Google My Business and click 'Verify now,' which will call your hospital and give you a verification code. Now enter the code from the message.

If you’re eligible to be verified by email, first make sure you can access the email address shown in the verification screen. Now go to Google My Business and click 'Verify now' then click 'Email' from the list of verification options. You will be sent an email, and in this email click the 'Verify' button.

To verify your business listing by snail mail, sign in to Google My Business. Then, on the postcard request screen, check if your address is correct. If it isn’t, edit the address before requesting your letter. Now click 'Send postcard.' Check the mail for your postcard which should arrive within 14 days. This postcard will contain a Google Verification code. On your Google My Business account, click the 'Verify now' button then enter your code in the code field.