How to Add Employees and Agencies as Admins on Your Google Business Profile (Without Sharing Your Password)

You run a local business, your profile is on Google, and now you want your receptionist to reply to reviews or an agency to publish posts. The first instinct is to hand them your Gmail login and password. It's the worst possible idea — and, thankfully, completely unnecessary.

Google has a role system built for exactly this: you give controlled access, person by person, without surrendering your account. If an employee leaves tomorrow or you part ways with an agency, you remove their access in one click — the profile stays yours. In this article I'll show you what each role means, how to add someone step by step, and which role to give an agency so you're never locked out of your own business.

The golden rule: never share your password

The most common mistake is handing over your Google account login instead of granting role-based access. It's dangerous for several reasons:

• Whoever has the password sees your entire Google account — Gmail, Drive, Photos — not just the business profile.
• You can't tell who changed what; everything looks like you did it.
• When you change the password, that person loses access to the profile along with everything else.
• Two-factor authentication gets in the way or has to be disabled, which weakens your security.

The role system solves all of this: each person signs in with their own Google account, you clearly see who's an owner and who's a manager, and access is revoked individually. If an agency asks for your password instead of an invitation to their own account, that's your first red flag.

The three roles and what each can do

Google now uses three roles. The difference between them is who manages people and who can delete the profile:

• Primary owner: one person, full control. Can add and remove owners and managers, transfer ownership, and delete the profile.
• Owner: almost everything the primary owner can do — including adding and removing managers and other owners — but cannot remove the primary owner or transfer primary ownership.
• Manager: can edit information, respond to reviews, publish posts, reply to messages, and view insights. Cannot add or remove users, transfer ownership, or delete the profile.

In short: a manager handles the content, an owner also handles the people. You should always stay the primary owner.

Step by step: how to add someone

Sign in with the Google account that already owns the profile, then:

• Search for your business name on Google, or open the profile from Search / Maps as the owner.
• Open the profile's management menu, then Business Profile settings, and the "People and access" section.
• Click "Add" and enter the person's email — it must be an address tied to a Google account.
• Choose the role: Owner or Manager.
• Send the invitation.

The person receives an email and must accept the invitation; until then they show up as "invited," not as an active admin. Nothing from your account is transferred — they log in with their own account and see only the profile, at the level of the role you gave them.

Which role to give: employee vs agency

The practical rule: give the smallest role that lets the job get done.

• Employee (receptionist, in-house marketer): Manager. They can respond to reviews, publish posts, and update hours, with no risk of removing you or deleting the profile.
• Agency: Manager too, almost always. A serious agency doesn't need an Owner role to manage your profile — posts, reviews, messages, and insights are all available to a manager.
• You: always stay the primary owner.

If an agency insists on an "Owner" role or, worse, wants to create your profile on their own account, stop. That's how you end up unable to control your own presence on Google if the relationship goes sour.

How to remove access and transfer ownership

Removing access is simple: in "People and access," click the person and choose "Remove." The effect is immediate.

If you gave an Owner role to someone who's leaving, remember that only the primary owner can remove other owners — one more reason not to hand out that role lightly.

Transferring primary ownership should only happen when you're genuinely handing over the business: add the person as an Owner first, then from their card choose "Transfer primary ownership." Don't use it as a mere convenience.

If an old agency created your profile and keeps it on their account, you can request a transfer or claim the profile through Google. If they don't respond within a set window, Google has a process for you to take back control.

Common mistakes and how we work

A few traps to avoid:

• The password instead of an invitation — it exposes your whole account.
• A profile created by an agency on their own account — it holds you hostage.
• An Owner role given to everyone — you lose control over people.
• A single owner with no backup — if you lose access to that account, you have a serious problem.

At MPO Web Studio we work remotely, nationwide, and when we manage a Google profile we always ask only for a Manager role — you stay the primary owner, in full control. We can show you on a demo what everything looks like before you grant any access. If you'd like a hand setting up your roles correctly, or recovering a profile held by someone else, message us on WhatsApp and we'll sort it out together.