Transferring Google Business Profile ownership is a normal, everyday part of running a business, whether you are selling it outright, switching to a new marketing agency, or handing management over after a staff change. This is different from a hijacked profile, where someone gains control without permission, and different from an accidental duplicate listing created by mistake. This guide covers the legitimate, voluntary transfer process for how to transfer Google Business Profile ownership: how to hand over primary control, what happens to your reviews and history, and how to cleanly remove the previous owner's access once the new owner is confirmed and settled in.
What Happens to Your Reviews and History When You Transfer Ownership
The good news first: reviews, photos, posts, and your listing's history all stay attached to the Business Profile itself, not to the Google account that happens to manage it. Transferring ownership does not reset your review count, delete past photos, or erase anything customers have already contributed. The only thing that actually changes is who has administrative control behind the scenes. Everything a customer sees on the public listing stays exactly the same before and after the transfer.
This matters most when selling a business, since the accumulated reviews and history are often part of what makes the listing valuable in the first place. A buyer taking over a profile with years of reviews and an established presence is getting something real, not starting from zero, as long as the transfer is done properly rather than by abandoning the old account and having the new owner try to create a fresh listing.
How to Transfer Google Business Profile Ownership
The process works by adding the new owner as a user first, then upgrading their role to primary owner. As of 2026, the general steps are:
- Sign in to Google Business Profile Manager using the account that currently holds primary ownership.
- Open your Business Profile settings and find the section for managing users or business members.
- Invite the new owner by entering the Google account email address they will use to manage the profile.
- Have the new owner accept the invitation from their own Google account.
- Once accepted, return to the users list, find the new account, and change its role to owner.
- Complete the transfer of primary ownership when prompted, which shifts full administrative control to the new account.
- Confirm the new primary owner can see and edit the profile before you change anything else.
- Keep your own access as a manager temporarily in case questions come up during the handover.
Exact menu wording can shift slightly as Google updates its interface, so if a label does not match exactly what you see, look for anything referencing users, owners, or business members rather than assuming the feature has been removed.
Transferring Ownership When Selling a Business
If you are the buyer, treat the Business Profile as part of your due diligence, not an afterthought to handle after closing. Before the sale finalizes, it is worth confirming the profile is fully verified with no open issues, since inheriting a restricted or under review listing can delay your ability to make changes once you take over. Running the listing through our free GBP scorecard gives you a clear picture of what you are actually acquiring, and our free Map Rank Check shows you where the business currently stands in local search, which is useful context whether you are negotiating a price or simply setting expectations for what marketing work still needs to happen after the sale.
Switching Agencies or Managers Without Losing Access
Not every situation calls for a full ownership transfer. If you are simply switching marketing agencies or bringing management in house, it is usually better for the business owner to remain the primary owner and add or remove agencies as managers instead. This keeps ultimate control with the business itself rather than an outside party, and it avoids the awkward situation of having to request an ownership transfer back later if the relationship ends. Reserve a full primary ownership transfer for situations where the business itself is genuinely changing hands, such as a sale or a sole operator stepping away entirely, rather than a routine vendor change.
Staff Turnover: When the Person Who Set Up Your Profile Leaves
A common and often overlooked version of this problem happens quietly during a staff change. An employee sets up the Business Profile years ago using their own personal Google account, that employee eventually leaves the company, and suddenly nobody currently working there has any access to the listing at all. This is not a hijacking, since the departing employee did nothing wrong, but it does need to be handled before that person's account becomes unreachable or they simply stop responding to requests.
The safest approach is to add a company controlled account, ideally one not tied to any single individual, as an owner while the original employee still has access and is still reachable. Make this part of your standard offboarding checklist for any role that touches marketing or the Business Profile, rather than something you only think about after someone has already left and gone quiet. If you realize too late that the only owner account belongs to someone who no longer works with you and will not cooperate, that situation starts to resemble a hijacked profile rather than a routine transfer, and the recovery steps differ accordingly.
How to Safely Offboard the Previous Owner or Agency
Once the new owner or manager is confirmed, comfortable navigating the dashboard, and has made at least one successful edit, it is time to remove the previous owner's access. Go back to the users list, find the old account, and remove it from the profile. If you are the seller, it is reasonable to keep your own access until the deal has fully closed and payment has cleared, rather than handing over control the moment paperwork is signed. Keep a simple record of when the transfer happened and who approved it, in case a question comes up later about when control actually changed hands. Remember that a Business Profile transfer is separate from other accounts tied to the business, such as Google Ads or a Google Workspace email, so check those separately rather than assuming one transfer covers everything.
If you are a new owner or manager who has just taken over an unfamiliar profile, our free local SEO plan is a useful starting point to figure out what is already working and what deserves attention first, rather than guessing at priorities on day one.
This Is Not the Same as a Hijacked Profile
Everything in this guide assumes a voluntary, agreed upon handover between two parties who both know it is happening. That is a very different situation from a profile being taken over without permission, which is a security problem rather than an administrative one. If you suspect your listing has been changed or claimed by someone you did not authorize, read our guide on a hijacked profile instead, since recovering from that involves a different process through Google's support channels rather than the standard user management steps described here.
A clean ownership transfer protects the value that reviews and history represent, and it takes only a few minutes once both parties know what to click. Do it deliberately, confirm the new owner is fully set up, and only then remove the previous account's access.
Frequently asked questions
How do I transfer Google Business Profile ownership to someone else?
Add the new owner as a user on the profile using their Google account email, have them accept the invitation, then change their role to primary owner from the users list. Keep your own access temporarily until you confirm they can manage the listing successfully.
Do reviews and photos stay when you transfer Google Business Profile ownership?
Yes, reviews, photos, posts, and the listing's full history stay attached to the profile itself, not to the account managing it. Transferring ownership changes who has administrative control, not anything a customer sees on the public listing.
Should I transfer full ownership to my marketing agency?
Usually not. It is generally better to keep primary ownership yourself and add an agency as a manager instead, so you retain ultimate control if the relationship ends. Full ownership transfer is better reserved for situations like selling the business.
What should I check before buying a business with an existing Google Business Profile?
Confirm the profile is fully verified with no open issues before the sale closes, since a restricted listing can delay changes after you take over. It also helps to check the listing's current search visibility so you understand what you are actually acquiring.
Is transferring ownership the same as recovering a hijacked profile?
No. A transfer is a voluntary handover both parties agree to, while a hijacked profile has been taken over without permission and requires a different recovery process through Google support rather than standard user management steps.