How do you get access to your Google Business Profile?

Where do you find your Google Business Profile?

Search the business name in Google Search or Google Maps while signed in to each business-controlled Google Account. A profile that account can manage opens with management options. The Google Business Profile hub explains how the profile fits together; this access page starts with the account that can open it. For the sign-in sequence, see signing in to your Google Business Profile.

Open More → Business Profile settings → People and access. Google documents that this screen shows current users and pending invitations. Record each account, its role, and the account marked as primary owner before changing access. Google defines a Business Profile ID as the unique identifier for a listing and says to find it under More → Business Profile settings → Advanced settings, where it can be shared with support. Read Google's advanced Business Profile settings for that path.

What can an Owner do that a Manager cannot?

Google allows multiple Owners but only one primary owner. Owners can add or remove users. Managers cannot add or remove users or remove the profile. That difference decides who can recover access from a former employee or agency. Read Google's role definitions in Manage your Business Profile owners & managers.

Check the account list before choosing a recovery path:

• A business-controlled Owner can remove another Owner or Manager who is not the primary owner and invite a replacement.
• A business-controlled Manager can work on the profile but cannot remove the former user. Ask an Owner to make the change.
• No business-controlled account appears as an Owner or Manager. For a verified storefront or hybrid profile owned by someone else, use the documented ownership-request path. For a service-area business with no shop or office, use the support branch below.
• A business-controlled Manager appears but no business-controlled Owner does. Ask the current primary owner to change the Manager's access or transfer primary ownership; do not treat Request Access as a shortcut.

How do you add a business-controlled account or manager?

An existing Owner opens the profile, selects More → Business Profile settings → People and access, selects Add, enters the person's email address, chooses Owner or Manager, and selects Invite. Google says the same screen shows pending invitations and current users. The guide to adding owners and managers covers the role choice and the later primary-ownership transfer.

Keep a business-controlled Owner on the profile when an agency or other third party works on it. Google recommends limiting access to essential people and retaining owner access when a third party manages the profile. Add an agency as a Manager when it needs to work on the profile but does not need control of the user list.

What should you do if a former employee controls the profile?

If a business-controlled Owner still has access, open People and access, select the former employee, and choose Remove person. Google says only Owners can remove another user. Removing access stops the former employee from changing business information or performing administrative tasks, but it does not transfer primary ownership.

If the former employee is the primary owner, only that account can transfer primary ownership. If the account will cooperate, it should transfer primary ownership to an existing user from People and access → select the user → Edit → Primary owner → Save. If no business-controlled account can access the profile, use the storefront or hybrid, or service-area, branch below that matches the business model.

Can you remove a former agency if a business account is already an Owner?

Yes. A business-controlled Owner can open More → Business Profile settings → People and access, select the former agency's account, and choose Remove person. Google says the former user then cannot change business information or perform administrative tasks. Past replies to reviews, posts, comments, and other actions remain on the profile. Removing the account changes access; it does not transfer primary ownership.

Before removing an agency Owner, confirm that a business-controlled account remains an Owner. If the business account is only a Manager, ask an Owner to remove the agency or change the business account to Owner. If a business Owner was just added, Google says removal or a primary-owner change may error during the first 7 days.

What should you send when a former agency will not release the profile?

Send a clear notice that the third-party service is ending. Keep the notice, delivery record, contract, invoices, profile emails, and screenshots of People and access. These records preserve the business's evidence of control if Google asks for written or digital proof of authorization.

Google's third-party policy says the business decides whether a partner has Co-Owner, Manager, or no access, and that an end customer must retain ownership or co-ownership at all times. Within 7 business days after notice that the service is ending, the third party must provide a way to disassociate the Google Account used to manage the profile from its services, regain exclusive control, and remove its permissions. Read the Business Profile third-party policies.

Google says a person may claim and manage a Business Profile only with the business owner's express consent. Consent can be written or shown through a positive action such as checking a box. Verbal consent is not sufficient. If there is a conflict between a third party and the business, the third party must provide written or digital proof of consent. Do not preemptively claim a profile to encourage, persuade, or force a business to become a customer. Manipulation, impersonation, or access without direct written authorization is prohibited. If an agency claimed or manages the profile without consent, try to resolve the issue with the agency first. If that fails, use Google's report-a-violation form and keep the authorization records with the report.

How do you request ownership of a storefront or hybrid profile?

Use this route when a verified profile for the business is owned by someone else and no business-controlled Owner can remove or transfer access. If a business-controlled Manager or co-owner is already listed in People and access, follow the existing-user path below first. Google documents the storefront and hybrid flow as follows.

If Google shows a partial email you recognize, first check whether the business still controls that Google Account. If it does, recover the account and sign in before filing a profile-ownership request. Google Account Help provides the recovery route for a forgotten username or password; recovering the existing Owner account avoids starting a new ownership request.

1. Go to business.google.com/add.
2. Enter the business name and address.
3. Select the matching Business Profile.
4. Select Request Access.
5. Fill out the form, then select Submit.

What is the ownership path for a service-area business?

Use the service-area branch when the business serves customers at their locations and has no physical shop or office. Contact Google Business Profile support. In Tell us what we can help with, enter Transfer ownership of listing, then select Transfer ownership of listing as the issue description. Google documents this branch separately from the storefront or hybrid business.google.com/add flow.

Use Google's support paths responsibly. Google says they are intended to resolve legitimate business and technical issues. Do not misuse the support portal or flood it with invalid requests. Google lists false or misleading reports and reports made in bad faith as examples of repeated unfounded submissions, which can result in rejection of all further complaints without assessment. Read Google's Business Profile third-party policies.

The service-area business glossary entry explains the business model. A storefront or hybrid business should return to the ownership-request steps above, not use this support category.

What happens after you request ownership?

Google says it sends a confirmation email to the requester, notifies the current profile owner by email, and gives that owner 3 days to respond. The outcome determines the next action.

How do you transfer primary ownership after access is restored?

Only the current primary owner can transfer primary ownership. Open More → Business Profile settings → People and access, select the existing user, choose Edit, select Primary owner, and choose Save. Removing a former agency or employee does not perform this transfer.

Google says a new Owner or Manager must wait 7 days before managing every feature. During the first 7 days, Google may return an error when the new user tries to delete or undelete the profile, remove another owner or manager, or make someone the primary owner. If the new owner or manager leaves the business within the first 7 days, Google removes that user and the user must be added again. The 7-day role limitation is separate from the former agency's 7-business-day release window.

What should you check after regaining access?

Confirm that a business-controlled Google Account is an Owner and that the intended person holds primary ownership. Review People and access for former agency or employee accounts, pending invitations, and users who no longer need access. Remove unnecessary access only after the business account can manage the profile.

For future agency work, keep the business as Owner or co-owner and invite the agency with the role it needs. Google says the business decides whether a third party has Co-Owner, Manager, or no access. That arrangement keeps the business able to control the account list when the relationship ends.