Google Business Profile

How to hand your Google Business Profile to a new owner

Add the new person as an owner, wait 7 days, make them the primary owner, then remove yourself with Stop managing. Moving the profile this way keeps its reviews and history instead of starting from scratch.

6 steps

  1. Step 1: Go to business.google.com and select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
    1 min
  2. Step 2: Select Add, enter the new owner's email, choose Owner under Access and select Invite. They need their own Google Account.
    2 min
  3. Step 3: Ask them to accept. You'll get an email when they do, and their 7-day new-user period starts.
    1 day
  4. Step 4: After 7 days, open People and access, select them, choose Edit next to Access, pick Primary owner and Save.
    7 days
  5. Step 5: Once they're primary owner, select yourself in People and access, then Stop managing and Confirm.
    1 min
  6. Step 6: Have the new owner check that they can edit hours and reply to reviews before you lose touch.
    5 min
  7. Arrived: The new owner controls the profile as primary owner, and the reviews, photos and posts all stay in place under the same listing.

Checked 13 Nov 2026 · source: support.google.com

The handover in plain terms

A Google Business Profile isn’t a file you email to someone. It’s tied to Google Accounts with roles: one primary owner, possibly other owners, and managers. Handing it over means moving the primary owner role to the new person’s account and then taking yourself off. Nothing about the listing itself changes, which is the point: the reviews, photos and history that took years to build stay put.

This is the right path when you sell the business, retire, hand a location to a franchisee, or move the profile from a personal Gmail to a company account you control.

Plan around the 7-day rule

Google makes new owners and managers wait 7 days before a few sensitive actions. During that week they can’t delete or restore the profile, can’t remove other users, and can’t take or give primary ownership. If you try to make them primary owner on day two, you’ll get an error.

So add the buyer early. If the sale closes on a Friday, inviting them the Monday before means the role swap can happen at closing instead of a week after.

Order matters at the end

Google won’t let a primary owner simply walk away. You have to pass the primary owner role to someone else first, and that person must already be an owner or manager on the profile. Only after that can you select yourself and choose Stop managing.

Once you stop managing, you can’t change the business info any more. Google keeps your old review replies and posts on the profile, so nothing you wrote vanishes.

Before you step off

Spend five minutes with the new owner:

  • Confirm they can open Edit profile and change something harmless.
  • Make sure the phone number, website and email on the profile are theirs, not yours.
  • If you added other managers over the years (an agency, an old employee), decide together who stays.

When a handover isn’t possible

If you can’t reach the person who holds the profile, this process won’t help you; the request ownership flow is the route. And if the profile is suspended, fix that first, because a transfer won’t clear it. Google’s pages don’t describe transferring a suspended profile.

If it doesn't work

  • You get an error when making them primary owner: they're still inside their first 7 days. Wait and try again.
  • You can't see an Edit option for other people: you're a manager, not an owner. Only owners change roles, and only the primary owner hands over primary ownership.
  • The new owner never accepts the invite: cancel it under PENDING with Cancel invitation and resend to the right address.
  • They delete their Google Account during the first week: Google removes them from the profile, and you'll need to add them again.

Questions owners ask

Why not just delete my profile and let the buyer create a new one?

Deleting throws away what customers see, including reviews. Google's own guidance is to transfer primary ownership rather than start over, so business information like reviews is kept. A fresh listing starts at zero.

Do my old review replies disappear when I leave?

No. Google says that after someone stops managing a profile, their past replies and posts stay on it. The new owner can edit or add replies going forward.

Can I stay on as a manager after selling?

Yes, as long as the new owner keeps you. Once they're an owner, they can change your role or remove you, and you'd get an email if they do. Many sellers stay on briefly to help with the handover, then step off.

What if the business name or address changes with the sale?

Handle the ownership first, then update the details. If the business is moving to a new location, Google's reopening guidance says not to reopen the old closed listing but to add and verify a new profile instead.

Sources

Checked 13 Nov 2026. When the platform changes its process we update this page and log it in What changed.

Related fixes

Written by Ellis Marr (a pen name) · Checked 13 Nov 2026 · How we check