Who Should Own Your Google Business Profile and Other Listing Accounts?

By Bill Stilwell · Last reviewed October 16, 2026

The short answer

Your business, not an employee or an agency, should own its Google Business Profile (GBP) and every other important listing account. Use a business-owned login, add a second trusted owner, give outside helpers manager access, and keep the recovery phone and email under the business’s control. Google says an authorized representative, like an agency, must transfer ownership to the business owner right away when asked.

What this means

Owning a listing means you hold the top level of access and can add or remove everyone else. On GBP, there are three roles:

Primary owner. Each profile has exactly one. Only the primary owner can hand that role to someone else.
Owner. Full control, including adding and removing users and deleting the profile. A profile can have several owners.
Manager. Almost the same access, but Google says managers can’t add or remove users or delete the profile.

The same idea applies to Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp, Facebook, and industry directories. Each one has a login. Each login should belong to the business.

Say a roofing company let its web designer set up the Google profile, Yelp page, and Facebook page under the designer’s own accounts. Three years later, the designer stops answering emails. The owner can’t post holiday hours, reply to reviews, or fix a wrong phone number on any of them. That’s the problem this page prevents.

Why it matters

Lockouts. If one person controls the account and leaves, gets sick, or stops cooperating, the business can’t change its own listings.
Ownership can lapse. Google says it may revoke ownership in some cases, such as when an owner hasn’t signed in recently or Google can’t reach the owner by email after several tries.
Recovery headaches. An old recovery phone or a former employee’s email can make getting back in slow or impossible (see 11.7.4 Account Recovery Methods).
Agency changes. If an agency owns your listings, switching agencies can turn into a fight.

Who this applies to

Every business with any listing. It matters most if:

An agency, web designer, or past employee set up your listings
Only one person can sign in to your profile
You’re buying, selling, or bringing a partner into the business

How to do it

Make a list of every listing account: Google, Bing, Apple, Yelp, Facebook, and any industry directories (see 14.4.6 Citation Records).
For each one, write down which login owns it. Flag any that belong to a person or agency instead of the business.
Create or choose a business-owned login with two-step sign-in turned on (see 11.7.3 Multi-Factor Authentication and 14.1.5 Email).
In GBP, go to Business Profile settings, then People and access. Add the business login as an owner.
Make the business login the primary owner if it isn’t already. Google says new owners and managers must wait 7 days before they can transfer primary ownership, so add them early (see 14.8.3 Transferring Profile Ownership).
Add a second trusted owner from inside the business (see 8.4.6 Two Business-Controlled Administrators).
Change agencies and staff who only need to do the work to the manager role (see 14.8.2 Owners and Managers).
Update the recovery phone and backup email on each login so they point to the business.
Store every login in a business password manager and list it in your access inventory (see 11.7.5 Access Inventory).
Sign in to each listing every few months so it stays active, and remove people who leave (see 11.7.7 Removing Access When People Leave).

What proof to keep

Your list of listing accounts with the owning login for each
A screenshot of GBP People and access showing owners and managers
Recovery settings for each login, kept in your password manager
Written agreements with agencies that say the business owns its accounts

Keep these with your access records. Review them every quarter.

Common mistakes

Letting an agency be the primary owner. Agencies should be managers. The business should hold the top role.
Only one owner. One person’s absence becomes the business’s problem.
Adding a backup owner during a crisis. The 7-day waiting period means you can’t use the new owner’s full access right away.
Old recovery details. An old cell number on the account can lock you out for good.
Forgetting the smaller listings. Bing, Apple, and directories get forgotten until something is wrong.

When to get help from a pro

Information technology (IT) provider: to set up business-owned logins, two-step sign-in, and a password manager. Questions to ask:

If our main owner loses their phone, how do we get back into each account?
Who else should have access, and at what level?

A GBP specialist: if you can’t get ownership back from a past employee or agency.

Attorney: if a vendor refuses to hand over accounts the business paid for, or you’re buying a business and need its listings transferred in the deal.

Bill’s note

[Bill: add a short story or lesson here. For example, a client locked out of their profile because a past agency owned it, or the first thing you check when you take over a client’s listings.]

If you’d rather have this done for you, SiteSmarty handles Google Business Profile setup and management.

How I did this for SiteSmarty

[Date I did this:]
[What I actually did, step by step: who owns each SiteSmarty listing and who the backup owner is]
[What it cost and how long it took:]
[What surprised me or what I’d do differently:]
[Screenshot or photo to add, with private info blurred: GBP People and access, and the listing account list]
[Result so far:]

Questions people ask

Should my marketing agency own my Google listing? No. Give the agency manager access. Google says authorized representatives must transfer ownership to the business owner right away when asked.

How do I avoid getting locked out? Keep at least two business owners, use a business-owned login, and keep recovery details current.

Can Google take away ownership of my profile? Google says it may revoke ownership in some cases, such as when an owner hasn’t signed in recently or can’t be reached by email. You can reverify or request ownership if that happens.

Which listing accounts should my business control? All of them. Google, Bing, Apple, Yelp, Facebook, and any directory that lists your business.

Audit check

Question: Does the business own every important listing account through a business-controlled login, with a second owner and current recovery details?
Pass looks like: A business login as primary owner on GBP. A second business owner. Agencies and staff as managers. Recovery details point to the business. Every listing account on the access list.
Fail looks like: An agency or former employee as the only owner. One owner with no backup. Old recovery phone or email. Listings nobody can sign in to.
Evidence to collect: Screenshot of GBP People and access, the listing account list, recovery settings in the password manager, and agency agreements.

Where this fits

Do this first: 14.2.6 Duplicate Profiles, 14.1.5 Email

Do this next: 14.4.5 Listing Monitoring

Sources

Google Business Profile Help, "Manage your Business Profile owners and managers" (checked October 16, 2026)
Google Business Profile Help, "Transfer primary ownership of a Business Profile" (checked October 16, 2026)
Google Business Profile Help, "Business eligibility and ownership guidelines" (checked October 16, 2026)

This page explains general rules and Bill's own experience. It is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation.