Verified Google My Business Listings means Google knows the address is very likely to be accurate, so Google is more likely to show verified listings in local searches. An example is someone searching for, “healthy lunch on their cell phone. Google recently announced that business owners can now make edits to key information in their GMB listings as an unverified business owner. And with this new update, home service business owners no longer have to wait for Google to verify their company before optimizing their GMB listing.
Yes, the Google My Business verification process can be skipped, and you can verify your business at a later date. Eventually, you should verify your business because profiles that are unverified will have limited visibility in Google Search, and will also have limited options to edit business information. The verification button can be found in the Home section once logged into your Google Business Profile, and will be present no matter what kind of verification method is required for your profile. New listings (especially service area businesses created in 202) seem to immediately require video verification without any other options.
The Google My Business verification process ensures that only authentic businesses (and authorized representatives of those businesses) are able to create and manage listings. Once you’ve verified your listing, you’ll be able to update your business name, and other information on Google.