A Nepali business asked Google this in 2021, and the thread is locked
On 26 October 2021 an account posting as Khadka Nursery opened a thread in the Google Business Profile Community: “Verify Business listing as we do not have email or phone verification option available in Nepal”. The body was one sentence: “I am trying to verify my business listing but we only have postal verification which never gets through.”
A Product Expert answered within half an hour, and the substance has not changed since: “You cannot pick and choose the verification method you want. You can only use the options that Google provides.” He added that postcards “usually take about 2 weeks to arrive” and pointed to the contact form for a replacement. Then the thread was locked.
I am not offering it as proof of how widespread the problem is; five people clicked “I have the same question”, which settles nothing. It is a dated, public record of a Nepali owner left with one method and no way to change it. What has changed since is that self-serve video verification now exists, and it is the way out of that corner.
What you can change before you press Verify
You do not pick your method. Google states that verification methods “are automatically determined by Google and can’t be changed”, and that what appears “depend[s] on your business type, public info, region, or business hours”. I have set out what each method involves in my Google Business Profile guide. This page is about what decides your outcome: what you fix before submitting, and what to do when it fails.
Region is one input of four, and the only one you cannot touch. The other three you can:
- Business type. Storefront or service-area is a real fork, not a formality, and choosing wrong is the most common self-inflicted failure I get called about.
- Public info. The profile, the board and your Facebook page should carry one name. Make a reviewer decide whether three spellings are the same business and you have handed them a reason to say no.
- Business hours. Put in real ones. Live video call verification, where offered, runs “only within the business hours of your location” — invented hours become hours you must be reachable.
Video verification: what to film, and in what order
Where you are eligible, Google is direct: “If your business is eligible for video verification, we recommend that you use this option.” It is the only method that does not depend on the post. The rules, from Google’s documentation:
- Captured live — “pre-recorded videos aren’t allowed”, and you cannot film offline and upload later.
- Unedited, unique and complete, with no breaks, and at least 30 seconds long.
- Recorded and uploaded from a mobile device, through your Business Profile.
- No bank, tax or ID numbers on screen, no private information, no other people’s faces.
That last rule catches shopkeepers out: a New Road or Asan frontage at eleven in the morning puts a dozen strangers in shot. Record early, before you open.
Google wants three things from a storefront in one unbroken take, in this order:
- Where you are. Start at the road — street signs, building numbers, a recognisable landmark.
- That the business exists. Walk to your door and hold steady on the signboard.
- That you manage it. Go inside and do something only staff can do: open the till, get into the store room.
Review takes up to five business days. If it fails, tap Review issues on your phone: Google names the reason, and its published examples are “Business name not visible on storefront”, “No nearby area shown” and “Missing proof of authorization to operate the business”.
The signboard problem: Devanagari boards, romanised profile names
Google’s wording is exact: your name must be “clearly printed on a permanent fixture, like a signboard, wall, or window”, and “the name shown in your video must match the name on your Business Profile”.
Here is the Nepal-specific trouble. Many shops in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Birgunj carry a board painted in Devanagari only, while the profile was typed in romanised English. A reviewer comparing the two may not call it a match.
Two honest fixes, using your real trading name in both: rename the profile to exactly what is painted on the board, or add the romanised name to the board before filming.
The other local trap is rented, brand-painted signage — a Coca-Cola or Ncell shutter with your name squeezed into a corner. Move any hanging stock and film it close.
No permanent signboard? You are a service-area business
Google is unambiguous: “If your business doesn’t have permanent on-site signage, list it as a service-area business instead of storefront.” Storefront is the default nearly everyone clicks, and clicking it without a permanent board fails the video on a rule you never read.
If you work from a flat in Baluwatar or the family house in Bhaktapur and customers do not come to you, you are a service-area business. Google makes a specific allowance: run one from home and “you can record landmarks and signs in your immediate neighborhood to verify the address”. A ward office board, a school gate, a named tole marker all work.
For proof, Google accepts tools, workspace, branded clothing and “a business permit, invoice, or utility bill that matches the name on your Business Profile” — in Nepal, your PAN or VAT certificate, ward office registration, or an NEA bill.
If you sell only through Facebook or Instagram and never serve anyone in person, Google says you are “not eligible for a Business Profile and can’t be verified”.
If Google offers you a postcard
Postcard verification is still documented, though Google notes it “isn’t available for all businesses”. If it is what you are given, treat the calendar as the opponent: the code is five digits, most arrive within 14 days, and all expire after 30.
Now Nepal’s side of that arithmetic. The Kathmandu Post reported on 7 June 2026 that a package sent from Salyan to Kathmandu “may take between seven and fifteen days to arrive”, while private courier companies “often complete the same journey within two days”. The same report notes that on 3 June the District Post Office in Chitwan posted a Facebook notice seeking a recipient whose letter could not be delivered at the listed address.
Be precise about what that proves. Not that Google postcards fail here — nobody publishes that figure — only that the last mile is slow and incomplete addresses are ordinary. Against a 30-day expiry, the margin is thin.
Two of Google’s own rules quietly destroy attempts:
- Do not edit your business name, address or category while a code is in the post — the card travelling towards you stops working.
- Do not request a second code out of impatience. It invalidates the one in transit and restarts the wait.
If more than two weeks have passed, use the support contact form: pick Verification, then “Postcard didn’t arrive”, and reply to the email that comes back.
Write the address the way a Nepali postman reads it
Fix the address field before you request anything. A Nepali address routes on the tole and ward number, then municipality, then district — “Baneshwor, Ward No. 10, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Kathmandu”. Leave the ward number out and you have deleted the part a local postman uses to find you. The postcode matters far less than owners think, and Nepal has two schemes in circulation at once; which code belongs in that field is covered in my GBP guide.
Nobody should ever ask you for your verification code
Google’s verification page carries three lines every Nepali owner should read twice: keep the code secure, “Google will never ask for your verification code”, and do not share it with anyone, “even with those who manage your Business Profile”.
That last clause includes me, and any agency offering to get you verified. The right way to help is to be added as a manager after verification, never to hold your code before it.
If you are properly stuck — video rejected twice, no card, no phone or email option — escalate through Google’s support contact form, and have ready your registration or PAN document in the profile’s exact name, a utility bill for the same address, and photographs of your signboard.
Frequently asked questions
What I would do first
If I picked up your profile tomorrow, this is the order. Fix the address, ward number included. Make the business name match the board. Set genuine opening hours. Then open the profile on a phone, see what Google offers, and take it.
The failures I get called about are rarely bad luck: no ward number, a name that does not match the signboard, or an owner who edited something while a card was in the post. Verification is only the start — the work after it is local SEO.