How to add a manager to your Google Business Profile

To add a manager to your Google Business Profile, open the profile while signed in as an owner, go to the menu, then Business Profile settings, then People and access. Click Add, type the person's e-mail address, choose Manager, and click Invite. It takes about a minute. The harder questions are which role to give, who should stay the owner, and what to do when the invitation never seems to arrive. This guide covers all three.

Owner or manager: which one to give

Google has two roles, plus one special owner.

Google's own description is that managers have "mostly the same access to the profile as owners". So a manager can do the daily work without being able to lock you out. For anyone outside the business, Manager is the right choice.

One more reason to keep primary ownership yourself: Google says only primary owners can remove a profile's content and managers, and that doing so permanently deletes the posts, photos and review replies made by owners and managers. That is not a power to hand to an agency.

Add a manager, step by step

1. Sign in to the Google account that owns the profile, then open your Business Profile. Searching Google for your business name usually brings it up with your owner tools.
2. Select the menu (More), then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
3. At the top left, select Add.
4. Enter the person's e-mail address.
5. Under Access, choose Manager.
6. Select Invite.

Google says the invited person can accept and "become users right away", and you get an e-mail when they do. Until then, they are listed under Pending on the same People and access page.

Two limits to know before you start. Each person needs their own Google Account; that is the whole point, because nobody has to share a password. And Google does not allow a Google Group as an owner or manager, so invite a real person's address, not a team list.

No profile to manage yet? Start with What is a Google Business Profile, and is it free?

What happens in the first 7 days

Google limits every new owner and manager for 7 days. During that week, they get an error if they try to:

• delete or undelete the profile
• remove other owners or managers
• make themselves or someone else the primary owner

Daily work, such as replying to reviews or updating hours, is not on Google's list. In effect the waiting period is a safety lock: someone who just got access cannot remove the rest of you or take over the profile.

When something goes wrong

The invitation never arrived. Open People and access and look under Pending. Check that the address is spelled exactly right, then ask the person to look in their spam and promotions folders. If the address is not a Google Account, they will need to create one or give you the address of the one they use. If it still does not turn up, select the pending invite, choose Cancel invitation, and invite them again.

You do not see an Add button. Only owners can add people. If you cannot add anyone, you are probably signed in with a manager account, or with a different Google account from the one that owns the profile. Try the other Google accounts you use for the business.

Someone else owns the profile. This happens a lot with old web designers, former partners or a previous manager of the shop. Google has a request process: go to business.google.com/add, enter your business name and address, pick your business from the list, and when Google says someone else may manage the profile, select Request Access and fill in the form. The current owner gets an e-mail and has 3 days to answer. If they do not, you may get the option to claim the profile by verifying it yourself, though Google says that option is not always available. For a business without a shop or office, Google asks you to contact its support and choose "Transfer ownership of listing" instead.

You are selling the business or stepping back. Add the new owner first, then make them primary owner: in People and access, select the person, next to Access select Edit, choose Primary owner and Save. Google says that transferring primary ownership to the new owner is what keeps your business info, like reviews, in place. Leave some time for it: the 7-day limit for new owners and managers covers changes to primary ownership.

Taking access back

When an employee leaves or you stop working with an agency, open People and access, select the person and choose Remove person. Google sends them an e-mail. They can no longer change anything, but their past review replies and posts stay on the profile, so you do not lose that history.

To change someone's role instead, select them, choose Edit next to Access, pick the new role and Save. Only owners can do this.

Make it a habit to read the People and access list once or twice a year. Google notes that everyone with access can see the names and e-mail addresses of the other owners and managers, which is one more reason to keep the list short and current. We wrote the same kind of checklist for Facebook in How to remove an admin from your Facebook Page.

Adding us as your manager

If you choose our Reviews & Google Profile add-on, at $39 a month, this is exactly how we get in: you invite our address as a manager with the six steps above, and you stay the primary owner. From then on we reply to every new Google and Facebook review, keep your hours, services and photos current, and flag any review that needs you. If you just want your office manager to update holiday hours, you do not need us: make them a manager and you are done. See the add-on.