How to Get Your Business on Google Maps in Riyadh (2026 Guide)

When someone searches for "laundry near me" or "AC repair in Al Narjis", Google Maps results often appear before any website. If your business isn't on the map, or it's there but unverified, that customer goes to someone who is. The good news is that you can get your business on Google Maps for free, in three moves: create or claim your Google Business Profile, choose the right business type and address, then verify it.

This guide takes business owners in Riyadh and across Saudi Arabia through each step, using Google's own help centre as the source. It covers every verification method and what to do when one fails, how your Saudi National Address fits in, the Arabic and English name rules, how to fix duplicate and suspended profiles, and a plan for your first 7 days after verification.

What do you need before you start?

Have five things ready before you open the sign-up page. Missing just one is enough to stall or delay verification.

• A Google Account owned by the business owner. Any email address works, including a company one. But don't let an employee or an agency own the profile. Google requires anyone managing a profile for you to act with your consent, and to encourage you to own the profile and add them as a manager.
• Your real business name, exactly as it appears on your sign, website and stationery.
• Your National Address details for the premises: building number, street, district, city, postal code and secondary number.
• A phone number you answer yourself. Verification codes can't reach automated answering systems (IVR).
• A phone with a good camera and connection. If video verification is offered, you record and upload it from your phone.

How do you add your business to Google Maps or claim an existing listing?

Start by searching for your business name and city on Google Maps, because a listing may already exist. Google builds listings from several sources, including information that users add. You'll be in one of three situations.

Situation 1: your business isn't listed

1. Go to business.google.com/add, signed in as the owner.
2. Choose to add your business to Google, then enter the name, category, address or service area and phone number as prompted.
3. Select the verification option you're offered and follow the steps.

Situation 2: the listing exists but isn't verified

Open it in Google Maps on a computer or in the app, select Claim this business, then Manage now, and pick a verification option. Don't create a new listing next to it: it would count as a duplicate.

Situation 3: someone else has verified it

This can happen when a former employee or an old agency set it up. Go to business.google.com/add, enter the name and address, choose your business, select Request access and fill in the form. The current owner is emailed and has 3 days to respond:

• If they approve, you can manage the profile.
• If they deny, you can appeal the decision or suggest an edit to the listing.
• If they don't reply, you may be able to claim and verify the profile from your confirmation email. That option isn't always available.

For a service-area business with no premises that customers visit, Google asks you to contact its support team to transfer ownership.

Is your business a storefront, a service-area business or a hybrid?

This is the first decision that shapes verification, because Google asks for different proof for each type. The deciding question: do customers come to your address during opening hours, do you go to them, or both?

Four of Google's rules matter before you choose:

• If your premises have no permanent sign with your business name, list it as a service-area business, not a storefront.
• A hybrid's premises must be staffed by your team and able to receive customers during the stated hours.
• A virtual office, rented as an address only, doesn't qualify. If your Commercial Registration uses a virtual office, don't use that address on Google. A co-working office qualifies only if it has clear signage, receives customers and is staffed by your team during business hours.
• Online-only businesses, such as an e-commerce store that never meets customers in person, aren't eligible and can't be verified. Nor is an address that is a P.O. box.

How should you enter your address, and where does the National Address fit?

Enter your full, precise address from your National Address details, and place the pin on your actual premises. The National Address is Saudi Arabia's official addressing system, provided free by SPL (Saudi Post), and it has six parts (SPL: National Address):

• Building number: 4 digits that identify the building.
• Street: the street where the building's main entrance is.
• District where the building stands.
• City.
• Postal code: 5 digits.
• Secondary number: 4 digits that pinpoint the building's exact location, useful where there's no street or district name.

There's also a short address of 4 letters and 4 numbers, which you can find in SPL Online, Tawakkalna or Absher. It's handy for customers and couriers, but Google's guidelines ask for a complete street address.

How do you transfer your National Address to your profile?

1. Put the building number and street name in address line 1.
2. Put any office, unit or floor number in address line 2.
3. Complete the district, city and postal code as the form asks.
4. If Google can't find your address, select Adjust and move the pin onto your business.

Don't write directions such as "opposite the park" or "next to the pharmacy" in the address lines. Google allows nearby landmarks only where the official address doesn't pinpoint the location, and bans keywords and URLs in address lines.

A service-area business hides its address and adds service areas instead: up to 20, set by city, postal code or another area, not as a radius around your base. The overall area shouldn't extend beyond about 2 hours' drive from where you're based. If you work out of north Riyadh, choose the areas you actually reach, not the whole Kingdom.

Tip: if your building has a National Address plate, include it in your verification video, because Google asks you to show building numbers or street signs. SPL offers a service to request the plate.

Which verification methods does Google offer, and which should you use?

You don't pick the method. Google chooses the options automatically, based on your business type, public information, region and opening hours, and you can't change them. You may need more than one. If video is offered, Google itself recommends it (Google: Verify your business on Google).

Once you complete the steps, Google reviews your details, which takes up to 5 business days and occasionally longer. You'll get a confirmation email when you're verified. In some cases verification is instant, for example when your website is already verified in Google Search Console.

Warning: never share your verification code, not even with whoever manages your profile. Google states it will never ask you for the code, so anyone asking for it in Google's name isn't Google.

How do you record a verification video that passes first time?

Google's video rules are strict but clear (Google: Verify your business with a video recording):

• One continuous, unedited clip of at least 30 seconds.
• Captured live and uploaded from your phone through your profile. Pre-recorded videos aren't accepted.
• No bank account, tax or ID numbers, no private information, and no other people's faces.

Plan the clip before you press record, and make sure it covers three things:

1. Location: a street sign, the building number, neighbouring shops or a well-known nearby landmark.
2. Proof the business exists: your permanent sign, and the name on it must match your profile. A service-area business shows its tools and equipment, or a branded vehicle.
3. Proof you manage it: something only staff can reach, such as opening the cash drawer, using the point-of-sale system, or walking into the kitchen or storeroom. For a service-area business: performing a service, or unlocking a branded van.

A Saudi-specific warning: tax invoices carry your VAT number. If you need to show an invoice or document with your business name, cover the VAT number and any ID numbers before filming.

What should you do when verification fails?

First, don't create a new profile. Read what your profile is telling you, because each message has a different fix:

If you keep getting rejected, check eligibility before trying again. Do your premises have a permanent sign? Is your address a virtual office? Did you choose the right business type? Does your profile name match your sign? If all of that is right and you've tried every method offered, contact Google support. Google suggests trying the available methods first, because it makes helping you easier.

What are the rules for Arabic and English business names?

Your name on Google is your real-world name, the one customers know and that appears consistently on your sign, website and stationery. Google warns that adding unnecessary information to the name can get the profile suspended (Google: Guidelines for representing your business).

That isn't necessarily the legal name on your Commercial Registration. If your CR reads "... Company LLC" but your sign shows only the trade name, use the name on the sign. Legal terms such as LLC are allowed only if you can prove they consistently appear as part of your name on signage, business cards and invoices.

Your name must not include:

• Marketing taglines such as "the best" or "the fastest".
• Services or products that aren't part of your real name.
• Location descriptions such as "near Exit 5".
• Phone numbers or website addresses.
• Opening hours, such as "open 24 hours".
• Special characters, or English words written entirely in capitals.

The names in the table are illustrative examples.

What if your sign shows the name in both Arabic and English?

Google doesn't allow the same name repeated in two languages or scripts, even if your storefront sign shows it that way. Pick one version: the one most prominent on your sign and most used on your website and social accounts. Because the verification video requires the name on your profile to match the name on your sign, choose a version that is actually on the sign.

If you have branches, all of them in the Kingdom should use the same name, without the district added, unless a branch's sign consistently shows a different name. And remember that changing your name after verification may mean verifying again.

How do you deal with duplicate and suspended profiles?

