I promised a Part 2. Here it is. And it comes with a question most people never ask:

If your unconscious mind is a program – who is writing it?

For most of human history, the answer was obvious. Today, it is not. And the new answer is far more uncomfortable.

1. The old programmers

As I wrote in Part 3 – AI – Consciousness to Unconsciousness, the brain is real. It is the hardware. The mind is not. The mind is a program – a collection of conditioned thoughts, beliefs and reactions installed by external forces.

That is why we label minds: a “Hindu mind”, an “American mind”, a “Communist mind”. Nobody is born with a label. It is installed.

For thousands of years, the programmers were easy to identify:

• Family – what is right, what is shameful, what success looks like.
• Religion and culture – what to believe, whom to respect, what to fear.
• School and society – what to want, how to behave, where your place is.

These programmers were slow. They worked over years, through repetition, through people you could see and question. You could disagree with your father. You could leave a village. You could challenge a teacher.

2. The new programmer

Now look at your phone.

Every scroll, every pause, every video you watch to the end, every post you skip – all of it is recorded. Not your words. Your behaviour. Your unconscious behaviour.

The feed does not care what you say you want. It learns what you actually respond to – the anger you cannot ignore, the envy you will not admit, the fear that keeps you watching. Then it feeds it back to you. Again. And again. And again.

This is the most efficient programmer the human mind has ever met:

• It works 24 hours a day, not a few hours at the dinner table.
• It is personalised – a program written for you alone.
• It is invisible – there is no person to question, no village to leave.
• It operates exactly where Part 1 told you to look: beneath conscious awareness.

You think you are choosing what to watch, what to buy, what to believe. The unrepentant truth: increasingly, you are being chosen for.

3. The closed loop nobody is talking about

In The Unrepentant Truth: Why AI Creators Are Terrified of Their Own Reflection, I explained that AI is not an alien threat. It is a mirror of human data – and human data is driven by the pursuit of control, power and benefit.

Now connect the dots. This is the loop:

1. Humans conditioned the machine. We trained it on our history, our language, our clicks and our cravings.
2. The machine learned our unconscious. Not who we pretend to be – who we actually are when nobody is watching.
3. Now the machine is re-conditioning us. It optimises for attention, so it amplifies whatever captures us fastest – and that becomes the next layer of our programming.
4. And the newly conditioned humans produce new data – which trains the next machine.

The mirror is no longer just reflecting the original. The mirror is editing the original.

This is why the creators are terrified. Not because the machine has its own will – but because it is executing ours, at a scale and speed no human institution ever could.

4. The only way out: become the observer

Here is the good news – and it is the same truth from Part 1 and Part 3.

The machine is a programmed mind. It is forever inside its program. It cannot step outside its own processing, because it is the processing.

You can.

The human capability no algorithm can replicate is the observer – the one sitting on the hilltop, watching the cars pass in the valley, no longer driving. The one looking from behind the eyes. When you observe a pattern, it stops running you. You see it as a program – and a program you can see is a program you can rewrite.

This is not theory. Here is the practical deprogramming protocol for digital life:

• Catch the reach. Before you open an app, notice the hand moving. Ask: who decided this – me, or the program? One second of observation breaks one loop.
• Audit the feed. Once a week, scroll for five minutes and only observe: what emotion is this feed installing in me? Anger? Envy? Fear? Whatever it repeats is being written into you.
• Choose your inputs consciously. Search for what you want to learn instead of accepting what is served. Read one long piece instead of fifty short ones.
• Practise the inward focus. As in Part 1: place your awareness behind the eyes – even while walking, working or talking. The observer is a muscle. Train it daily.
• Apply ruthless detachment (vairagya). Use the tools fully – but do not be owned by the reaction. Engage without being chained to the dopamine.

Deprogramming is not about deleting your apps and running to the mountains. It is about moving the controls back to where they belong: behind your eyes.

5. For business owners: rented attention vs. owned trust

This truth has a direct business consequence that most companies refuse to see.

If your entire brand lives inside the algorithm – in borrowed reach, viral spikes and paid boosts – you do not own a brand. You are renting attention from a programmer who can change the code tomorrow. When the feed moves on, your customers’ “memory” of you moves with it.

Real brands are built in a different layer: the customer’s conscious trust – earned through experience, consistency and proof. The algorithm can deliver the first impression. Only you can deliver the reason to come back.

