To work on your profile, the manager needs access to it. This page explains which role that is, how you grant and withdraw it, and where the manager’s freedom ends. It applies to the Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) of every location you put into service.
The manager needs the manager role
Google Business Profile has owners and managers. A manager can do the daily work: edit the details, publish posts and reply to reviews. A manager cannot add or remove users or remove the profile. That is the scope our work needs, so we ask for the manager role and nothing more.
Every profile has a single primary owner, and that role stays with your business. We never ask you to transfer ownership to us. If the profile is held by a former employee or an old supplier, ownership is sorted out first: our guide to claiming an existing business on Google Maps explains the ownership request.
On Pro the manager also runs your Google Ads. The advertising budget stays yours and is paid straight to Google.
How to add our manager
Sign in with the Google account that owns the profile, open the Business Profile settings and go to People and access. Add the email address the manager gives you and choose the manager role. The manager accepts the invitation from their own account, and the agreed work can start.
If the profile is not verified yet, verification comes before the regular work, since some edits are only possible on a verified profile. Our article on how Google Business Profile verification works describes the methods Google offers. The roles themselves are explained in the Google Business Profile setup guide.
Why you never share a password
Your Google password opens far more than the profile: email, documents, payment settings and every other Google service tied to that login. A shared password also hides who did what, and it keeps working after a supplier leaves. With separate access every action carries a name, and removing it is one step.
This is why we do not ask for your password at any stage, including the first conversation. If anyone offers to manage your profile through your own login, treat that as a warning sign. Keep two-step verification on for the owner’s login and keep its recovery details current.
How to remove access
You can remove the manager whenever you decide, without asking us first. In People and access, find the manager’s name and remove the user. Withdrawing access stops our work on that profile. It does not change the details, the reviews or the posts that are already published on it.
When the service ends, review the access as part of the handover and remove anyone who no longer needs it. The Google Business Profile optimization checklist recommends the same review for staff and suppliers in general.
What the manager does without asking each time
At the start you agree the strategy, the tone and the permissions for the location. Within them the manager works without separate approval: updates the agreed details, publishes posts from your materials and replies to routine reviews. You can change those agreements, or pause publishing, at any moment.
The manager records the work in the dashboard history with its date, so you can see what was done without asking. The monthly report sums it up and lists what the manager recommends next.
What always waits for your yes
Some decisions belong to the owner whatever the permissions say. The manager brings them to you and waits: a reply to a negative or disputed review, restoring a value someone else changed, a change of package, extra work and its cost, and anything that merges or removes a profile.
Facts only you can confirm wait for you too: new hours, prices, services, who is on the team this month. The manager does not guess them. When Google does not approve an edit, the manager tells you what may lie behind it and agrees the next step with you before trying again. How the team handles changes made by others is on the outside edits page.
If you are not sure who holds access to your profile today, a free express review is a good place to find out.