Google's rule is one profile per business per location. A profile Google treats as a duplicate doesn't show on Search or Maps.

Duplicate profiles

• You created a duplicate by mistake: remove it from your account. Removal deletes all its content and managers, so make sure you remove the duplicate, not the verified one.
• Two listings for your business on Maps: request a merge by suggesting an edit in Google Maps. Merging combines the reviews, but your replies may be lost.
• You moved: update the address on your existing profile rather than creating a new one. You'll need to verify again.
• You offer several services: list them in the services section of one profile, not one profile per service.
• Two different businesses at one address: each can have a profile if they have different names and clearly separate signage.

Suspended profiles

Google suspends profiles that break its guidelines. Don't create a new profile for the same business. Work through it in this order (Google: Fix suspended or disabled profiles):

1. Open the Business Profile appeals tool to see the decision date, the reason, the policy breached and whether it can be appealed.
2. Fix the problem first, whether it's the name, the address or the business type.
3. Attach evidence whose name and address exactly match your profile, such as your CR, your business licence, your VAT registration certificate, and electricity, water, phone or internet bills.
4. Submit carefully, because an appeal can only be submitted once. If it's denied, you can request an additional review with evidence you didn't include before.

If the restriction is on your whole Google Account rather than one profile, appeal the account first, then the profile once the restriction is lifted.

What should you do in the first 7 days after verification?

Once the confirmation email arrives, the profile is yours to manage, and the first week decides whether it stays stable. Here's a day-by-day plan built on Google's rules:

1. Day 1, check every detail: name, address and pin, business type, primary category, phone and website (the full URL with https://). Google reviews each edit; most show within about 10 minutes, but some take up to 30 days.
2. Day 2, sort out access: add your partner, staff or agency as managers, each with their own Google Account, instead of sharing your password. Note that a new owner can't delete the profile, remove owners or managers, or transfer primary ownership during their first 7 days.
3. Day 3, opening hours: enter the hours you actually serve customers, and add special hours for official occasions such as Eid and National Day, even if your hours don't change. During Ramadan, switch your regular hours for the month and change them back afterwards, since special hours are meant for short changes.
4. Day 4, description and services: write up to 750 characters on what you offer, what sets you apart and how long you've been operating, with no links, offers or prices. Then add your services.
5. Day 5, photos: start with an exterior shot, which helps customers recognise you when they arrive, then add interior and product photos.
6. Day 6, contact numbers: you can add up to 2 numbers beyond your main one, all under your business's direct control. A local business number is better than a central call-centre line.
7. Day 7, freeze big changes: don't change your name, address or category unless you're fixing a mistake, because Google may ask you to verify again.

After that first week, the work shifts from being listed to ranking: sharper categories, genuine reviews you reply to, and regular photos. We cover that in our guide to Google Business Profile optimization. For the website side of local search, see our guide to SEO for Arabic websites.

What are the most common ways to get it wrong?

• Adding keywords, a district name or "the best" to your business name.
• Writing the name in both Arabic and English.
• Using a virtual office, or a co-working desk with no signage or staff.
• Showing your home address for a business that goes to its customers, instead of hiding it and setting service areas.
• Registering the profile under an employee's or agency's account, then losing access when the relationship ends.
• Creating a new profile when verification stalls, after a suspension or after a move, which piles up duplicates.
• Editing the name, address or category while waiting for a postcard code.
• Recording a cut or pre-recorded video, or one that doesn't show the sign and the surrounding area.
• Verifying with a number answered by an automated system.
• Creating a separate profile for each service instead of listing them on one.

Where should you start today?

Search for your business on Google Maps now. Is it there? Is it verified, and by whom? Then settle your business type, enter your address from your National Address details, and plan your video shots before you press Get verified.

If you'd rather have a specialist team look at it, send your Maps listing to Manzomia's SEO and Google Maps team and we'll send you the main things holding you back. You can also book a consultation to talk through your case, request a quote for managing your profile, or contact us with a question.