How to get your Google Business Profile back from an old agency or employee

Ask whoever holds the profile to make you its primary owner under People and access. Google's third-party policy gives an agency 7 business days from your notice to hand back exclusive control. If nobody answers, a storefront or hybrid business requests access at business.google.com/add, and the owner gets 3 days to respond. A business with no shop or office contacts Google support instead and asks to transfer ownership of the listing.

By the Beyaoshy team15 min read

Who can hand it over: Only the primary owner can make someone else primary owner
A new owner's wait: 7 days from accepting the invite before removing users or moving primary ownership
If you are only a manager: You can edit hours, phone and website but cannot add or remove anyone
If nobody answers: Request access and the holder has 3 days to respond; with no shop or office, contact Google support
Agency's deadline: 7 business days from your notice, under Google's third-party policy
A second profile: Never. Google hides a duplicate from Search and Maps

Find out which account holds your profile

Google shows the management tools only to someone signed in to the Google Account associated with the profile (Find your business on Google), so the first job is working out which account that is.

Try every Google account the business has ever used

Sign in to each one in turn: the owner’s Gmail, the office manager’s, a shared front-desk login, the address on your website. With each, search Google for your business name and city, or for “my business”. If the editing tools appear, that account is already an owner or manager.

If Google Maps shows “Claim this business”, Google’s add or claim page says the profile is unverified and you can claim and verify it yourself. If the claim screen says “Someone else may manage this Business Profile”, someone already holds it, so use the request route below. If neither button appears, Google’s request ownership page says you might already be the owner, so finish trying your own accounts first.

Lost a password? Google’s account recovery page allows unlimited attempts; for a work account, such as your company’s Google Workspace, ask your administrator.

Read the list under People and access

Once in, open the profile and select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access. Google’s owners and managers page says users can see the names and email addresses of every owner and manager there, plus pending invites. If an agency address carries the Primary owner label and yours says Manager, the agency decides who else gets in.

When Google says someone else may manage it

If no account you control shows the profile, search for your business at business.google.com/add. Google’s request ownership page says a profile owned by someone else returns “Someone else may manage this Business Profile.” A practitioner reported in 2020 that the older version of this screen showed a hint of the owner’s email address (Local Marketing Institute). Google does not mention it, so treat it as a clue if it appears.

Primary owner, owner and manager: what each role controls

From Google’s owners and managers page, its primary ownership page and its removal page:

What the role allows	Primary	Owner	Manager
Make someone else primary owner	Yes	No	No
Add or remove users	Yes	Yes	No
Remove the profile’s content and managers	Yes	Unclear	No
Edit the name, category, hours, phone and links, or close a location	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manage Google Ads account links	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reply to reviews, publish posts, add photos	Yes	Yes	Yes
Leave the profile	After handing it on	Yes	Yes

On removal, the owners and managers page says an owner can “even delete the profile,” while the removal page says “Only the primary owners can remove the profile content and managers.” Both agree a manager cannot. Nor can a manager add or remove anyone, so a business whose login is only a manager runs the profile day to day and is shut out of the decision that counts. Each person needs an individual account; Google Groups cannot be owners or managers.

The message to send your old agency

The quickest recovery is the one the current primary owner does for you. Send the request by email, because Google’s complaint form asks for the date you first asked to have the third party removed. If you are ending the relationship, check your agreement’s termination and notice terms first: this email may count as notice. This is not legal advice; confirm with counsel. The switching checklist covers your other accounts too.

Subject: Business Profile ownership for (business name)

Hi (name), we are ending our work together on (date), and we are giving notice today, (date). Please add (your email) as an owner of our Google Business Profile for (business name and address) today, under Business Profile settings, then People and access. Google can refuse to make a new owner primary during their first 7 days, so as soon as it allows, please change that address’s role to Primary owner. If (your email) is already on the profile as a manager or owner, please change its role to Primary owner today instead. Google’s third-party policy requires agencies to hand back exclusive control within 7 business days of a client’s notice, so starting today keeps us inside that window.

Please also tell us whether the profile sits in your organization or a business group, and list any phone number, website or booking link on it that we do not own. Once we are Primary owner we will set your access to Manager; please keep it until we confirm everything has moved, and do not remove the profile, its photos or its posts, or mark it closed. A reply with the date of each change is all we need. Thank you.

Staying with the agency? Drop the first sentence, and in place of the policy sentence write: “Google’s third-party policy says a business decides whether a partner is a co-owner, a manager or has no access, so please make us Primary owner and keep Manager access.”

A shorter version for a former employee

The third-party policy is aimed at agencies, so leave it out:

Hi (name), you are still the primary owner of our Google Business Profile. Could you add (email) as an owner under Business Profile settings, then People and access? Google may not let that address become Primary owner for 7 days, so we will check back with you then to switch the role. After that you can select Stop managing. Thanks for helping.

