If you’ve been wondering about google business profile ownership, here’s the plain-English version for Salem-area owners. By Melody Campbell, The Small Business Guru
Picture a Salem salon owner who wants to update her holiday hours on Google. She logs in and finds she doesn’t have permission. The profile is owned by a former employee who left two years ago, and nobody remembers the email address they used. Meanwhile customers are calling the wrong number and showing up when she is closed.
It sounds like a small thing, but the question of who really owns your Google Business Profile is one of the most important ones to answer. In this post I’ll explain what ownership means, how to check yours in a few minutes, and what to do if your setup is messy.
Quick answer
- Your Google Business Profile should be owned by someone at your business, using an email address you control.
- Owners can change almost everything. Managers can do less, so the role matters.
- If a former employee, old agency, or relative still holds ownership, you have a risk worth fixing now.
- Google has a process to request ownership, but it can take time, so start early.
Why does ownership matter?
Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a customer sees. It is the listing with your name, hours, photos, reviews, and the call button. The owner can update hours, answer reviews, add photos, and invite others. A manager can do less.
If the owner is a former employee, an old agency, or an email address nobody checks, you are one step from being locked out of your own listing. You can’t fix a wrong phone number or answer a review on a busy day. For a plumber or septic company, a wrong number during an emergency season can mean a lost job to a competitor.
It also affects how customers find you in the first place. I explain how people search before they call in Get Found: where customers search first, and your profile is usually right at the top of that journey. If you can’t edit it, you can’t keep it accurate.
Ownership also matters for trust. When you can respond to reviews and keep information current, customers see a business that is paying attention. That is a big part of how people decide who to call.
How do I check who owns it?
You don’t need special tools. Here are the steps:
- Sign in to Google with the email you think is connected to your business.
- Search for your business name on Google, or open Google Maps and find your listing.
- If you see options to edit your profile, you have some level of access.
- Open the users or access settings and see who is listed as an owner and who is listed as a manager.
- Write down each email address you see, and mark the ones you don’t recognize.
If you can’t edit your profile at all, someone else controls it. That is not unusual, especially for businesses that have been around a while or changed hands.
Who should be the owner?
In my experience, the best setup is simple. The business owner holds primary ownership with a business email address that the company controls, ideally one that isn’t tied to a single person who might leave. If the owner is a family member or a trusted partner, that can work as long as the business has a way to reach them.
Anyone who helps with your marketing, such as an agency, a freelancer, or a part-time helper, can usually be added as a manager. That way they can do the work, and you keep the keys. When the relationship ends, you remove their access instead of hoping they hand something over.
Why use a business email and not a personal one?
A business-controlled email stays with the company if people change. A personal address can be forgotten, lost, or closed. If you want to understand how this fits with the rest of your accounts, the same thinking applies to everything you manage online.
What if it is a messy setup?
Messy setups are common, so don’t feel embarrassed. Here are the most frequent situations I see in the Willamette Valley:
- A former employee or ex-partner is the owner. Ask them to add you as an owner, then remove themselves. A friendly message usually works if you’re still on good terms.
- An old agency set it up. Ask them to transfer ownership to you. A professional agency should be willing to do it.
- Nobody knows who owns it. Use the option on the profile to request ownership. Google may contact the current owner, and there is often a waiting period.
- Duplicate listings. Sometimes two profiles exist for the same business. This takes some care to sort out so you don’t lose reviews.
If you’ve been through the request process and are stuck, a second set of eyes can help. A local SEO review usually starts with exactly these basics, because there is no point improving a profile you can’t edit.
What happens if I do nothing?
Often nothing happens for a long time, and then something small goes wrong at a bad moment. Hours are wrong on a holiday, a competitor’s edit suggestion goes through, or a review sits unanswered. I can’t predict when it will hit you, only that it is much easier to fix before you’re in a rush.
A family-owned Corvallis tree service in my case study saw its local voice share, meaning how often it appeared in the top three results across its service area, go from 75% to 94% in 90 days. That came after a Google Business Profile cleanup, corrections across 50+ directories, a steady review-request habit, and weekly profile posts. Results vary by business and nothing is guaranteed, but notice where it started: with having control of the profile.
What to do this week
- Sign in and confirm you can edit your Google Business Profile.
- List every owner and manager email address on the profile.
- Remove anyone who no longer works with you, after making sure you hold ownership first.
- Switch ownership to a business-controlled email if it is tied to a personal or old address.
- Add your marketing helper as a manager instead of an owner.
- Save the login details somewhere safe that a trusted person at your business can reach.
Frequently asked questions
Can I have more than one owner?
Yes, and it is a good idea. Having two trusted owners means you won’t be locked out if one person is unavailable or leaves.
Will I lose my reviews if ownership changes?
Reviews belong to the listing, not the owner. A normal transfer keeps them in place, but be careful with duplicate listings, because that is where reviews can get tangled.
How long does it take to claim a profile someone else controls?
It varies. Google often gives the current owner a period of time to respond, so start the request early and keep notes on what you submitted.
Should my marketing agency be the owner?
I don’t think so. The business should own its own profile, and the agency should work as a manager. That way you keep control if you ever change who helps you.
I’m Melody Campbell, The Small Business Guru, and I help business owners in Salem, Keizer, and the Willamette Valley get found, get trusted, and get chosen.
Get Found. Get Trusted. Get Chosen.