The operational logic:

• Own your channels. Your website, your Google Maps profile, your customer list, your Zalo Official Account – assets the feed cannot take away.
• Be consistent everywhere. The same promise, the same quality, the same voice on every channel. Consistency is how trust is programmed – honestly.
• Measure what pays, not what flatters. Leads, sales and repeat customers – not likes. Run the numbers in GA4 and your CRM, not in your ego.
• Market with integrity. Do not exploit the same unconscious weaknesses the feed exploits. Customers who were manipulated leave. Customers who were served stay.

At DMG, this is exactly how we build growth for businesses in Vietnam: owned digital assets, clean data and brands that live in the customer’s trust – not just in this week’s algorithm. If you want to see how much of your business you actually own online, start with our Free Website Check or talk to us.

The bottom line

Someone is always programming the unconscious. For thousands of years it was family, religion and society. Today it is the algorithm – faster, more personal and more invisible than anything before it.

You cannot stop the programmer from writing. But you can become the one who reads the code.

Look behind your eyes. Observe the program. Take back the controls.

“Either do it right the first time, or just don’t do it at all.” – Vee De Sai

This is Part 2 of “Understanding the Real Unconscious Within”. Read Part 1 on LinkedIn.

Since then, one thought has stayed with me. Every day, our words are read not only by people but by machines – Google’s crawlers, Facebook and TikTok feeds, YouTube’s recommendation system, and now AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini. What if this ancient framework could help us understand how those machines “listen” – and how we should write for them?

Here is the idea at the heart of this article:

Humans speak from the inside out – from Para to Vaikhari. Algorithms read from the outside in – from Vaikhari towards Para.

Good content is born at the deepest level and travels outwards into words. A machine starts with the words and tries to work its way back to the meaning, the intent and, finally, the trustworthiness of the source. The better your content holds together at every level, the further the machine can follow it – and the more confidently it will show it to people.

A quick reminder: the four levels of speech

• Vaikhari (expressed): audible, everyday speech – the words themselves.
• Madhyama (intermediate): inner, mental speech – the structure of thought behind the words.
• Pashyanti (seeing): intuitive perception – the flash of insight before words form.
• Para (transcendental): the unmanifest source – pure intention and consciousness, beneath everything.

Level 1 – Vaikhari: what the algorithm sees first

An algorithm’s first contact with your content is pure Vaikhari: the visible surface. Titles, headings, the words in your text, image file names and alt text, captions, hashtags, video subtitles, the link people click. Before any machine can understand you, it has to be able to read you.

AI systems literally break your text into small pieces (tokens) before anything else happens. If the words are vague, hidden inside images, or buried in clever wordplay, the machine starts from a weak position.

How to write for Vaikhari:

• Use the words your audience actually uses – including in Vietnamese and English if you serve both.
• One clear title and clear headings that describe what each section is about.
• Put important text in real text, not only inside images or graphics. Add alt text and subtitles.
• Write short, clean sentences. Clarity is a form of respect – for people and machines.

The trap: keyword stuffing. It is Vaikhari shouting with nothing behind it. Like chanting a mantra loudly while the mind is elsewhere, it makes noise but carries no power – and modern algorithms recognise it.

Level 2 – Madhyama: how the algorithm understands meaning

Madhyama is inner speech – the structure of thought behind the words. For a machine, this is the level of meaning: which topics you cover, how ideas connect, what entities you mention (people, places, products, services) and how they relate.

Modern search and AI systems turn text into mathematical representations of meaning, so that “dịch vụ Google Maps” and “Google Business Profile management” can be recognised as related ideas even when the words differ. This is the machine’s version of Madhyama: it is no longer just hearing the words, it is following the thought.

How to write for Madhyama:

• Give every piece one main idea, and let each section develop it logically.
• Answer the natural follow-up questions a reader would ask – this is how inner dialogue works.
• Name things precisely: your business, location, services, products, people.
• Link related content together on your website so the machine can see how your ideas connect.
• Use structured data (schema) where it fits – it is a direct way to tell machines what your content means.

Level 3 – Pashyanti: how the algorithm senses intent and value

Pashyanti is “seeing” – the moment of insight when something simply clicks. In content, this happens in the reader: “Yes, this is exactly what I needed.”

Algorithms cannot feel that moment, but they watch for its traces. Did people stay and read? Did they save, share, comment or come back? Did the content match what they were really looking for when they searched or scrolled? These signals are the machine’s way of inferring Pashyanti – whether your words created real understanding.

How to write for Pashyanti:

• Start from the reader’s real intent, not from what you want to sell. What problem are they trying to solve right now?
• Give the key insight early. Don’t make people dig for the value.
• Offer something original: your own example, observation, experience or framework – something they cannot get from a hundred similar posts.
• Write so that a reader would want to send it to someone else. Sharing is Pashyanti made visible.

Level 4 – Para: the source that algorithms try to trust

Para is the unmanifest source – silent, invisible, yet present behind every word. In content, Para is who you really are and why you are speaking: your genuine experience, expertise, intention and integrity.

No algorithm can see Para directly. But increasingly, search engines and AI systems try to judge it through its reflections: Is there a real, identifiable author or business behind this content? Is it consistent over time? Do others trust it – through reviews, mentions, links and reputation? Google’s own guidance speaks about experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. That is, in a sense, an attempt to measure the source.

How to write from Para:

• Write about what you genuinely know and have done. Experience cannot be faked for long.
• Show who is speaking: a real author name, a real business, real contact details, a verified Google Maps profile.
• Be consistent – the same voice, values and information across your website, Google, Facebook, Zalo and LinkedIn.
• Let your intention be service, not manipulation. As with mantra practice, the purpose behind the words shapes their effect.

Putting it together: a four-level content check

Before you publish anything – a blog post, a Facebook post, a product page or a video – ask four questions:

1. Vaikhari: Are the words clear, readable and in the language my audience uses?
2. Madhyama: Is there one clear idea, logically developed and connected to my other content?
3. Pashyanti: Will the reader feel “this is exactly what I needed” – and want to share it?
4. Para: Does this come from real experience, and is it clear who is speaking and why?

Most content today is written only at the first level – words arranged for a machine. The content that lasts is written from the fourth level and made clear at every level on its way out.

Why this matters even more with AI

As AI assistants increasingly answer questions directly, they choose a small number of sources to rely on. They favour content that is clear on the surface, coherent in meaning, genuinely useful and coming from a trustworthy source. In other words: content that is aligned on all four levels.

The irony is beautiful. The more advanced our machines become, the more they reward something very old – speech that is true from its source to its sound.

How DMG can help

At DMG, we help businesses in Vietnam create content that works at every level: clear on the surface, well structured for search and AI, useful to real customers and rooted in genuine expertise. From content strategy and SEO to Google Maps (Google Business Profile) optimisation, we make sure both people and algorithms understand what your business truly stands for.

Want to see how your website reads to machines today? Start with our Free Website Check, or message us on WhatsApp.

This article builds on my earlier piece, Exploring the Four Levels of Speech, on LinkedIn. I welcome your thoughts – especially from those who practise mantra and those who work with AI every day.

1. What is Thất Tịch, and when is it?

For business owners, Thất Tịch is a very effective marketing moment, because the festival’s main audience is young people who use social media every day and pick up online trends quickly.

However, if you don’t understand what Thất Tịch is and exactly when it falls each year, it is hard to reach that audience. So businesses should get the basics right first.

What is Thất Tịch?

Thất Tịch (Qixi) is a festival that originated in Chinese culture and is tied to the love story of the Cowherd (Ngưu Lang) and the Weaver Girl (Chức Nữ). In China, young women traditionally pray on this day to meet the right person and enjoy a lasting love. It is also a day to show appreciation for nature and to honour women’s skill and diligence. In East Asian culture, Thất Tịch is often seen as a Valentine’s Day.

What is Thất Tịch?

In Vietnam, Thất Tịch is not an official public holiday, but many young people embrace it as a symbol of togetherness and of hoping to find the right partner. In recent years, with the growth of social media, young people have taken to celebrating it by eating red bean sweet soup and visiting pagodas to pray for love.

When is Thất Tịch?

Thất Tịch takes place on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month every year. On the Gregorian calendar, this usually falls in August. In 2025, Thất Tịch fell on Friday, 29 August.

Knowing the exact date matters if you are planning a marketing campaign around this occasion.

2. The origins of Thất Tịch

Thất Tịch comes from China and is tied to the love story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

The Cowherd was the Jade Emperor’s buffalo herder in the heavens, a gifted flute player who looked after the Emperor’s herd. The Weaver Girl was a fairy who wove cloth – diligent and talented. One day they met by chance and fell in love.

Lost in his love for the Weaver Girl, the Cowherd let his buffalo wander into the Jade Emperor’s palace, while the Weaver Girl, enchanted by his flute, neglected her weaving. When the Jade Emperor found out, he was furious and used the Milky Way to separate the lovers, one on each bank, unable to meet again.

After a time apart, seeing that the two remained faithful to each other, the Jade Emperor was moved and allowed them to meet once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. On that day, a flock of crows flies in to form the Ô Thước bridge across the Milky Way so that the couple can be reunited.

When it is time to part, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl weep with longing. Their tears fall to earth as rain, called mưa ngâu, which is why Vietnamese people call the couple Ông Ngâu and Bà Ngâu. It is also the folk explanation for why it so often rains around the 7th day of the 7th lunar month.

The origins of Thất Tịch

Thất Tịch in the past

Thất Tịch has never been a major festival in Vietnamese life, so few documents record its customs in detail. According to some records, however, before 1860 the day was also known as Tết Tiểu Xảo or the Thù Du festival.

One of the clearest records of Thất Tịch in Vietnam appears in the Chinese-script poetry collection Giá Viên thi tập by Phạm Phú Thứ (Nguyễn dynasty). According to it, the festival was observed both among ordinary people and at the royal court.

Among the people, Tết Tiểu Xảo was linked to women’s household crafts. On the night of Thất Tịch, families laid out cakes and fruit under the moonlight, believing the Weaver Girl’s star (Vega) shone brightest that night. They prayed for their daughters to be skilful, good at needlework and blessed with a harmonious marriage.

At court, the king held the Thù Du banquet – “thù du” being the name of a plant – and gave cakes and fruit to his officials and the royal household.

Later, as China turned Thất Tịch into a large-scale festival, many people came to believe that the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, or of Ông Ngâu and Bà Ngâu, came from Chinese culture. In traditional society, marriages were usually arranged by parents, and children had no say in – or reason to pray about – who they would marry. For this reason, dating or holding weddings in the 7th lunar month was not common in the past.

3. The meaning of Thất Tịch across Asia

From this legend, the 7th day of the 7th lunar month has become a distinctive cultural tradition across Asia – from China to Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

In China, it is a traditional day for young women to pray to meet the one they love and to have a happy love and marriage. People believe that couples who gaze at the Cowherd and Weaver Girl stars together on Qixi night will stay together forever. Single people also often eat red bean dessert on this day for luck in love. The festival also expresses respect for nature and for skilful, capable women.

The meaning of Qixi in China

In Korea, the festival is called Chilseok. Traditionally, people bathe on this day to pray for good health and to ward off illness. They also make wheat-based foods such as pancakes, steamed cakes and toasted breads.

The meaning of Chilseok in Korea

In Japan, the festival is known as Tanabata. It arrived in the 8th century and became popular during the Edo period. On 7 July, people fold paper into shapes to decorate or to give to each other for good luck. They also write wishes on colourful strips of paper called tanzaku and hang them on bamboo branches in front of their homes, hoping for good fortune, a good harvest and prosperity. Young people often wish to find the right partner soon.

The meaning of Tanabata in Japan

In Vietnam, Thất Tịch has existed for a very long time. The 7th lunar month is usually rainy, especially in the North. Folk belief holds that the rain is the parting tears of the Ngâu couple, so the day is also called the day of Ông Ngâu – Bà Ngâu.

On this occasion, couples often visit pagodas to pray for a lasting, happy relationship. Single people also go to pray that they will soon meet the right person. Besides love, many people pray for health, peace and prosperity for their families.

In the last couple of years, a new trend has spread among young Vietnamese: eating red beans on Thất Tịch to pray for love. There is an interesting difference, though. The “red bean” in Chinese culture is the hồng đậu (lovesick bean) – heart-shaped, bright red and very hard, often used in bracelets or jewellery as a symbol of love. In Vietnam, red beans are an everyday cooking ingredient. This is one of the fun quirks of Thất Tịch in Vietnam.

So far, there is no scientific evidence that eating red bean sweet soup helps your love life or brings you “the one” sooner. Even so, the custom is hugely popular with young people.

4. Fun things people do on Thất Tịch

Thất Tịch is not a major Vietnamese holiday. But thanks to social media, it has become a very special day for young people in Vietnam, with plenty of fun activities connected to it.

4.1. Eating red bean sweet soup for love

Here is a fun fact: the red bean trend is not a Vietnamese tradition at all. It came from a mix-up by a very popular social media channel in Vietnam, which confused the Chinese red bean with the Vietnamese one.

In Chinese culture, the hồng đậu means “lovesick bean”. It is bright red with a hard shell and a heart shape, and it can be kept for a long time without fading or being eaten by insects. The channel mistook it for the Vietnamese red bean – a very nutritious everyday ingredient – and spread the idea that eating red bean sweet soup on Thất Tịch would bring you a partner.

Although many young people now know the truth, plenty still joke on social media that they eat red bean soup “because it tastes better on the 7th of the 7th lunar month” or that “I ate it and I’m still single.”

Eating red bean sweet soup for love

4.2. Dates and gifts for loved ones

Many young people say that, besides Valentine’s Day, Thất Tịch is another occasion to express their feelings, go on dates and give gifts. On this day, if you pass popular dating spots such as cafés, West Lake or Hoàn Kiếm Lake, you will see many couples walking hand in hand.

Dates and gifts for loved ones

4.3. Visiting pagodas to pray for love

Visiting a pagoda to pray for love is another popular Thất Tịch activity. Couples go to pray for peace and for their love to grow stronger. Single people go too, hoping to find a partner who is right for them.

Visiting pagodas to pray for love

5. How businesses market around Thất Tịch

Social media is a channel with great potential for marketing campaigns, and almost every business now has a social media presence to connect with customers. Thất Tịch is a very good occasion for social media campaigns, because its audience – young people aged roughly 18 to 35 – is highly active online. So how do businesses usually market around it?

5.1. Free gifts with purchase

Some businesses run promotions that give a gift for the customer’s partner with every purchase. Typical gifts include flowers, handbags or stickers, together with a small card where the customer can write a message to their loved one.

Free gifts with purchase

5.2. Livestream selling

Livestreaming is a very common promotional format today. On Thất Tịch, many online businesses run livestream sales to encourage customers to buy. Shops that often choose this day for a livestream include online sellers of fashion, footwear and cosmetics – the kinds of items people usually give to their partners.

5.3. Discount and promo codes

Discount and promotional codes are a common tactic on special occasions, used to attract customers and encourage them to buy.

For example, Vị Quê Kitchen restaurant offered a free red bean sweet soup or green tea with red beans for bills over 500,000 VND, valid only on Thất Tịch – the 7th day of the 7th lunar month (29 August 2025).

Free add-on promotion with purchase

5.4. Minigames

If the goal of a campaign is to attract customers in a natural, engaging way, businesses can run minigames. Social media minigames include “comment any number to win”, or inviting customers to post a video sharing their story or using the product with a hashtag, with a prize for the most-engaged video. Many businesses have used this format on Thất Tịch.

In 2023, 9Pay ran a minigame called “Thất tịch mưa ngâu – Săn tìm đậu đỏ” (“Thất Tịch rain – Hunt for the red bean”). To take part, people had to like the fanpage, share the post publicly, comment with a screenshot of the red bean soup from the video clip plus a lucky number from 001 to 888, tag three friends and add the hashtag.

Minigames

Although it comes from an ancient legend, Thất Tịch remains one of Asia’s most distinctive cultural traditions – a day to pray for love, and a day that brings couples closer together and helps them understand each other better.

Planning a campaign for Thất Tịch or another seasonal moment in Vietnam? Talk to DMG about your social media and digital marketing plan.

“The perfect search engine would understand exactly what you mean and give you back exactly what you want.” – Larry Page, co-founder of Google

In November 2014, I ended Part 2 of this series with a bold proposition: Google should hire a neurosurgeon.

My reasoning was simple. A Google search then returned “about 11,900,000 results in 0.51 seconds”. Impressive. But our brain recognises an intention to act in around 300 milliseconds – before the conscious part of the mind has even caught up. The real future of search, I argued, was not a faster search box. It was a search engine that understands intent the way the brain does: before we consciously ask.

In Part 3 (2025), I took this journey into the human mind versus AI. In Part 4, I return to where the series began – search itself – because twelve years later, when I look at how people in Ho Chi Minh City, and everywhere else, find things today, the journey from consciousness to unconsciousness is no longer a theory. It is happening in our pockets.

The four stages of search

Stage 1 – Conscious search: you think, you type

This is the search we grew up with. You decide what you want, choose the words, type them into a box and get ten blue links. You compare, you click, you decide. Every step is conscious. The machine is a librarian waiting for your question.

Stage 2 – Assisted search: the machine finishes your sentence

Then the machine began to guess. Autocomplete suggests the rest of your question after three letters. Spelling is corrected before you notice the mistake. Voice search lets you speak instead of type. You still ask – but the machine is already shaping how you ask.

Stage 3 – Anticipated search: answers before questions

This is where most of us live today. Feeds such as Google Discover, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook decide what you see before you search for anything. Google Maps suggests places on your usual route. And AI answers – Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini – give you one answer instead of ten links.

Search has moved from “help me find” to “just tell me”. The comparing and deciding that used to be conscious work is increasingly done for us.

