How to give someone access to your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing people see when they search for you, so it’s worth keeping up to date: your opening hours, new photos, replies to reviews. If someone else is going to help with that, whether it’s a member of staff, a business partner or the people who look after your website, they’ll need access.

The safe way to do it is to invite them. Google lets you add people to your profile, each with their own Google account, so you never hand over your own login.

Never share your username and password

Don’t give your Google username and password to anyone, not a member of staff, not a friend who’s good with computers, and not the people who look after your website (including us). You don’t need to: Google’s tools are there to add someone to your profile, so they can help without ever seeing your login.

Your Business Profile is tied to your Google account, and that usually means your email too. Sharing the password gives someone access to all of it, not just your listing. It also means you can’t tell who changed what, and the only way to stop them is to change your password everywhere it’s saved.

Google is clear on this: each person who manages a profile needs their own Google account. Inviting them keeps your account yours, shows who has access, and lets you take it away with a couple of clicks.

Owner or manager: which to choose

When you invite someone, Google asks what kind of access to give them. There are two.

• Manager. They can do almost everything: update your details and hours, add photos and posts, reply to reviews and questions, and see how people found you. What they can’t do is add or remove people, or delete the profile. This is the right choice for anyone helping you, including a web designer or an agency.
• Owner. Full control, including adding and removing people and deleting the profile. Keep this for someone who runs the business with you.

There’s also one primary owner, usually whoever set the profile up. That should be you, or someone in your business, never an outside helper. The primary owner can’t be removed until primary ownership is handed to someone else.

How to invite someone

You’ll need the email address of the Google account they’ll use. Ask them for it first: it’s often their work Gmail, or an email address that’s linked to a Google account.

1. Go to business.google.com and sign in with the Google account that owns your profile.
2. Open your profile, then select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
3. Select Add at the top left.
4. Enter their email address.
5. Under Access, choose Manager (or Owner, if they run the business with you).
6. Select Invite.

They’ll get an email from Google. Once they accept, they can start helping straight away, and you’ll get an email to say they’ve accepted. Until then, they’re listed under Pending in People and access, where you can select Cancel invitation if you change your mind.

Google’s help pages give these steps for a computer. If you usually manage your profile on your phone, it’s easiest to do this one on a computer.

The first week

For their first seven days, someone new can’t do a few things, even as an owner: delete the profile, remove other people, or become the primary owner. Google does this to protect businesses from someone taking over a profile they’ve just been added to. Day-to-day jobs, like updating hours or replying to reviews, work straight away.

Removing someone

When someone stops helping you, remove their access. Only owners can do this.

1. Go to More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
2. Select the person.
3. Select Remove person.

They’ll get an email to say they’ve been removed. Anything they posted while they had access, such as replies to reviews, stays on your profile.

It’s worth looking at People and access once a year or so anyway. Old staff and past helpers are easy to forget, and the fewer people with access, the safer your listing.

If you’re selling or handing over the business

Giving a new owner normal owner access isn’t enough when the business changes hands. Make them the primary owner, so the reviews and details stay with the business: in People and access, select them, select Edit next to Access, choose Primary owner and save. They need to have been on the profile for seven days first.

Next step

If you’d rather not keep your listing up to date yourself, our care plan includes it: you invite us as a manager, and we keep your hours, photos and details right, alongside your website.