How to Transfer Ownership of a Google Business Profile

Most people searching for this are in one of three situations. They’re selling the business, they’re moving marketing in-house, or they’re trying to get their listing back from an agency that has stopped replying.

The first two are simple. The third is the most common, and it’s the one where knowing the process in advance saves the most time. All three are covered below.

 

First, Check Where You Stand

Open your Business Profile, select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access. Your role decides what you can do.

• You’re the primary owner: you can transfer ownership yourself. Follow the steps in the next section.
• You’re an owner but not the primary owner: only the primary owner can transfer primary ownership. Ask them to do it.
• You’re a manager: managers can’t change who has access. Ask an owner.
• You can’t access the profile at all: skip to the section on getting a profile back.

 

How to Transfer Primary Ownership

1. Sign in to the account that is currently the primary owner.
2. Go to Business Profile settings, then People and access.
3. If the new owner isn’t listed yet, select Add, enter their Google account email, choose Owner, and select Invite.
4. Wait for them to accept the invitation.
5. Once they’ve been on the profile for at least seven days, return to People and access and select them.
6. Next to Access, select Edit, choose Primary owner, and save.

The seven-day wait is the step that catches people out. Google won’t let someone be made primary owner in their first seven days on a profile, and trying early produces an error. If you’re handing over a business on a set date, add the new owner at least a week before.

After the transfer, the previous primary owner remains on the profile as a regular owner. Remove them if they shouldn’t keep access.

 

Selling a Business: The Full Handover

Transferring the profile is one item on a longer list. Missing the others is how a new owner ends up with a listing they can’t fully control.

• Transfer: primary ownership of the Business Profile, to a Google account the buyer controls rather than handing over the seller’s account.
• Hand over separately: Google Analytics, Search Console, Google Ads, the domain, website hosting, and logins for any directory listings in the business name. None of these move with the Business Profile.
• Remove: former owners, managers, agencies and staff who no longer need access.
• Update gradually: if the name, phone number or address is changing, space the edits out rather than making them all at once. Large changes made together can put a profile under review, and a suspension during a handover is badly timed.

Reviews stay with the profile when ownership changes, which is usually the most valuable part of what’s being handed over. Creating a new profile instead of transferring the existing one means starting from zero reviews, and risks a duplicate listing. We explain why duplicates hurt in why duplicate listings split your rankings in half.

 

How to Get Your Profile Back From a Former Agency

This is the situation most people are really in. A previous agency set up the profile on their own account, a former employee owns it, or the owning account belongs to someone who has left.

 

Step 1: Ask directly

Email the current owner and ask them to add you as an owner and transfer primary ownership. Most legitimate agencies will do it without fuss, and it’s much faster than going through Google.

 

Step 2: Request ownership through Google

1. Go to business.google.com/add.
2. Enter your business name and address, and choose your business from the list.
3. You’ll see a message that someone else may manage the profile. Select Request access.
4. Fill in the form and submit it.

The current owner is notified by email and has three days to respond. If they approve, you get access. If they deny the request, you’re told and can appeal the decision.

 

Step 3: If nobody responds

If there’s no response after three days, you may get the option to claim the profile yourself. Open the confirmation email from your request, select the option to view the request, and follow the verification steps.

Service-area businesses that don’t show an address work differently. For these, Google asks you to contact their support team rather than using the standard request form. Our guide on ranking a service business without showing your address covers how these profiles work more generally.

 

Step 4: Have your proof ready

Whichever route you take, be ready to show the business is yours. Useful evidence includes business registration documents, a utility bill or lease at the business address, photos of signage or branded vehicles, and a business bank or tax document. Gather it before you start rather than in the middle of an appeal.

 

How to Never Be Locked Out Again

Two rules prevent almost every ownership dispute.

You own the profile: the primary owner should always be a Google account you personally control, on an email address you’ll still have in five years. Not an agency’s account, not a staff member’s personal email, and not a shared inbox nobody is responsible for.

Third parties get manager access: a manager can do everything an agency needs to do. Ownership only adds control over who else has access, which is exactly the power you don’t want someone else holding. Here’s how to add a manager to your Google Business Profile the right way.

 

What a Transfer Doesn’t Do

• It doesn’t fix a suspension: a suspended profile stays suspended after a transfer. Resolve the issue first.
• It doesn’t merge duplicate listings: those need handling separately.
• It doesn’t move other Google accounts: Analytics, Search Console and Ads each need their own handover.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

How do I transfer ownership of a Google Business Profile?

As primary owner, add the new person as an owner in People and access. After they accept and have been on the profile for seven days, edit their access and make them primary owner.

 

Why am I getting an error when I try to transfer ownership?

Most often, the person was added less than seven days ago. Google requires new owners and managers to wait seven days before they can be made primary owner. The other common cause is that you aren’t the primary owner yourself.

 

How long does an ownership request take?

The current owner has three days to respond. If they don’t, you may be able to claim the profile through the link in your confirmation email.

 

Do reviews transfer with the profile?

Yes. Reviews belong to the listing, so they stay when ownership changes. That’s the main reason to transfer an existing profile rather than create a new one.

 

Can a manager transfer ownership?

No. Only the primary owner can transfer primary ownership.

 

Where do I find the profile ID if Google support asks for it?

Under Business Profile settings, then Advanced settings. We cover it step by step in how to find your Google Business Profile ID.

 

We Work as Managers, Never Owners

We don’t take ownership of client profiles. You keep the profile, and you can remove our access whenever you like. Plans are month to month with no lock-in, and if we stop working together, the profile, the content and the rankings built along the way all stay with you.

If a previous agency is holding your profile and has gone quiet, sort that out before any ranking work starts. Get in touch and we’ll walk you through getting it back, whether or not you end up working with us.