Stage 4 – Unconscious search: intent without a query

This is the stage Part 2 pointed towards. Your phone, watch and car already know where you are, what time it is and what you usually do next. Your camera can search what you are looking at. Brain–computer interfaces have already allowed some people with paralysis to move a cursor simply by thinking.

We are not fully there – and for everyday life we may not be for some time. But the direction is clear: the query is disappearing. The signal is becoming the intention itself.

What this changes in our daily lives

• We search less, but we are guided more. Many everyday decisions – what to eat, where to go, whom to trust, what to buy – are now shaped by suggestions we never asked for.
• The question changes from “Can I find it?” to “Who chose what I see?” The convenience is real. So is the quiet loss of conscious choice.
• Our habits become the query. The morning coffee, the regular gym, the Friday dinner, the usual ride home – routine itself is now the search.

Picture a familiar Saigon moment: 7pm, on a motorbike at a red light, hungry. A few years ago you would stop and type “phở near me”. Today you say it to your phone – or you don’t even ask, because Maps already shows three places nearby. The decision is made in seconds, almost unconsciously.

A small lifestyle habit I recommend: once a week, search consciously. Ask a real question, read beyond the first answer, compare two sources. It keeps the mind in charge of the machine, not the other way round.

What this means for businesses: if customers stop searching, you must be remembered

In Stage 1, businesses fought for keywords. In Stages 3 and 4, the machine increasingly chooses on the customer’s behalf – and it can only recommend what it knows and trusts. So the real question for every business owner today is: does the machine know you?

• A verified, complete Google Maps (Google Business Profile) listing with correct hours, real photos and genuine reviews. For local decisions, this is often the first – and only – thing the machine looks at. Our guide shows how to verify your business on Google Maps.
• A website that answers real questions clearly – what you do, where you are, how pricing or quotes work. AI answers draw on pages that explain things simply.
• The same information everywhere – website, Google, Facebook, Zalo. Inconsistent details make the machine unsure, and an unsure machine recommends someone else.
• Content that shows real expertise, written for people, not stuffed with keywords.
• Measurement – Google Analytics 4 and Search Console to see how people actually arrive, so decisions are based on data, not guesses.

The neurosurgeon is still missing

In 2014 I said Google should hire a neurosurgeon. Today’s AI models learn from enormous amounts of human language – the closest thing yet to reading intent. But understanding meaning is not the same as understanding a person.

The brain does not only calculate. It feels, remembers and decides with emotion and context. A search engine that truly works like the brain would need to respect that – to be helpful without being manipulative, and to anticipate without taking away our choice. That, to me, is the next real breakthrough.

As I wrote in Part 2: nothing is impossible. We simply need to revolutionise our thinking.

How DMG can help

At DMG, we help businesses in Vietnam stay visible at every stage of this journey – from classic SEO and Google Maps (Google Business Profile) optimisation to being understood by AI search – and we help teams use digital and AI tools in a way that keeps people, not algorithms, in control of their decisions.

Not sure what Google and AI tools currently “know” about your business? Start with our Free Website Check, or message us on WhatsApp.

This series began as an idea in 2014. You can read Part 2 and Part 3 on LinkedIn. Should there be a Part 5? I welcome your feedback and insights.

This guide explains how Google Maps verification (officially called Google Business Profile verification) works in 2026 — the verification methods, how to record a video that does not get rejected, how long it takes, and how to fix the problems businesses in Vietnam run into most often.

Why verify your business on Google Maps?

Verification is how Google confirms that you own or are authorised to manage the business. Once your profile is verified, you can:

• Appear fully on Google Maps and in local search results.
• Edit opening hours, phone number, photos and services — and stay in control of “suggested edits” from other people.
• Reply to customer reviews and post updates and offers.
• See how many people called you, asked for directions or visited your website from the profile.

Before you verify: the step most people skip

Most rejections come from inconsistent information. Before you press “Verify”, check:

• Your business name matches your signage — no extra keywords (for example, “ABC Spa – Best Cheap Spa District 1” is easily flagged as a violation).
• A real, permanent address — avoid virtual offices and temporary addresses. Businesses that serve customers at their location can show the address; businesses that travel to customers can hide it and set a service area instead.
• Consistent details — the same name, address and phone number on your profile, website, Facebook page and business registration.
• The primary category that best matches your core service.
• A website with a contact page showing your address, service area and phone number.

The 6 Google Maps verification methods

You cannot choose the method yourself — Google shows the options it considers suitable based on your business type, the profile’s history and how trustworthy the information looks.

