Google is asking tow companies to verify by video. Here is how to pass the first time
More towing profiles are being sent to video verification or suspended over edits. What Google wants to see on camera and how to avoid losing your listing.
You edit your Google profile, or you try to claim a new one, and instead of a postcard you get asked to record a video. Or worse, the profile goes into suspension and the calls stop the same afternoon. For a tow company that lives on Maps, that is a week of lost revenue.
Towing is one of the categories Google treats as high risk for fake listings. Lead sellers and call brokers have set up fake tow profiles for years, so Google leans hard on verification here. Video verification has become one of the most common ways Google asks a service business to prove it is real. If you understand what the reviewer is looking for, you can pass on the first try.
What changed, in plain terms
Google used to verify most businesses with a postcard code or a phone call. Now it often asks for a short, unedited video recorded on your phone. A person or a system at Google reviews it and decides whether your business exists where you say it does.
Two things trigger it most often for towing:
- Claiming or creating a profile. New listings almost always get some form of verification, and video is common.
- Big edits. Changing your business name, address, primary category, or service area can send an established profile back through verification. Sometimes it suspends the profile while it waits.
That second point matters. Plenty of operators lose their listing because they tweaked the name to add "24 Hour Towing" or moved the pin, not because they did anything shady.
What the video needs to show
Google's help pages describe three things a verification video should prove: where you are, that the business exists, and that you manage it. For a tow company, that means:
Your location. Start outside. Show the street sign or a nearby landmark, then the yard or building. If you are service area only and work from home, show the street and the outside of where you park the trucks.
Proof of the business. Show a truck with your company name and DOT or state number on the door. Show the yard, the equipment, and any signage. A tow truck with your name painted on it is about the strongest proof a tow company has.
Proof you manage it. Show something only the business would have. Unlock the office or the gate. Open the cab. Show business paperwork with the name on it, like a registration or an invoice, briefly and without lingering on private details.
Record it in one take. Google asks for continuous, unedited footage. Keep it short, usually a minute or two is enough. Walk slowly and keep the camera steady.
Mistakes that get tow profiles rejected
- Filming only the inside of a truck cab. It does not show where you are.
- No branding anywhere. A white truck with no name proves nothing.
- A name on the video that does not match the profile. If your profile says "Smith Towing & Recovery" and the truck door says "Smith Wrecker," fix one of them first.
- An address that is a mailbox or a virtual office. Google does not allow those, and the video will not hold up.
- Keyword stuffing the name. Your profile name should be your real business name. Adding "Cheap 24/7 Towing Near Me" invites a suspension.
The Google Business Profile guide covers the name, category and service area rules in more detail.
How to avoid triggering it in the first place
Most suspensions on established tow profiles follow an edit. Before you change anything big, ask whether it is worth it.
- Leave the business name alone unless you legally changed it.
- Do not change the primary category from "Towing service" to test something.
- Make service area changes in one session rather than five small edits over a week.
- Keep your hours, phone number and website consistent with your trucks, invoices and site.
If you must make a big change, do it on a slow day and have your video plan ready.
Have a backup for the days you are off Maps
Even a clean profile can get caught in a review. Have a plan so a suspension does not mean zero calls:
- A website that ranks for "towing" plus your city, with tap-to-call at the top. In our data on 23,074 towing listings, 36.7% have no website at all. The website guide shows what that page needs.
- Relationships with body shops, dealerships and property managers who call you directly.
- A small Google Ads search campaign you can turn on in an afternoon. The Google Ads guide covers budgets.
To see what a week offline costs, enter your average ticket and weekly call volume into the calculator. For a hypothetical yard taking 40 calls a week at $150 a call, losing half of them for a week is $3,000.
Your reviews survive the process
A suspended profile that gets reinstated usually keeps its reviews. That is one more reason to keep asking for them. The median tow company has 31 reviews and the top 10% have 219 or more. The benchmark report shows where you stand on reviews, hours and websites.
If you want help preparing a verification video or getting a suspended tow profile reviewed, there is a free 14-day trial of any service, no card, text or call (385) 249-3225.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, towing companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor