How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Transfer primary ownership of a Business Profile
Updated October 11, 2026
10 minutes, plus up to 7 days
Invite the new owner as an Owner under People and access, wait for them to accept, then select them, edit Access and choose Primary owner. Google says anyone in their first 7 days in a role gets an error when transferring. When a business is sold, transfer the existing profile so its reviews stay.
Before you start
- Primary owner access. Only the primary owner can transfer primary ownership, and only to someone already on the profile.
- The new owner's own Google Account. Google Groups cannot be owners or managers. For a move to a company login, create a Google Account on the business's email address first.
- A week before the old owner is removed. Google says a new owner may get an error if they try to remove other owners or managers, or make someone primary owner, in their first 7 days.
Add the new owner
This part puts the new owner on the profile, because primary ownership can only pass to an existing owner or manager.
- Go to your Business Profile and select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
- Select Add, enter the new owner's email address, choose Owner under Access, and select Invite.
- Ask them to accept the invite from their email. You get an email when they accept. Until then they show under PENDING, where Cancel invitation withdraws it.
Make them primary owner
This part hands over the primary role once the new owner shows in the list.
- In People and access, select the new owner.
- Next to Access, select Edit, choose Primary owner and select Save.
- If Google returns an error, check how long you have held your own role. Google says an owner or manager who tries to transfer primary ownership within their first 7 days gets an error, so wait until the 7 days have passed and try again. If you have held your role for more than 7 days and still get an error, Google does not say whether the new owner's own first 7 days can block the change; waiting until they have been on the profile for 7 days and trying again is a reasonable next step.
Transfer the profile you already have rather than creating a new one for the new owner. Google says transferring primary ownership keeps all of the business info, like reviews.
Settle the old owner's access
This part decides whether the previous primary owner stays on the profile, steps down to manager, or leaves.
- If the business is staying with you and only the login changed, keep your personal account as an Owner or change it to Manager, so the profile never again depends on one person's account. That is a judgment, not Google's rule.
- If the business was sold, leave the profile: in People and access, select yourself, then Stop managing and Confirm. Google says a primary owner cannot do this before transferring primary ownership.
- If you are the new owner and the old one does not leave, remove them after your own first 7 days: select the person, then Remove person. Their past replies to reviews and posts stay on the profile.
Check it worked
Open People and access. The new owner should show as Primary owner, and every other name should be someone the business chose.
Anyone removed gets an email from Google. If you left the profile yourself, you can no longer change its business info, which confirms you are off it.
If the new owner renames the business
Google says that when a business has a new owner but keeps the same name, the reviews remain, and so do they after a minor name change. A name change beyond Google's rebranding criteria counts as a new business: Google says to mark the existing profile closed and create a new one. Transfer first, then decide on the name.
Google also says not to create a new profile because of a change in ownership. If one was created and verified by mistake, Google asks you to contact it to transfer the reviews from the old profile.
When a marketing provider holds the profile
Google's rules for anyone managing a profile they do not own say they must "always transfer Business Profile ownership to the business owner immediately upon request," and should be managers rather than owners where possible. Ask in writing, and if they will not hand it over, request ownership through Google instead.