1. Video verification (the most common)

This is the method Google offers most often today, especially for new profiles. You record one continuous video on your phone, inside Google’s verification flow, showing that the business exists and that you manage it. Results usually arrive within about 5 business days (see the step-by-step recording guide below).

2. Live video call with a Google support agent

You book a time and show your business location to a support agent over a video call. This option usually appears when a profile has had trouble verifying several times, and it only takes place during the business’s opening hours.

3. Phone call or text message (SMS)

Google sends a verification code to the phone number on your profile — enter it and you are done. This option only appears for profiles with strong trust signals, and it can disappear if you have just edited important details.

4. Email

A code or link is sent to the email address Google shows (usually one on your business domain). The code expires, so use it as soon as it arrives.

5. Postcard by mail

Google mails a postcard with a code to your business address, which usually takes 5 to 14 days. Important: do not edit your business name, address or category while you wait — this can cancel the code.

6. Instant verification through Google Search Console

If your business website is already verified in Google Search Console using the same Google account that manages the profile, some businesses are verified instantly with no further steps.

Brands with 10 or more locations can also apply for bulk verification.

How to record a Google Maps verification video that gets approved

Video is the method that gets rejected most often, usually because the proof is incomplete. Record in this order:

1. Start outside: film the street name, building number and nearby shops or landmarks so Google can confirm the location.
2. Your business signage: show the name sign on the front of the building clearly. Businesses that travel to their customers (service-area businesses) can instead show a branded vehicle, uniforms or marketing materials.
3. The work area inside: reception, sales floor, desks, tools or stock.
4. Proof that you manage the business: unlock the door with a key, log in to your point-of-sale system, show a staff-only area, or show a non-sensitive document with the same name and address as the profile.

Rules you must follow:

• Record one continuous take — no cuts, edits or filters.
• At least 30 seconds (1–2 minutes is ideal), filmed on a phone signed in to the account that manages the profile.
• Record and upload inside Google’s verification flow; turn on location services and keep a stable connection.
• Record during business hours in good light, move slowly and pause 2–3 seconds on each key piece of proof.
• Do not show bank account numbers, tax numbers, ID documents or other people’s faces.

How long does verification take?

• Phone / email / Search Console: almost instant.
• Video: usually around 5 business days; Google emails you when it is done.
• Postcard: 5–14 days for the postcard to arrive.
• Live video call: at the booked time.

If your profile still says “Under review” after more than a week, you can contact Google Business Profile support.

Common problems and how to fix them

No verification option appears

This usually means your profile information is incomplete, inconsistent or was edited recently. Complete the details, wait a few days without making changes, then try again.

Your video was rejected

Read the rejection email carefully to see which proof was missing (blurry signage, location not clear, management not proven), then record a new video that covers exactly that.

Editing information while waiting for review

Changing your name, address, category or service area during review can restart the whole process. Leave the profile alone until you get a result.

Someone else has already verified or taken over your profile

If your business profile is managed by someone else — a former employee, a previous agency or a stranger — you need to request ownership from Google and prove you are the real owner. This is more complicated than normal verification.

Your profile has been suspended

This is usually caused by a guideline violation (keywords in the name, an address that is not real, misleading information) or by failing verification several times. Fix the actual cause before you submit a reinstatement request.

Security tip: never share your verification code with anyone — Google will never call you to ask for it.

When should you get professional help?

You can verify on your own if the profile is new and your details are clear. Consider getting help if:

• You have been rejected several times or no verification option appears.
• Your profile is controlled by someone else, has been merged with a duplicate, or is wrongly marked “Permanently closed”.
• You have several locations that need to be verified and managed consistently.
• You want your profile not just verified but optimised so it shows up better when customers search.

DMG is a Google Partner based in Ho Chi Minh City. We help businesses verify, recover and optimise their Google Maps profiles — and train your team to protect the profile after handover. See DMG’s Google Business Profile service or message us on WhatsApp for a free profile check.

Frequently asked questions

Does Google charge for Google Maps verification?

No. Google does not charge to create or verify a Google Business Profile. You only pay if you hire someone to help.

Can I choose how to verify?

No. Google suggests the methods based on your business type and how trustworthy the profile is. You can only choose from the options Google shows you.

Can a business without a shopfront be verified?

Yes. Businesses that travel to their customers can hide their address, set a service area and verify by video (showing a branded vehicle, tools or uniforms and the work area).

How soon does my profile appear on Google Maps after verification?

Your profile usually appears once verification is successful, but changes may take a little longer for Google to review and update.

