Short answer: Your business should keep the primary owner role on its own Google account. Give staff, freelancers and agencies the manager role, which lets them update the profile and reply to reviews but not add or remove people. You can check and change this under Business Profile settings → People and access. If someone else holds the profile and you have no access at all, you can send them an access request through Google; if they don't reply within 3 days, Google may let you claim the profile yourself. (Google: Add or remove users; Google: Request ownership)
The rest of this guide explains the roles, the exact steps, and the situations where things usually go wrong.
Owners, primary owners and managers: what each can do
Google has owner and manager roles, with one owner designated the primary owner (source):
| Role | What they can do | What they can't do |
|---|---|---|
| Primary owner | Everything an owner can do. Only the primary owner can transfer primary ownership or remove the profile’s content and managers. A profile can have several owners but only one primary owner. | Remove themselves until they've passed primary ownership to someone else. |
| Owner | Edit business information, reply to reviews, manage posts and photos, add and remove users, and change access roles within Google’s ownership limits. | Transfer primary ownership or remove the profile’s content and managers (only the primary owner can do these). |
| Manager | Nearly everything an owner can: edit information, reply to reviews, manage posts, photos, products and services. | Add or remove users, or remove the profile. |
Removing profile content and managers is different from making a business disappear from Search and Maps. Google’s specific removal instructions reserve removal of profile content and managers for the primary owner. (Google: Remove a Business Profile from your account)
Our recommendation: the primary owner should be a Google account that belongs to the business and that the business owner can always sign in to, not a staff member's personal account and not an agency's account. Most people who help you only need the manager role.
How to see who has access right now
- Sign in at business.google.com with the Google account you believe manages the profile.
- Select More → Business Profile settings → People and access.
- Review the list. Check each name, email address and role.
If you can't select or change a user here, you probably only have manager access (source). Ask an owner to change your role, or see the section on getting access back below.
How to add an owner or manager
- Go to More → Business Profile settings → People and access.
- Select Add.
- Enter the person's email address.
- Under Access, choose Owner or Manager.
- Select Invite.
The person can accept the invitation straight away. Pending invitations appear under Pending, where you can cancel them. Google Groups can't be added as owners or managers. (Source)
Practical tip: use a named work email for each person rather than a shared login. When someone leaves, you remove one person rather than changing a password everyone knows.
How to remove someone (for example, a former employee or agency)
- Go to People and access.
- Select the person.
- Select Remove person.
Only owners can remove other owners and managers. Removing someone stops them changing your profile, but the review replies, posts and comments they made while they had access stay on the profile. (Source)
It's worth doing this check whenever someone with access leaves the business or a marketing contract ends.
How to transfer primary ownership
If the primary owner is currently a staff member or an agency, they can hand the role to the right account:
- The current primary owner adds the new person as an owner or manager first. The recipient must accept the invitation and complete the 7-day waiting period before primary ownership can be transferred.
- The current primary owner goes to People and access, selects the new person, selects Edit next to Access, chooses the primary owner option and saves.
(Google: Transfer primary ownership)
The 7-day wait catches people out
New owners and managers must wait 7 days before they can use some features. During that period they can't delete or restore the profile, remove other owners or managers, or be made primary owner; Google shows an error if you try. If the new person deletes their account within those 7 days, they're removed from the profile and must be invited again. The waiting period does not give managers owner-only permissions. (Source)
So if you're taking over from a departing employee or agency, start the handover at least a week before they leave. Add the business account first, wait the 7 days, then transfer primary ownership.
If someone else controls the profile and you have no access
This often happens when a former employee, a relative or a previous agency set up the profile under their own account. Google's process is (source):
- Go to business.google.com/add.
- Enter your business name and address, then choose your business from the list. You'll see a message that someone else may manage this profile.
- Select Request access, complete the form and select Submit.
- You'll receive a confirmation email. The current owner is notified and has 3 days to respond.
What happens next:
- Approved: you receive an email and can manage the profile.
- Denied: you receive an email. You can still suggest edits to the profile, and Google says you can try to appeal the decision.
- No response after 3 days: you may be able to claim the profile. Open the confirmation email, select View request, then Verify, and follow the instructions. Google notes that this option isn't always available.
Service-area businesses (no shop or office that customers visit) follow a different route: Google asks you to contact its support team and choose "Transfer ownership of listing" as the issue (source).
Before you request access, try the simple route. If you know who set up the profile, ask them to add your business-controlled Google account as an owner. This may be simpler than an ownership request; follow any verification prompts Google shows.
A simple access setup for a small business
Hypothetical example, for illustration only: [Business name] is a three-person renovation company. A sensible setup would be:
- Primary owner: a Google account the founder controls, used only for business tools.
- Owner (backup): the co-founder or a trusted senior person, so the business isn't locked out if one account has a problem.
- Manager: the office administrator who replies to reviews.
- Manager (temporary): an outside agency or freelancer, removed when the work ends.
Write down who has which role and review it every few months, and whenever someone joins or leaves.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Letting an agency or employee be the only owner. If they leave on bad terms, you are relying on Google's request process.
- Giving everyone owner access. Owners can change access for other users. Most helpers only need manager access.
- Leaving the handover until someone's last day. The 7-day wait means a rushed transfer can fail.
- Creating a second profile because you can't get into the first. Request access to the existing profile instead; duplicate profiles create confusion for customers and for you. (Google: Duplicate profiles and ownership issues)