What Google’s policies require of an agency

Seven business days. Google’s third-party policies say that within 7 business days of a client’s notice, an agency must let the client “regain exclusive control” of the profile and give up its own permissions.
The client keeps ownership. Businesses decide whether a partner gets co-owner, manager or no access, and every client “must retain ownership or co-ownership” at all times.
No ransom. The policy’s examples of untrustworthy behavior include an agency that “Keeps a profile hostage in exchange for money.”
Hand it over when asked. Google’s ownership guidelines tell anyone managing a profile they do not own, an SEO company included, to transfer ownership to the business owner “immediately upon request.”

These are Google’s platform rules, not a law or a clause in your contract. They carry weight because Google can act against the agency’s own account for breaking them.

The order a clean handover follows

Primary ownership can only move to someone already on the profile, so the steps run in this order:

First, the primary owner invites you. In People and access they select Add, enter your email, choose Owner and select Invite.
Next, you accept from Google’s email. Google says invited users become users as soon as they accept, and its 7-day limits for new owners start then, so note the date.
Then 7 days pass. Google warns that a new owner gets an error trying to remove other users, delete the profile or transfer primary ownership in that first week. It does not say plainly whether a brand-new owner can be made primary, but a practitioner who has handled dozens of transfers reports the switch fails until the week is up and tells clients to allow at least 8 to 9 days (Websites That Sell, 2025).
Then the role moves. The primary owner selects your name, then Edit next to Access, chooses Primary owner and saves. An error here usually means the week has not run yet; wait and try again.
Then you set the agency’s access. Google does not say what role the former primary owner keeps, and any owner can add and remove users, so select the agency’s name, then Edit next to Access, and choose Manager.
Last, the agency comes off. Once you have checked the profile, remove an agency you are leaving with Remove person rather than leaving it on as a manager: Google’s roles table lets a manager edit the name, category, phone number and website, and close a location.

You already control most of what customers see: Google’s roles table lets a manager edit the phone number, every URL, hours and Google Ads account links. Fix a phone number or booking link you do not own now. Do not select Stop managing; Google says you then can no longer change business info. Ask the primary owner to change your existing address to Primary owner. Google’s transfer page says primary ownership can go to an existing owner or manager, and its 7-day limit applies to new users, so an address that has been on the profile longer than a week should not need to wait. Put the ask in writing, and if 7 business days pass without the change, use the complaint form below. Google does not say whether requesting access works from an account already on the profile, so do not plan around it.

When the profile comes with a business you bought

Google’s guidelines for representing your business say that when you take over a business, the previous owner first adds you as an owner and then transfers ownership to you. Put that on the closing checklist, with the week in between, while the seller still answers your calls. Hold off on a new name until the transfer is done; the suspension guide explains which renames Google treats as a new business.

When nobody answers: request access through Google

Use this route when the holder ignores you or cannot be found. A holder who refuses can deny the request, which is when the complaint form comes in.

Storefronts and hybrid businesses

For a business customers visit, including one that also travels to customers, Google’s request ownership page gives these steps: go to business.google.com/add, enter the name and address, choose the business, select Request Access at the “Someone else may manage” message, fill out the form and submit it.

Request from an account the business will keep, ideally on your own domain, as the 2020 practitioner page recommends.

Service-area businesses with no shop or office

A business that serves customers at their location, with no physical shop or office, contacts Google support instead and enters Transfer ownership of listing in the “Tell us what we can help with” field. Google gives no response time for this route, so send your written request to the current holder first and keep every date.

Approved, denied or no reply after 3 days

Google emails you a confirmation and notifies the current owner, who has 3 days to respond.

Approved. You can manage the profile, subject to the 7-day limits for new owners.
Denied. Google says you can suggest an edit and can appeal, but links no appeal form. A denial from an agency you already asked in writing is evidence for the complaint below.
No reply. You may be able to claim it: in the confirmation email select View request, then Verify, or sign in and look for a Claim or Verify button. Google warns the option “isn’t always available.”

Verification after the profile comes back

The claim route ends in verification, and Google’s verification page says it picks the method, which “can’t be changed.”

Phone codes need a person. Phone menu systems will not get the code, so a tracking line in someone else’s account may route it away from you.
Video needs proof. Google’s video verification page asks for at least 30 unedited seconds; a service-area business can show a permit, invoice or utility bill in the profile’s name.
Postcards are fragile. Most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30, and editing the name, address or category meanwhile breaks the code.
Google’s check takes up to 5 business days, rarely longer.

Fix only what is wrong today, such as a phone number you do not own, and save cosmetic edits for after.

Keep reviews, photos and links through the switch

What a transfer keeps and what removal destroys

A transfer keeps the profile intact. Google’s transfer page says moving primary ownership keeps all the business info, reviews included.
A removed user’s work stays. Their review replies and posts remain on the profile.
Removing the profile is permanent. The removal page says removing its content and managers is permanent for every owner and manager: the posts, photos, videos and review replies they added are deleted, while customer reviews remain. Managing it again means verifying again.

Check the phone number, website and links the agency set

Google’s ownership guidelines say the phone number and website should be the business’s own, and website content “must be owned and managed by the business owner.” Check before the agency leaves:

Phone number. A line you do not pay for is probably a tracking number; ask whose account it sits in.
Website. It should point to a domain registered to you; the website and domain guide covers getting one back.
Booking and ordering links. They should lead to your own pages or tools.
Google Ads links. Find out whose ads account is linked; the Google Ads account guide covers that handover.

