Guides · Accounts and access
How to Transfer Ownership of a Google Business Profile
By Josh Croom · October 27, 2026 · 10 min read
To transfer ownership of a Google Business Profile, the primary owner adds the new person as an owner, waits out Google's 7-day limit on new owners, then makes them the primary owner under People and access. Do it before the person who holds the profile leaves, because once they're gone, getting back in means a request to Google and a wait.
The code goes to a phone nobody has
Day 30. Your office manager gave two weeks' notice, trained her replacement and left on good terms. A month later, you sit down to update your holiday hours on Google.
Google asks for a sign-in code, and it sends that code to her old cell phone. Your reviews, photos and hours still belong to your business, but the only login that can change them belongs to someone who has moved on. Now you're texting a former employee and hoping she answers, or asking Google to hand you a profile you thought you already owned.
A 20-minute meeting during her notice period, plus two minutes a week later, would have kept all of it in your hands. She'd have added a work email as an owner and then handed it the top role, and you'd have changed the hours yourself in a minute.
How often the keys change hands
We looked at our own clients to see how often the person holding the logins changes, and how often only one person holds them.
- 29%of our clients had a staff change in one yearsomeone leaving, retiring, going on leave or taking over
- 67%of our clients' Google Ads accounts have one client adminexactly one login on the client's side holds admin access
- 7 daysGoogle's wait for a brand new ownerbefore they can remove other users or pass the top role on
The three roles on a Business Profile
Google gives every Business Profile three levels of access. Only the role at the top can hand the whole profile over to someone new.
The primary owner can't remove themselves until they've passed that role to someone else, which keeps a profile from ending up with nobody in charge. It also means the person leaving has to do the handoff themselves, because Google lets only the primary owner make that change.
When we manage a profile for a client, we ask for owner access and never for primary owner, so the top role always stays with the business.
| Role | What it can do | Who should hold it |
|---|---|---|
| Primary owner | Everything an owner can do, plus pass the top role to someone else. Each profile has only one. | A shared work email your business controls |
| Owner | Full control: add and remove people, edit every detail, reply to reviews and delete the profile. | A second leader, and your agency if you have one |
| Manager | Nearly everything an owner can do, except add or remove people or remove the profile. | Staff who post updates and answer reviews |
How to transfer ownership, step by step
These steps follow Google's help pages as they read in October 2026. The person leaving usually handles steps 2 and 5 from their own login, so book the time while they still work for you.
Step 1
Pick the login that will own it
Use a shared work email on your own domain that two leaders can open, rather than one person's address. A login that belongs to a role stays with your business when a person leaves.
Step 2
Invite the new owner
In your Business Profile, open the menu and choose Business Profile settings, then People and access. Select Add, enter the work email, choose Owner under Access and send the invite.
Step 3
Accept the invite
The new owner opens the email and accepts, and Google adds them to the profile right away. The person who sent the invite gets an email once it's accepted.
Step 4
Wait out the 7 days
Google limits a brand new owner for their first 7 days. That week they can't delete the profile or remove other owners or managers, and Google may show an error if anyone tries to make them the primary owner. Send the invite early in the notice period, so the week runs out before the last day.
Step 5
Hand over the top role
Once the week is up, the current primary owner goes back to People and access and selects the new owner. Next to Access they choose Edit, pick Primary owner and save the change.
Step 6
Remove the old login last
After the handoff, remove the person who is leaving from People and access. Their old review replies and posts stay on the profile, but they can't change anything after you remove them.
If the primary owner already left
Ask them first. A friendly message to a former employee is the fastest way back in when they answer, because they can send the invite in a few minutes and hand over the top role a week later.
When that doesn't work, request ownership from Google. 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 the profile, select Request Access, fill out the form and submit it.
Google emails the current owner, who has 3 days to respond. If they approve, you can manage the profile. If they don't answer in 3 days, you may get the option to claim it by verifying your business, though Google says that option isn't always there. If they say no, you can still suggest edits to the profile and appeal the decision.
A service-area business uses a different path. If you go to the customer's home and have no shop or office, Google asks you to contact its support team and choose Transfer ownership of listing as the issue.
Selling the business works the same way. Google says to transfer primary ownership of the profile to the new owner, rather than having them start a fresh one, because that keeps your business info, like your reviews, in place.