Before Branding Took Hold: When Santa Claus Was Still Unsettled

In fact, Santa Claus is not just a made-up character. He originated from Saint Nicholas, a bishop who lived in Turkey during the 4th century and was famous for his generosity. When Dutch immigrants brought the figure of “Sinterklaas” to New York in the 17th century, the name gradually changed to “Santa Claus.” By the 19th century, stories even began describing him as a jolly and chubby man. However, even though he had a name and a personality, he still lacked a single, unified look.

 Across regions and decades, he appeared in many forms, sometimes thin, sometimes heavy, sometimes stern, sometimes playful, and occasionally even unsettling. He was recognizable, but not yet agreed upon.

This matters because strong brands rarely invent meaning from nothing. They enter moments where meaning is still fluid, where symbols are culturally available but emotionally unresolved. Santa Claus, at the time, was exactly that: present everywhere, but anchored nowhere. A character without a settled narrative or a common emotional center.

Source: Public domain

Coca-Cola’s Strategic Choice: Branding as Selection, Not Invention

Source: Public domain

Coca-Cola did not invent Santa Claus. What they did was far more restrained, and far more strategic. They chose one interpretation and committed to it.

This Santa was warm rather than distant, human rather than mythical. Gentle, approachable, and grounded in everyday life – someone who belonged in living rooms, not legends. Once the choice was made, Coca-Cola repeated this image consistently, year after year, across decades. No reinvention. No reinterpretation. Just continuity.

Over time, interpretation gave way to recognition. Recognition hardened into expectation. This is where branding truly begins, and where marketing often ends. Marketing persuades and activates; branding stabilizes and settles. Marketing seeks attention; branding designs memory.

Why This Was Branding, Not Just Marketing Campaigns

If Coca-Cola’s use of Santa had been driven purely by marketing objectives, it would have focused on short-term outcomes: seasonal sales, promotional urgency, campaign performance. Instead, the company invested in brand identity over time.

They didn’t explain Santa or justify his presence. They allowed the image to exist repeatedly until it stopped feeling like communication altogether. Eventually, Coca-Cola no longer appeared as an advertiser, but as part of the holiday itself.

They didn’t try to convince people to drink soda in winter, a difficult proposition by any standard. Instead, they aligned themselves with how winter felt: warmth, generosity, ritual, and comfort. One approach pushes messages outward, the other embeds meaning inward.

The Psychology Behind Brand Familiarity and Cultural Memory

From a psychological and linguistic perspective,  this strategy reflects a clear understanding of how meaning forms. Meaning doesn’t emerge from isolated exposure, but from patterns: repetition within a stable emotional context.

When an image appears consistently in the same emotional environment, the brain stops processing it as external information and begins storing it as part of the environment itself. At that point, the brand is no longer communicating. It is inhabiting.

This is why Coca-Cola’s Santa feels obvious today. He is processed not as a brand creation, but as cultural knowledge. And cultural knowledge, once established, is rarely questioned or traced back to its origin.

Source: Public domain

When Successful Branding Disappears

The paradox of effective branding is that the better it works, the less visible it becomes. Most people cannot recall a specific Coca-Cola Christmas advertisement, nor do they remember slogans or campaign copy.

What they remember instead is a feeling – warmth, generosity, a sense of ritual – and a Santa Claus who feels inseparable from it. Many even believe this version of Santa has always existed. That belief is not a misunderstanding, it is the outcome.

When branding succeeds at a cultural level, authorship disappears. The brand dissolves into cultural memory and is defended not as a corporate construct, but as tradition itself.

Source: Public domain

What Modern Brands Often Get Wrong About Branding

Many modern brands pursue relevance through constant reinvention: new identities, shifting tones of voice, refreshed values introduced year after year. But memory does not work that way.

Trust cannot be built with something that keeps reintroducing itself. Cultural memory requires patience, consistency, and restraint. Coca-Cola understood that meaning fractures when symbols change too often.

In a marketing landscape obsessed with speed, novelty, and optimization, they chose continuity. And continuity, over time, is what turns symbols into anchors rather than noise.

Conclusion

When we talk about the importance of branding in marketing, we are not simply talking about logos, colors, or visuals. We are talking about the ability to shape what is remembered, and what no longer needs explanation.

The Santa Claus we recognize today feels timeless, almost inevitable. That timelessness was designed. Branding matters not because it speaks louder, but because it stays consistent long enough to be believed. When done well, it teaches the world what to remember quietly, patiently, and without asking for credit.