The free account ownership check runs the same questions across your ads, domain, website, analytics and tracking numbers.

If the profile sits in an agency’s business group or organization

Agencies can hold profiles in business groups or in an organization account built for third parties. Google says people can own or manage a single profile without joining the group (business group roles page) and that an organization manages a location only with its permission (organizations page). Ask for Primary owner on the profile itself, not a seat in the agency’s group.

Mistakes that make recovery slower

A second profile. Google hides duplicates from Search and Maps, and its suspension page says outright: “Do not create a new Business Profile for the same business.” If your profile was suspended rather than taken, read the suspension guide.
Reading out a verification code. Google says not to share it, “even with those who manage your Business Profile.” An agency asking for the postcard code so it can verify under its own login is asking for exactly that.
Paying someone who promises to recover your Google login. Google says you cannot call it for sign-in help and it works with no account or password recovery service.
Filing the same complaint repeatedly. The third-party policy warns that repeated unfounded submissions can get all further complaints rejected without assessment. File once, with evidence.

When an agency holds the profile hostage

If the agency refuses, lets 7 business days pass, or names a price, use Google’s third-party complaint form. Google asks you to try resolving it with the third party first, which your dated email shows.

What you can report includes a third party that “claimed your Business Profile without your consent or extorted consent from you” and one demanding money to get or keep your business listed.
What it asks for includes the date you first requested the third party’s removal, its name, and evidence of what it said or did. Attach a screenshot of your email showing both addresses, and any denial.
On consent, the policy says that in a dispute the third party must provide written or digital proof of consent.

Google may deal with the third party directly but does not share the outcome, and it “does not intervene on issues related to breach of contract.” For a serious violation it may suspend the profile, the managing account, or both, and its suspension page says that removing an owner’s Google Account removes all the locations that user owns. With the agency as owner, aim to get ownership moved rather than the agency punished. Unpaid invoices and who owns the agency’s content are questions for a lawyer. This is not legal advice; confirm with counsel.

Set it up so you are never locked out again

The business is primary owner and any agency is a manager. Google’s third-party policy puts it in the agency’s own terms: “If a client already has a Business Profile, ask them to invite you as a manager, not as an owner.”
A second owner from inside the business, added now. Our advice, not a Google rule: primary ownership only moves to someone already on the profile, so adding a partner as an owner today saves a week later.
Sign in now and then. Google lists not signing in recently as a reason ownership can be revoked, without saying how long is too long.
A yearly look at People and access. Remove anyone who has left and confirm whose address carries the Primary owner label.

Beyaoshy keeps every client’s Business Profile in the client’s name from the start, so leaving us never needs a message like the one above. Once the profile is back, the reviews playbook covers asking for reviews within Google’s rules.

Questions about getting a Business Profile back

Can my old agency delete my Google Business Profile?

Not if it is only a manager, but Google’s roles table lets a manager edit the name, category, phone number and website, and close a location, which can cost you as many calls. An owner may delete it, though Google’s pages disagree on whether only the primary owner can. Removal deletes posts, photos and owner replies for good and takes off every owner and manager, but customer reviews stay and the business can still appear on Search and Maps. Google’s tips for working with third parties say a third party cannot remove your business from Google without your permission; ask in writing that nothing be removed during the handover.

Will I lose my reviews if ownership changes hands?

Not through a proper transfer, which Google says keeps reviews. Owners lose them by starting a new profile: the reviews stay on the old one, and Google hides the new one as a duplicate. A merge keeps reviews but can drop your replies.

How long does it take to get my profile back from an agency?

If your address has been on the profile for more than a week, the switch has no waiting period. If it is not on the profile yet, plan on at least 8 or 9 days with a cooperative agency: the new owner’s week runs from the day you accept the invite, and a practitioner reports the primary role cannot move before it ends. Through a request, a storefront or hybrid business waits up to 3 days for an answer; if there is none, you may be able to claim and verify it, which Google reviews in up to 5 business days, longer if a postcard is involved. Support requests for service-area businesses have no stated response time.

The person who set it up left and used a personal Gmail. What now?

Send the short message above. If they will not or cannot act, a storefront or hybrid business requests access at business.google.com/add, which emails that Gmail and gives it 3 days to respond. A business with no shop or office contacts Google support and asks to transfer ownership of the listing.

Can Google force an agency to give my profile back?

Google acts on its policies, not your contract: a complaint can lead to action against the agency’s account, and Google will not tell you the outcome. Requesting access may let you claim it if the holder does not answer within 3 days, though Google says that option isn’t always available; a denial leaves the complaint and an appeal.

Should I just make a new profile instead?

No. A duplicate will not show on Search or Maps, and Google tells owners not to create a new profile for the same business. Recovering the original keeps its reviews, photos and history.

Sources

20 cited

Every figure and rule above links to its source where it appears. Rules change, so confirm anything legal with counsel.

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