Who should hold the keys
Held by one person
- The only owner signs in with a personal email.
- Sign-in codes go to one person's cell phone.
- The domain renews on someone's own card.
- Nobody else knows which accounts exist.
Held by the business
- A shared work email holds the top role on every account.
- A second leader holds owner or admin access as a backup.
- Sign-in codes go to a work phone or the shared email.
- A written list names every account and who holds it.
Don't stop at the Business Profile
The person leaving may hold more than your Google listing, so walk through every account while you still have their help.
Google Ads names its top access level Admin. Only an admin can give someone access, change access levels, and accept or remove a link to a manager account. Add your new person as an admin under Admin, then Access and security, before you remove anyone.
Google warns that an account with only one admin can lose access to its tags if that person becomes unavailable, and it suggests adding at least one more. On 67% of our clients' Google Ads accounts, exactly one login on the client's side holds admin access. A second admin closes that gap before anyone gives notice, which is why our PPC audit checklist ends with an access check.
Then cover the rest: Google Analytics and Tag Manager, your website login and host, your domain and its DNS, your social pages and their ad accounts, and your email newsletter tool. If you have a Google Ad Grant, add the Google for Nonprofits account behind it, which our Google Ad Grants guide explains. The domain deserves extra care, because a domain that lapses on an old card can take your website and your email down with it.
What to ask before their last day
Send something like this in the first week of notice. Keep it friendly, because you need their help for one more meeting.
Before your last day, can we walk through a few accounts together? Which ones send sign-in codes to your phone?
Google Ads, the Google listing and the website. I can bring my laptop Tuesday.
Perfect. Can you also list anything you pay for on your own card, and when it renews? And is anything set to post after you leave?
The domain is on my card. It renews in March.
The 20-minute handoff meeting
Book it in the first week of notice and bring a laptop and the checklist below. Have them sign in to each account while you watch, so you see what's really there rather than what anyone remembers.
For each account, add the new owner or admin first, and only then take anything away. Move sign-in codes and recovery details to a work phone and a work email. If an account lives on their personal email, make your work email its owner before their address comes off. On their last day, remove their access and change any passwords you shared.
Could you get back in tomorrow?
Answer four questions about your own accounts. Your answers stay on your device.
Does a work email your business controls hold the primary owner role on your Business Profile?
Does a second person on your side hold owner or admin access on your Business Profile and Google Ads?
Do sign-in codes go to a work phone or a shared email instead of one person's cell?
Could you name every account, who holds it and which card pays for it?
Your keys are in good shape. Check the list twice a year, because roles drift every time someone joins or leaves.
You're partway there. Fix the first question you answered No this week, while everyone who holds a login still works for you.
Start with the primary owner role on your Business Profile, because getting it back without the old owner means a request to Google and a wait.
The handoff checklist
Tick each account off as you move it. Your ticks stay on this device.
0 of 8 done
How we handle access
The account stays yours when we run Google Ads management for you. The Google account is in your business name. We build and manage it. If we ever part ways, you keep the account and the call data.
If you're not sure who holds your accounts today, book a call with Miguel. He'll go through what you have, who holds each login and which one to move first.
Questions people ask
How do I transfer ownership of my Google Business Profile?
Add the new person as an owner under Business Profile settings, then People and access. Once they accept and their first 7 days pass, the current primary owner selects them, chooses Edit next to Access, picks Primary owner and saves.
What's the difference between an owner and a manager on a Business Profile?
An owner has full control, including adding and removing people and deleting the profile. A manager can do almost everything else, like editing details, posting and replying to reviews, but can't add or remove people or remove the profile.
Can a new owner remove the old owner right away?
No. Google makes a new owner or manager wait 7 days before they can remove other owners or managers, delete the profile or make anyone the primary owner.
What if the old owner left and won't respond?
Request ownership at business.google.com/add. Google emails the current owner, who has 3 days to answer, and if nobody answers you may get the option to claim the profile by verifying your business.
Should my marketing agency be the primary owner?
No. Keep the primary owner role on a work email your business controls, and give your agency owner access. Your agency can still do the work, and the top role never leaves your hands.
See how we run Google Ads in an account you own
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