How to Add Users to Your Google Business Profile

To add a user to your Google Business Profile: sign in to Google, search your business name, open the More menu on your profile, choose Business Profile settings, then People and access, then Add. Enter their email, pick Owner or Manager, click Invite. Two minutes, no password sharing.

The rest of this guide covers roles, removing people, transferring primary ownership, giving an agency access without handing over your login, and what to do when an ex-employee or old agency still owns your listing.

A note on names. Google My Business (GMB) became Google Business Profile in late 2021, and the old GMB dashboard and app are gone. You now manage the profile inside Google Search and Maps while signed in. Menu labels shift every year or so. If one below does not match what you see, look for anything that says People, Users or Access, or check Google's help pages.

Google Business Profile user roles

There is one primary owner. There can be several owners and managers. Managers can do almost everything an owner can, except control who has access.

The old Site Manager role from the GMB days is gone; anyone who had it is now a Manager. My rule for clients: the primary owner is a Google account the business controls, and everyone else is a Manager unless they need to add people.

How to add a user to your Google Business Profile

You must be an owner. Managers will not see the option.

1. Sign in to the Google account that owns the profile.
2. Go to google.com and search your exact business name. Your profile panel appears with buttons like Edit profile and Read reviews. business.google.com lands you in the same place.
3. Click the three-dot More menu, then Business Profile settings.
4. Click People and access.
5. Click Add.
6. Enter the person's email address. It must be a Google account: Gmail, or a Google Workspace address on your domain.
7. Under Access, choose Owner or Manager.
8. Click Invite.

Google emails them an invitation. Once they accept, they have access and you get a confirmation. Until then they sit under Pending, where you can cancel the invite.

On a phone, use a mobile browser if the Google Maps app does not show People and access. Multi-location businesses use Business Profile Manager at business.google.com and can add people to a whole business group at once.

Once the right people are in, optimize the profile itself.

How to remove a user

1. Open Business Profile settings, then People and access.
2. Click the person you want to remove.
3. Click Remove person, then confirm.

Only owners can remove other owners and managers. The removed person gets an email. Their past review replies and posts stay on the profile.

To remove yourself, click your own name and choose Stop managing. A primary owner cannot do this until they transfer primary ownership.

How to transfer primary ownership

Do this when you sell the business, change your main Google account, or take the profile back from an agency.

1. Open People and access.
2. Click the person who should become primary owner. If they are not on the profile yet, add them as an Owner first.
3. Next to Access, click Edit.
4. Choose Primary owner, then Save.

Google puts newly added owners and managers through a waiting period, currently about a week, before they can take sensitive actions. During that window they cannot be made primary owner, remove other users or delete the profile. If you get an error, that is why.

The clean handover order: add them as Owner, wait, make them Primary owner, then remove yourself.

Giving an agency or freelancer access

Never hand over your Google password. Not to an agency, not to a freelancer, not to me. Roles exist so you can give access and take it back without touching your own account.

For a freelancer or small shop, add their work email as a Manager. That covers posts, photos, reviews, hours and performance: everything a marketing partner needs.

Agencies that manage many clients should use a Google organization account, set up once, with clients managed through business groups inside it. The agency gives you its organization ID and you invite that ID the way you would invite an email, or the agency requests access and you approve it. Access is tied to the agency, not to one employee's inbox, so their staff turnover cannot lock you out.

Either way, keep them at Manager. An agency should never be the primary owner. When I run local SEO for a client, I ask for Manager access and that is all I need.

Keep your Google Business account secure

Your profile lives inside your Google account. Lose the account, lose the profile. A few habits prevent most of the horror stories I hear from new clients.

• Make the primary owner a business-controlled account. A Google Workspace address on your domain, not the office manager's personal Gmail.
• Turn on 2-step verification on every account with owner access. It is the biggest single defence against a hijacked profile.
• Never share passwords. Add people instead. If a vendor insists on your login, find another vendor.
• Keep the recovery email and phone current on the owner account.
• Audit access quarterly. Open People and access and remove anyone who has left, any vendor you no longer use, and any email you do not recognize.
• Remove people the day they leave. Not the week after.

When a former employee or old agency owns the profile

Someone set the listing up years ago, left, and now you cannot add anyone or fix the hours. Three routes.

1. Ask them. They open People and access, add your business account as an Owner, and after the waiting period make you Primary owner. Then you remove them.

2. Request access. If they will not answer, go to business.google.com/add, enter your business name and address, and pick your business from the list. When Google says someone else may manage this profile, click Request access and fill in the form. Google emails the current owner, who has a few days to respond (three at the time of writing). Approved: you are in. Ignored: your confirmation email usually offers a way to verify the business yourself and claim it. Denied: appeal and contact support with proof, such as a business registration or a utility bill for the address.

3. Service-area business with no storefront. The request flow may not appear. Contact Business Profile support and choose the transfer ownership option.

If the listing was never verified at all, skip this. Follow how to claim your Google Business Profile and verify it under your own account.

Cannot see People and access?

Check these before you assume Google broke something.

• Wrong Google account. Check the avatar in the top right corner. Most "it disappeared" calls are this.
• You are a Manager. Only owners see the add and remove controls. Ask an owner to do it or promote you.
• The profile is not verified or is suspended. Verify it, or fix the policy issue and appeal, before anything else.
• Google cannot match your search. Search "my business" on google.com while signed in, or go to business.google.com.
• Several locations. Open Business Profile Manager, pick the location, then open its settings.
• The label changed. It has been called Users, Managers, and People and access. Look for any of those.

Google Business Profile users FAQ

How do I add a user to Google My Business?

Google My Business is now Google Business Profile and the old dashboard is gone. Sign in to Google, search your business name, click the More menu on your profile, choose Business Profile settings, then People and access, then Add. Enter the person's email, choose Owner or Manager and click Invite.

Can a manager add other users to a Google Business Profile?

No. Only owners can add or remove people. A manager can edit the profile, post updates, reply to reviews, view performance and remove themselves, but cannot change who else has access.

How many owners can a Google Business Profile have?

One primary owner and as many additional owners and managers as you need. Keep the list short. Every extra owner is another account that can delete the profile or lock you out.

Should my marketing agency be an owner or a manager?

Manager. That role covers everything an agency needs: posts, photos, hours, services, reviews and performance data. Owner access lets them add and remove people and delete the profile, which your business should keep for itself.

How long before a new owner can be made primary owner?

Google applies a waiting period to newly added owners and managers, currently about a week. During that time they cannot be made primary owner, remove other users or delete the profile. Add them as an Owner, wait, then transfer.

Need a hand with your listing?

Getting the right people on the profile is step one. Steps two and three are keeping it optimized and getting more Google reviews. If you would rather have that handled, see my SEO / AEO services, which include Google Business Profile management, or request a quote. I reply within one business day.