GBP ownership transfers go wrong when they're rushed or sequenced incorrectly. Whether you're selling a business, recovering a listing from a former employee, or handing off to a new agency, here's the exact process.
Transferring ownership of a Google Business Profile is one of the most consequential operations in local SEO management, and one of the most frequently handled incorrectly. Whether you're selling a business, handing off to a new manager, fixing an old GBP stuck under a former employee's account, or consolidating agency client access, getting the transfer right protects years of accumulated local SEO authority.
Done wrong, a GBP ownership transfer can result in a suspended listing, duplicate profiles, or loss of access to the listing entirely. This guide walks through every scenario with the exact steps that work.
Before transferring, understand what you're transferring:
Primary Owner: Complete control over the listing, including the ability to delete it, transfer primary ownership, and manage all other users. Each GBP has exactly one primary owner.
Owner: Can edit all business information and manage other users except the primary owner. Multiple owners allowed.
Manager: Can edit business information, post updates, respond to reviews, and view insights. Cannot add or remove users.
Transferring "ownership" typically means transferring the Primary Owner role, the most powerful account level. Transferring Owner or Manager access is simpler and covered in the GBP user management guide.
Use this when you have current Primary Owner access and want to give it to someone else.
Prerequisites:
Step-by-step:
Step 1: Go to business.google.com and sign in as Primary Owner.
Step 2: Click on the business profile you want to transfer.
Step 3: Navigate to Business Profile Settings > People and access.
Step 4: Find the person you're transferring to in the user list. If they're not already listed, add them as an Owner first and wait for them to accept the invitation.
Step 5: Click on their name in the user list.
Step 6: Change their role to "Primary Owner."
Step 7: A confirmation dialog appears. Review and confirm. Note: after transfer, you become a regular Owner (not Primary Owner).
Step 8: The new Primary Owner receives an email notification and must log in to accept the primary owner role. The transfer is not complete until they accept.
Important: The transfer isn't instantaneous. The new owner must actively accept the role. Until they accept, you remain Primary Owner.
Selling a business requires a clean ownership transfer of the GBP, the new owner needs to inherit all the listing's review history, photos, and accumulated local SEO authority.
The correct process for business sales:
Step 1: Add the buyer's Google account to your GBP as an Owner (not just Manager).
Step 2: Transfer primary ownership to the buyer following the standard process above.
Step 3: After the buyer has accepted primary ownership, have them remove your account from the listing.
Why this sequence matters: If you transfer the business but close or change your own Google account before the buyer has accepted ownership, the GBP may end up in an ownership limbo state requiring Google support intervention.
What happens to reviews and photos: Reviews, photos, GBP posts, and all historical data stay with the listing, they are not tied to the owner's account. The new owner inherits the full listing history.
Timing consideration: Complete the GBP ownership transfer on or just before the business sale closing date, not weeks before. Transferring too early gives the buyer operational control of your listing before the business legally changes hands.
This is the hardest scenario: you are now the legitimate owner of a business (or have been hired to manage a business's local SEO) but the GBP is owned by someone you can't reach, a former employee, a previous owner, or an old agency.
Option 1: Contact the previous owner directly
If the former owner/employee is contactable and cooperative, ask them to:
This is the simplest resolution and should be tried first.
Option 2: Google Business Profile Ownership Request
If you can't reach the current owner, Google has an ownership request process:
Step 1: Search for your business on Google Maps. Step 2: Click on the listing and find the "Claim this business" or "Own this business?" link. Step 3: Follow the verification process, Google will verify your connection to the physical location (typically via postcard, phone, or video). Step 4: If another user already owns the listing, Google will notify them of your request. They have 7 days to respond. Step 5: If the current owner doesn't respond within 7 days, Google may grant you access.
What you need for the ownership request:
Option 3: Google Business Profile Support
If the automated ownership request fails or you have urgent reasons to need access quickly, contact Google Business Profile support at support.google.com/business. Be prepared to provide:
Support resolution times vary, simple cases resolve in days, complex situations can take weeks.
When an agency's engagement with a client ends, ownership should transfer cleanly. Unfortunately, this is where most GBP access disputes occur.
Best practice setup at the start of any agency relationship:
When this is already set up correctly: At end of engagement: the client simply removes the agency's Manager access. The client retains full listing control. No transfer needed.
When the agency has Owner or Primary Owner access (problematic):
If the agency is cooperative: ask them to either reduce their role to Manager (then remove) or transfer ownership back to you before the engagement ends.
If the agency is uncooperative: use Google's ownership request process or support to recover the listing. This process is designed exactly for situations where a service provider holds GBP access that legitimately belongs to the business owner.
⚠️ Critical: Never pay for access to your own GBP listing. Some agencies refuse to transfer ownership and effectively hold listings for ransom. This is a violation of Google's terms of service and you have options through Google's support processes to resolve it.
For businesses with multiple GBP locations, transferring ownership is more complex.
Location groups: If locations are organized into a Location Group (Business Group), the Primary Owner of the group controls all locations within it. Transferring primary ownership of the group transfers control of all locations simultaneously.
Individual location transfers: Each individual location GBP can have its own separate primary owner independent of the group. For franchise systems where franchisees own their own GBP, this is the typical structure, the franchisor's corporate account doesn't hold primary ownership of each franchisee's listing.
For agency-managed multi-location accounts: Set up each client's locations under the client's Google account as the primary owner, with agency accounts added as Managers across all locations. This gives the agency the access needed for management while ensuring ownership stays with the client.
After any GBP ownership transfer, verify:
Listing is active: Check that the listing still appears in Google Maps with correct business information. Ownership transfers occasionally trigger a brief review period where the listing becomes temporarily less visible.
Business information is intact: Verify business name, address, phone, hours, category, and description are all correct and unchanged.
Reviews and photos are present: Reviews and photos persist through ownership transfers. If any appear to be missing, contact GBP support.
User list is clean: After transferring to the new owner, have the new owner audit and remove any users who should no longer have access.
Can I transfer GBP ownership without losing reviews or photos? Yes. Reviews and photos are stored with the listing itself, not the owner account. Ownership transfers preserve all historical listing data, review count, photos, posts, and overall listing authority all remain intact.
Can someone transfer GBP ownership without my consent? An existing Owner or Primary Owner can transfer the primary owner role to another user without prior approval from the current primary owner (except for the new owner who must accept). This is why you should limit Owner access carefully and only grant Manager access to agencies and employees.
What happens if the primary owner closes their Google account? If a primary owner closes their Google account before transferring ownership, the listing may enter an ownership limbo state. Google support can help recover the listing with proper documentation of business ownership.
Can a Manager transfer ownership? No. Only Primary Owners and Owners can add, remove, or change user roles. Managers cannot initiate any user management actions.
How long does an ownership transfer take? The transfer is initiated immediately when you change the role. The new owner receives an email invitation and must accept, this typically happens within hours but can take days if they're slow to check email. The transfer is not complete until acceptance.
GBP ownership transfers are consequential but manageable when done in the right sequence. The core principle: establish clear ownership from the beginning (business owner = primary owner, agencies = manager), complete transfers before access changes (sell the business, end the agency relationship), and use Google's support processes when the cooperative path isn't available.
Your GBP listing represents years of accumulated review authority and local SEO signals, protect that asset with proper access management.
