What does Google check for the Google Verified badge?
Background, registration, state license and insurance checks, often for select advertisers only. Towing needs more. About 3 to 4 weeks after documents.
What is the Google Verified badge?
Google Verified is the one badge Google now gives every Local Services Ads advertiser that passes its screening and verification. Google checks the business and its owner, the business registration, state licenses where local law requires them, and insurance. New advertisers get the badge once they meet all the verification requirements. Advertisers who already finished verification get it automatically and do not need to do anything. Google also says the change does not affect how Local Services Ads rank. Everything on this page comes from two Local Services help pages we read on October 19, 2026: Business screening and verification requirements and About Google Verified badge. They describe the US rules.
What happened to the Google Guarantee?
Google says it is discontinuing the Money Back Guarantee that came with the old Google Guarantee badge. Customers who booked a service through Local Services Ads before December 7, 2025 could still ask for a reimbursement within 30 days of the job being finished. In place of a guarantee, Google says it will call out the relevant verifications on each verified profile, so a customer can see what was checked before calling you.
What does Google check for most home service businesses?
For house cleaning, junk removal, moving, roofing, plumbers, pest control and landscaping services, Google's help page lists the same four groups of checks. Background: a check on the business and a check on the owner. Business registration: a check on the business and on a business representative. License: a state-level business license and a state-level owner license, where local law requires one. Insurance: general liability insurance. Plumbers get one extra layer: Google says plumbing professionals go through additional screening, including background checks on the service professionals themselves.
What does "select users only" mean?
Almost every item on Google's list carries that note. The page says the background, registration and insurance checks are required only for select users, unless it states otherwise for a category. It does not say how Google picks them. So do not assume you will be skipped: have the paperwork ready in case your account is one of those asked.
Why do towing companies have more to show?
Towing is the one category on the page with a longer insurance list. Besides the same background, registration and license checks, a towing business may be asked for general liability, professional liability, garage keepers liability, cargo liability, on-hook insurance and on-hook limit insurance. Google marks garage keepers and on-hook insurance as applying where local law requires them. If you run a tow truck, ask your insurance agent for each of those certificates before you start, so one missing document does not hold the rest up.
How long does verification take?
Google says the process takes 3 to 4 weeks on average after you submit your documents, and recommends starting as soon as you create your Local Services Ads account. The requirements can include your identity, your business registration, your licenses and a verified Google Business Profile. That last one is worth doing first, because it is free and you need it anyway to show up on Google Maps. Our guides on storefront or service-area profiles and verifying a profile with a video walk through it.
Where does a website fit in?
The badge sits on your ads profile. A customer who wants to know more still looks for your name, and a website is where you show your services, the towns you cover, photos of real jobs and a way to call or request a quote. Our package is $399 one time: six pages on your own .com, a logo, Google Business Profile setup and the first year of hosting, then $150 a year. We build a free preview first and you pay only if you approve it. We cannot pass Google's screening for you, and Google alone decides who gets the badge. See pricing.
Questions
Is the Google Guarantee badge still available?
Google says it is moving to a single Google Verified badge for all Local Services Ads advertisers and is discontinuing the Money Back Guarantee.
How long does Google Local Services verification take?
Google says 3 to 4 weeks on average after you submit your documents.
What insurance does Google ask a towing company for?
General liability, professional liability, garage keepers liability, cargo liability, on-hook and on-hook limit insurance, mostly for select advertisers and some only where local law requires it.
Do existing advertisers need to do anything to get Google Verified?
No. Google says advertisers who already completed verification get the badge automatically.
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