Requesting Access to a Client's Google Business Profile

The quickest route is always the client inviting you directly from their own Business Profile. That takes a couple of minutes and gives you access immediately — send them the Granting Access to Your Google Business Profile guide, which can be downloaded as an unbranded PDF and forwarded as-is.

Use the request route on this page when that isn't possible: the client can't find the login that manages the profile, the managing email belonged to a former employee or a previous agency, or the client simply isn't responding.

Before you start, decide which Google account you'll use. Request access with the same Google account you intend to connect in GBPly, because access is granted to the account that sent the request.

This route is open to every agency, whether or not you're registered with Google as an agency.

• Step 1 — Search Google for the business name, adding the town or city if the name is common, so the Business Profile panel appears on the right of the results.

• Step 2 — In that panel, scroll to the bottom and click 'Own this business?'.

• Step 3 — Google shows 'Someone else may manage this Business Profile', along with a partly masked version of the managing email address. That masked address is useful on its own — read it back to your client to work out which of their accounts holds the profile.

• Step 4 — Click 'Request access'.

• Step 5 — Under 'What level of access would you like?', choose Management. That covers day-to-day editing, posts, photos and review replies, and it's the level GBPly needs.

• Step 6 — Under 'What's your relationship to the business?', choose Agency.

• Step 7 — Enter your contact name, phone number and agency name.

• Step 8 — Tick the box that lets the profile owner see your public information and email address. This is optional, but recommended — it helps the current manager recognise who is asking and approve faster.

• Step 9 — Click 'Submit'.

Your request goes to the person or account that currently manages the profile, not to Google's support team. They choose whether to approve or decline it, and Google gives them a window of several days (commonly around seven) to respond before further options open up to you.

You can check the status of a request from the same 'Own this business?' route on the profile, and Google emails you when the outcome changes.

Tell your client to expect the email. Access requests are the single most common thing clients delete as spam — a quick heads-up before you submit saves days of waiting.

Agencies registered with Google have an extra route through an organisation account. It's optional — most GBPly users never need it — but it's tidier if you manage a large number of profiles.

Sign in to Business Profile Manager, click 'Manage invites' (choosing the right organisation if you belong to several), click 'Request access', search for the business by name, choose the business group the profile should be added to, then follow the prompts. Requests you've sent are tracked under the 'Requests sent' tab.

Clients can also invite your organisation directly using your business group ID or organisation ID, rather than inviting an individual email address.

Google's own documentation covers this in detail: Overview for agencies, Manage agency invites and Register your agency for Business Profiles.

Registering requires a Google account tied to your company email that doesn't already own or manage any Business Profiles, so it's a decision to make before you start claiming client profiles under a personal account.

When the request is approved, the profile appears in that Google account. Connect the account in GBPly and import the profile — see Managing Business Profiles for the steps.

If the profile doesn't appear in GBPly straight away, sign in to business.google.com with the same account and confirm it's listed there first. If it isn't listed with Google, GBPly can't see it either.

No 'Own this business?' link. The panel wording varies — look for 'Own this business?', 'Claim this business' or 'Suggest an edit'. If none appear, the profile may already be verified and managed, in which case try the same search while signed out to confirm what a visitor sees.

The masked email belongs to a former employee or old agency. Ask your client to try recovering that Google account first — that's usually faster than a request that nobody will answer. Google's account recovery guide is linked from the same request screen.

The request was declined or ignored. Fall back to asking the client to invite you directly from their own login using the Granting Access guide. If the client is certain nobody at their business manages the profile, Google's conflict and recovery process for claimed profiles is the next step.

Duplicate listings. If you find two profiles for the same business, request access to the verified one that appears in search results, and report the duplicate to Google rather than managing both.