Your agency registered your Google Business profile under their own email

Why your agency owns the profile in the first place

When an agency sets up a Google Business profile for a client, they usually do it from their own Google account. It is faster for them. They already have a login open, they tick a few boxes, and the listing is live.

The problem is that whoever creates the listing owns it. Google calls that account the primary owner. Everyone else - including you, the actual business - is added as a manager, if they bother to add you at all.

Most clients never notice. The listing works, the phone rings, nobody thinks about it. Then one day you want to change your opening hours or reply to a bad review, and you realise you have no way in.

What you actually lose by not having access

This is not a small admin issue. The Google Business profile is often where most of your enquiries start, especially for local services. If you cannot log in, you cannot:

• Reply to reviews, good or bad
• Update opening hours for bank holidays or closures
• Change your phone number or address if you move
• Add new photos of your work
• Post offers or updates
• See how many people called you from the listing

You also have no way of knowing if the agency is doing any of this on your behalf. They could be ignoring a one-star review for six months and you would never see it. The number of small businesses paying a monthly fee for a Google profile that has not been touched since launch is genuinely impressive.

How to request ownership from Google directly

You do not need the agency's cooperation to do this. Google has a built-in process for exactly this situation, because they know agencies sit on client listings.

Here is the short version:

• Search for your business on Google
• On your listing, click "Own this business?" or "Claim this business"
• Sign in with your own Google account (use a business email, not a personal Gmail)
• Google will tell you the listing already has an owner and ask if you want to request access
• Fill in the form - your name, your role, your contact details
• Google emails the current owner (your agency) and gives them seven days to respond

If the agency ignores the request for seven days, you can escalate and Google will usually transfer ownership to you after verifying you are the real business. Verification might mean a postcard to your business address, a phone call, or a video showing your premises.

It takes a few weeks end to end. You do not lose your reviews, your photos, or your history. The listing stays exactly the same - just under your control.

What to say to the agency first

Before you go through Google, send the agency one short email. Most will hand it over without a fuss when asked directly, because they know the alternative is Google forcing the transfer anyway.

Please transfer primary ownership of our Google Business profile to [your email address]. I would like this done within seven days. If I do not hear back, I will request the transfer through Google directly.

Keep it factual. Do not get into a discussion about why. The profile is about your business - your address, your phone, your reviews from your customers. There is no scenario where the agency has a legitimate claim to keep it.

What to do once the profile is yours

Once ownership transfers, the first thing to do is remove the agency as a manager. Go to the profile, click Users, and remove their account. If you keep them on as a manager, they can still change things without telling you.

Then check everything:

• Phone number - is it the right one?
• Address - does it match what is on Companies House and your website?
• Opening hours - including bank holidays
• Website link - does it go to the right page?
• Categories - is the main category actually what you do?
• Photos - are they recent and yours?
• Reviews - are there any you never saw, good or bad?

If you find unanswered reviews from a year ago, reply to them now. A late reply is better than no reply, and Google does not penalise you for it.

How to avoid this happening again

Whoever looks after your website next - agency, freelancer, or anyone else - should never set up a Google Business profile under their own login. The rule is simple: any account that represents your business should be created using your email address, owned by you, with the developer added as a manager.

That goes for the Google profile, the domain name, the hosting account, Google Analytics, and anything else with your business name on it. You own all of it. Someone else does the work on it.

If you are looking for someone to look after your site and your profile properly, SkipTheAgency's Maintained plan starts at £65/month and includes Google Business profile updates. Your account, your login, your reviews - I just do the work.