How to add a manager to your Google Business Profile

Adding someone to a Google Business Profile takes about a minute. Choosing the right role for them is the part that matters, because the role decides whether that person can later remove you. This guide covers the steps first and the judgment second.

The menu paths below are from Google's Business Profile help pages as of October 2026. Google renames these screens often. If a label does not match what you see, look for the closest equivalent: the order of steps rarely changes even when the words do.

Owner vs manager: which role to give

There are three levels. One primary owner, any number of owners, and any number of managers. Google used to call managers "site managers". If you see that phrase in an old guide, it means the same thing.

The rule of thumb is simple. Give Manager to anyone who does the work: an employee who answers reviews, a freelancer who posts photos, an agency running your local search. Give Owner only to people who are the business, such as a co-owner or a business partner. A manager can do the job. An owner can also lock everyone else out.

How to add a manager, step by step

1. Sign in with the Google account that is an owner on the profile, and go to business.google.com. Searching your business name on Google while signed in also brings up the management panel.
2. Select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
3. At the top left of that screen, select Add.
4. Enter the email address of the person you are adding. It needs to be a Google account. It does not have to be a Gmail address.
5. Under Access, select Manager.
6. Select Invite.

The person gets an email invitation and has to accept it before anything changes. Google emails you when they do. Until then, they show in People and access under a Pending heading. If you invited the wrong address, find it under Pending and select Cancel invitation.

How to remove a manager or owner

1. Go to business.google.com and open More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
2. Select the person you want to remove.
3. Select Remove person.

Google emails the removed person and their admin access ends. Anything they already published stays: review replies, posts and comments they made remain on the profile. If one of those needs to go, you remove it separately.

To remove yourself, select your own name in the list, then Stop managing, then Confirm. If you are the primary owner, Google will not let you do this until you have transferred primary ownership to someone else.

How to change someone from manager to owner, or back

1. Open People and access and select the person.
2. Next to Access, select Edit.
3. Choose the new role and select Save.

Only owners can change roles. Demoting an owner to manager is the cleanest way to keep someone useful while taking away their ability to remove other people.

The 7-day wait that catches people out

New owners and managers cannot do everything straight away. For their first 7 days, Google blocks them from deleting or undeleting the profile, removing other owners or managers, and transferring primary ownership. If you try to make someone primary owner during their first week, you get an error.

This matters most when somebody is leaving. If your current primary owner is a manager who gave notice on Friday, adding a replacement on their last day is too late to complete a transfer before they go. Add the new person at least a week ahead. Google's help pages also say that if a new primary owner leaves within those 7 days, they are removed and have to be added again.

How to transfer primary ownership

1. Make sure the person who will become primary owner is already on the profile as an owner or manager, and has been for more than 7 days.
2. Signed in as the current primary owner, open More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
3. Select that person, select the edit icon next to Access, choose the primary owner option, and save.

Only the current primary owner can do this. An ordinary owner cannot promote themselves or anyone else to primary.

What happens if the only owner leaves

This is the scenario the whole permissions system is designed around, and the one most small businesses are unprepared for. If the only owner is an employee who left, or a supplier who stopped answering, the managers who remain can keep editing but cannot add anyone, remove anyone or take ownership.

If you can still reach the owner, ask them in writing to transfer primary ownership to an account the business controls. If you cannot, Google has a request process:

1. Go to business.google.com/add and enter your business name and address.
2. Pick your business from the list. Google shows a message that someone else may manage this Business Profile.
3. Select Request access and complete the form.
4. Google emails the current owner, who has 3 days to respond.
5. If they do not respond, the confirmation email you received may give you a View request option that leads to verification. Google says this option is not always available.
6. If they refuse, you get a rejection email. You can still suggest edits to the listing, or appeal the decision.

If the person who holds the profile is in a contract dispute with you, this stops being a settings question and becomes a legal one. Talk to a lawyer before you escalate.

A setup that survives staff turnover

• Primary owner: a Google account the business itself controls, such as one tied to a shared business mailbox, with its password and recovery details stored where the owner of the business can reach them.
• A second owner: the business owner personally, so there is always a person who can act if the shared account has a problem.
• Managers: everyone else who touches the profile, including any agency or freelancer.
• A calendar reminder twice a year to open People and access and remove anyone who has left.

An agency that asks to be primary owner of your profile "to make things easier" is asking for more than the work requires. Manager access is enough to run local search for a business.

What to do next

Open People and access now and read every row. Confirm who the primary owner is, make sure it is an account the business controls, and downgrade or remove anyone who should not be there. It takes five minutes and you can do it yourself. If you would rather have someone set it up and hand you a written record of who holds what, Corsa Media House does that as part of its local search work, with the business as owner and us as a manager.