What is the Best Way to Verify a Business with Multiple Professionals?

In some cases, your client might have different professionals working in the same building. How do you verify your client in Google?

Video transcript:

David: Tim asks what nuances or things to consider for real estate agents verifying their Google Business Profile with an office building that has multiple realtors. I remember parts of this discussion from before, but since I’m about to do this for a client, I thought I’d get a refresher.

Tricia: Yes. I have lots of good tips on that. So, real estate agents, the way they work a lot of times is there’s the office, and all of them, basically have their Google Business Profile at their office. That’s not a good place to verify it because the way Google works is, let’s say you have ten agents working out of one office, and they’re all listed on Google as realtors or real estate agents. I can’t remember the exact category.

David: Well, that’s a difference. There’s a legal distinction between the two.

Tricia: Yeah. So, whatever they’re listed as, they probably all have that same primary category. What happens is when somebody is searching, they’re going to get filtered out. So, if you just got a profile set up and you don’t have many reviews, you’re probably not going to show up. And you want to show up. So what you need to do is not verify at that business location. Verify it as a service area business at their home, and hide their address.

David: Okay.

Tricia: And that will help because the service area that they show, they kind of center that around where you verify. So basically, their home address isn’t going to be shown, but when they show up, the service area will be close to their home. So that is tricky. It depends on whether the agent lives in their service area. Usually, it’s yes.

David: Right.

Tricia: If not, that can be a problem. But otherwise, if there are ten real estate agents in the main primary category, then they’re going to get filtered out, and only the top few are going to show when they’re in there. So, it really depends on the primary category as far as who’s going to show. So, don’t verify it at that office.

David: That’s interesting. Because I was reading for a doctor’s office that it’s totally acceptable to have an office listing and then have multiple doctors verified at that business.

Tricia: Yes. And that’s actually one that I’m working on soon, one with doctors in a doctor’s office. So, with that, it is a little bit different. And the main reason is, for realtors, when you think about it, most realtors, while they have that office, and they may go there, they’re not typically sitting at that desk every day. They generally have a home office, but they go out, and they show clients homes. So, they’re typically not tied to that office five, seven days a week, or whatever it is.

David: Right. Right.

Tricia: Now doctors, though, most doctors don’t do house calls.

David: Right.

Tricia: So, you are actually going to go there to see them. So, for a doctor, yes, they should be verified at the primary location where they see patients. And the one way to differentiate those would be the primary category.

David: Okay. So, there’s a category for medical office?

Tricia: Yes. I haven’t looked all of them up recently. I think it’s like the specialties and all of that, as far as what type of doctor. Again, I haven’t looked at the primary categories, but there’s probably something with just “doctor.” I would say not to have that; instead, have their specialty, and there are a ton of those. And they’re constantly updating, removing, and adding. So, you have to watch that. But yeah, definitely take a look at that. That’s actually one that I’ve got coming up this week that I’m going to be working on. They can be really tricky because you’ve got so many doctors at the same location, and you really need to have somebody that has it consistent and not a bunch of things on there that are inconsistent.

David: Right. Right. Yep. Alright. Well, there you go. There’s your answer, Tim.

Tricia: And Tim, if you watch this and have further questions, just reach out to me since you’re not here. If you have anything else that I did not mention, let me know. But that is something with real estate agents that I’ve actually had come up and dealt with.

David: Well, that makes a lot of sense because, you know, let the office be the building, the location. But you, as an agent, can have a profile that’s a service area. You can still take reviews at that profile. You could still list updates and stuff like that, but you don’t really need to have… You know, you’re mobile. Your office is your car.

Tricia: Exactly. But a lot of people are like, I want the pin on the map. Well, if having a pin on the map means you don’t get found because you’re filtered out, what good does it do you?

David: Right.

Tricia: So, in that instance, the pin on the map is not going to help you.

David: Right. And that I think that’s important with a lot of things because people get obsessed with a detail and they don’t understand the bigger marketing picture. That pin in the map sounds great. But maybe that’s not the best way to reach customers. I’m the marketing professional, let me give you good advice. Don’t dictate tactics to me.

Tricia: Yes. Now the one instance where I might say, yeah, that would be good to have a pin on the map is if that realtor has a gazillion reviews, and none of the other realtors at the location come near them, then they will probably be the one not filtered out. And hey, you know, I would probably leave that if they’re doing well. I wouldn’t change their address if they’re showing up. It’s important, especially if you’re starting with a new profile, that you kind of look and see what’s there at that location. Because a lot of times, a lot of real estate agents just do it at the office, and you’ll look, and there will be tons of them there, but when you’re searching, they’re not showing up.  

David: So, the advice you’re giving is really for new agents to start that way. If you’re an existing agent, what if you know you could get a lot of reviews that are legitimate reviews, as we’ve talked about?

Tricia: Sure. So, I would say it depends because Google may see it as a trigger if you have a ton of reviews just come in. So, you definitely don’t want to do that. The one thing is if you are an agent and you are already verified there, but there are other agents that have tons more reviews than you, and you are not going to reach that, and you’re not getting found, change your address to your home address and clear it as a service area business. I would definitely recommend that if you are at a listing with a ton of other agents and you know you’re not going to come near them for reviews anytime soon, I would change it.

David: Okay.

Tricia: Yeah. Yeah, it could definitely help your business.

David: Good. Okay.