How to Give and Request Access to Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business)

If you’re a local business trying to attract customers, you need to be easily found online. A quick first step to getting noticed (even without a website or a social media following) is to set up your Google Business Profile. With a free Google Business Profile account, your business information (such as operating hours) show up on search engine results, alongside with any user-generated customer reviews and photos.

Managing access to a Google Business Profile is often a team effort from both businesses and the marketing professionals who support them.

• Part 1: For Business Owners: Learn how to give access to your Google Business Profile without sharing passwords.
• Part 2: For Agencies & Freelancers: Request access from clients in a professional, secure manner to get the permissions needed to manage and optimize their profile.
• Part 3: Automate access requests with Leadsie. Want to save time on requesting access to multiple Google profiles and social media accounts? Part 3 shows you how to make it super easy for your clients, even the non-tech-savvy ones!

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What is a Google Business Profile?

A Google Business Profile is a free tool for local businesses that serve customers face-to-face to manage their online presence on Google Maps and Google Search results. Formerly known as Google My Business, it was streamlined and renamed in 2021. 

With a profile, your business will appear on Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping. A Google Business Profile shows up alongside search results and looks like this:

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Part 1: How to give access to a Google Business Profile

There are two ways to share access to your Google Business Profile, depending on whether the person you're inviting has a personal Google account or an Business Organization Account. 

💡 Important note for inviting organization accounts: You cannot invite these users with an email address alone. You must use their full name as it is listed in their directory.

The steps for both options are listed below.

i) Invite an individual with their email address

Step 1: Click 'Sign in' or 'Manage now' in the top right corner of this page: https://www.google.com/business/‍

Step 2: This is your Business Profile Manager dashboard. Click 'See your profile' for the business you want to add someone to.
💡 Note: You must be the profile owner to grant access to others

Step 3: Click on the 3 dots (⠇) in the top right, then select 'Business Profile settings.'

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Step 4: On the popup, select 'People and access.'

Step 5: Click 'Add.'

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Step 6: Enter the email address of the person you want to add. Choose whether you want them to be an owner or a manager. We recommend giving agencies and freelancers 'Manager access'.
💡 If you’re inviting an organization account, skip to the next section (section 1b).

Step 7: The invited person will receive a confirmation email. After they click 'Accept', they will have access to your Business Profile.

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b) How to invite someone with a Business Profile Group account

1. Follow the steps in the above section till Step 6; here, you will paste the invitee's Location Group or Business Profile Group ID into the email address field like this:

If the Business Profile group exists, you will see it in a drop down box. 

2. Select the Business Profile group you want to invite. 

3. Click 'Invite'

4. They will see your invitation in the Manage Invitations section of their organization dashboard.

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Part 2: How to request access to a Google Business Profile

If you’re an agency or freelancer who needs to get access to someone's Google Business Profile, there are two options to do so. We'll start with the manual method of requesting access, followed by the automated (scalable) method in Part 3.

i) Request access using an individual Google account

Step 1: Go to and login at this page: https://business.google.com/create

Step 2: Type in the name of the business you want to manage to search for it.
→ Select the correct business from the dropdown.
→ Click 'Request Access.'

🔎 Seeing either of these two screens? The steps are the same—type in the name of the business profile to search for it. Don't worry, you are not creating a new profile at this stage!

or

‍💡 Pro tip: Can't find the business from the list? You'll have to ask the profile owner to add you manually with the steps in Part 1, or you can request access with Leadsie (Part 3) instead.

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Step 3: Google will confirm that someone else may be managing this business profile. Click 'Request Access.'

Step 4: Fill out the access request form and click 'Submit'.
Then wait for the profile owner to grant you access.

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ii) How to request access to a Google Business Profile using an Organization Business Profile Manager

1. Go to business.google.com/agencysignup to set up your Organization Business Profile Manager account

2. Enter your agency website and connect it to your Google account

3. Sign in to your Google Organization Business Profile Manager

4. Click on Manage invitations, where you can see any invites from your clients:

You can request access to businesses that are already claimed by clicking Request access in the top right corner

5. Select the Organization and Business Group to assign

6. Type in the name of the business you want to request access to

7. Google will confirm this business is already claimed & ask you to enter your agency details

8. Click Request Access

9. Your client will receive your request and will need to confirm it

10. You can see all your pending requests in your Organization dashboard under Manage Invitations and Requests Sent: 

11. When your client accepts your request you will receive a confirmation email

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Part 3: How to request access easily with Leadsie

Does the above explanation give you (or your clients) a headache?!
Cut through the manual steps and chaser emails by sending your new clients a Leadsie access request link instead.

Leadsie is a client onboarding software that allows you to generate access requests links to multiple accounts at the same time (Google Business Profile and 13+ other platforms).

On the client's side, all they have to do is sign in to their account, and in a few clicks, grant you the access you need to manage their social and marketing accounts. What's more, we now fully support Agency Organization accounts! To get access with your Organization account, just go to your Google integration settings and select the account attached to your Organization, the Business Group and it's done!

Save time onboarding new clients by requesting access to Google Ads, Google Analytics, Tag Manager with the same link. 

This is how Leadsie works:

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How to remove someone's access to your Google Business Profile

Follow the steps in Part 1 here, up to step 4, where you get to 'People and Access.'

Now you'll see a list of people. Click on the person that you want to remove as admin from your profile.

Then, click 'Remove.' They no longer have access.

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Tips to optimize your Google Business Profile

To help people find your business on Google, you must include as much relevant business information as possible. A completed Business Profile signals credibility and helps you appear trustworthy and reliable to potential customers.

At a bare minimum, make sure the basic information is correct:  

• Business name
• Business address 
• Phone number 

Make sure you stick to Google’s guidelines when writing so you don’t get penalized.

Other things to boost the credibility of your profile: 

• Business description
• Photos
• Products
• Fill out info about facilities and accessibility 
• Add an FAQ about your business 
• Special offers 
• Upcoming events
• Add review responses

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FAQs

What does a Google Business Profile do for local businesses?  

Besides being free, it also gives you a direct line of contact with your customers. They can easily find details on how to contact you, leave Google reviews, and ask questions. 

• Your business will appear on Google Maps when they conduct an ‘X near me’ search, which is crucial for visibility. 
• You can also provide customers with accurate information about your opening hours, so they know when you’re available. 
• Updating your Business Profile is a convenient way to inform people about temporary changes to your regular hours, such as closures for holidays (see the example below, where it shows the restaurant is temporarily closed).
• Helps you build up credibility if you collect reviews and ask customers to share pictures of your product or service. Reviews are extremely important if you want to build trust with potential customers.

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Can I have a Google Business Profile without a physical address?

Yes, you can set up a business profile even if you don’t have a physical storefront. You still need to provide an address for your business, but it doesn’t need to be publicly visible. 

Online, hybrid, and service-area businesses go through the same verification process. You will either receive an email, a phone call, a video call, a postcard, or you need to send a video recording.

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What is the difference between Google My Business and Google Business Profile?

They are the same thing; Google My Business was the old name. Since late 2021, Google Business Profile has replaced Google Places for Business, Google Listings, and Google+ Business Pages.

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The easiest way to request Google Business Profile access

Remember, the simplest, fastest and most hassle-free way to request access to Google Business Profile is with Leadsie.

Wow your new clients with the easiest onboarding process they ever experienced with a Leadsie free 14-day trial. No credit card needed to start, and you get to keep your connections after the trial ends!

Don't just take our word for it, check out what thousands of agencies have to say about our tool: