How to Add a Manager to Your Google Business Profile (2026)

There is a right way and a costly way to give someone access to your Google Business Profile. The costly way is handing over your login.

That one shortcut is behind a surprising number of the profile problems we see: agencies that can’t be removed, former employees with permanent access, and business owners locked out of the listing that brings in most of their calls. Adding a manager properly takes two minutes and avoids all of it.

 

How to Add a Manager to Your Google Business Profile

You need to be signed in to a Google account that is an owner of the profile. Managers can’t add other users.

1. Sign in to the Google account that owns the profile.
2. Open your Business Profile. The quickest route is searching your business name on Google while signed in, or going to business.google.com if you manage several locations.
3. Select More (the three dots), then Business Profile settings.
4. Select People and access.
5. Select Add.
6. Enter the person’s email address. It must be linked to a Google account, so ask them for the right address first.
7. Under Access, choose Manager.
8. Select Invite.

The person gets an email invitation and gains access once they accept. Until then, nothing changes. You can cancel a pending invitation from the same People and access screen.

One thing to expect: new owners and managers have to wait seven days before they can use a few sensitive features, such as deleting the profile or removing other users. Everyday work like editing details, posting and replying to reviews is available straight away.

 

Owner vs Manager: What Each Role Can Do

Google Business Profile has three levels of access, and the difference between them matters more than most business owners realize.

• Primary owner: full control of the profile. There is only one per profile, and only the primary owner can transfer primary ownership to someone else.
• Owner: almost the same control, including adding and removing users and deleting the profile.
• Manager: can edit business information, reply to reviews, create posts, upload photos and view performance. Managers cannot add or remove users, and cannot remove the profile.

For an agency, an employee, or a freelancer, manager is almost always the correct role. It covers all of the day-to-day work and none of the control over who else has access.

 

Why Your Agency Should Never Be an Owner

This is the part most step-by-step guides skip, and it is the part that matters most.

An owner can add and remove other users. If an agency holds owner access and the relationship ends badly, or the agency simply stops responding, getting them off your profile can be slow and stressful. That profile is usually a business’s biggest single source of calls.

A manager can do everything legitimate SEO work requires: update information, publish posts, respond to reviews, add photos and read insights. There is no part of Google Business Profile optimization that needs ownership.

If an agency insists on owner access, it’s fair to ask why. The honest answer is rarely about your results. We cover more warning signs like this in red flags when hiring an SEO agency.

The same logic applies to passwords. Never share the login for the Google account that owns your profile. It gives access to everything else on that account, can’t be limited to the profile, and leaves no record of who changed what.

 

Who Should Have Which Level of Access

A simple rule of thumb:

• Owners: you, a business partner, and possibly one trusted long-term team member as a backup, so the business is never dependent on a single account.
• Managers: your SEO or marketing agency, staff who handle reviews and posts, and freelancers.
• No access: anyone who has left the business, any agency you no longer work with, and anyone on the list you can’t immediately identify.

 

How to Remove a Manager

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

Only owners can remove other users, though a manager can remove themselves. Their past review replies and posts stay on the profile after they’re removed.

Do this on the day someone leaves, not weeks later. Anyone still listed can change your business information, and a run of unexpected edits is one of the things that can put a profile under review. If your listing has suddenly vanished, our guide on why a business disappears from Google Maps overnight is the place to start.

 

A Two-Minute Access Audit

Open People and access and check:

• Can you name every owner and every manager listed?
• Is any former agency or former employee still there?
• Is the primary owner an account you personally control, on an email address you’ll still have in five years?
• Is that account protected with two-step verification?

The last point gets overlooked. If the account that owns your profile uses a reused password and no second step, your largest lead source is one data breach away from a problem.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

How do I add a manager to my Google Business Profile?

Sign in to an owner account, open your profile, go to More, Business Profile settings, then People and access. Select Add, enter their Google account email, choose Manager, and select Invite. They get access once they accept.

 

What is the difference between an owner and a manager?

Owners can add and remove users and delete the profile. Managers can do almost everything else, including editing information, posting, replying to reviews and uploading photos, but can’t manage users or remove the profile.

 

Should I give my SEO agency owner or manager access?

Manager. It covers all the work an agency needs to do, and it means you stay in control of who has access to your listing.

 

Why can’t a new manager do everything yet?

Google applies a seven-day waiting period to new owners and managers for sensitive actions such as removing users or deleting the profile. Normal editing works immediately.

 

Do managers need a Google account?

Yes. The invitation has to go to an email address linked to a Google account.

 

Can a manager delete my Google Business Profile?

No. Managers can’t remove the profile or change who has access to it.

 

What if a former agency still owns my profile?

Ask them to transfer it first. If they won’t or don’t respond, you can request ownership through Google. We walk through the full process in how to transfer ownership of a Google Business Profile.

 

How We Work With Client Profiles

We ask for manager access, never ownership. Your profile stays yours, and you can remove us at any time without a support ticket or an awkward conversation.

It’s the same principle behind the rest of how we work: plans are month to month with no lock-in, and clients stay because the results are worth staying for. If you’re locked out of your own listing, or a previous agency still holds ownership, get in touch and we’ll talk you through getting it back, whether or not you work with us.