Search for your business at business.google.com/add, select it, choose Request access and fill in the form. Google emails the current owner, who has 3 days to respond. If they approve, you get access; if they deny, you can appeal; if they don't reply, you may be able to claim the profile yourself.
First, check you are not already the owner
The profile may already be claimed under another Google account your business has used: an old Gmail address, a shared office account, or the account a web designer or former employee set it up with. Sign in to each one and look for the profile before you ask anyone for access.
Google says that if you look up your profile and see no Claim this business or Own this business button, you might already be the owner.
What if Maps shows a Claim this business button?
That means nobody has verified the listing yet, so you claim it yourself and ask no one for access. Do this on a computer, as Google documents it.
- Open Google Maps, search your business name and city, and select the correct result. Check the address and photos, because two shops can share a building and a similar name.
- Select Claim this business, then Manage now. If the result is the wrong business, choose the option to manage another business instead of continuing.
- Choose a verification option that Google offers for this profile and follow the instructions shown. Google decides which methods you see.
- When the verification result arrives, check the profile again and keep the confirmation email. In the Google Maps app, open the profile's About section, then select Claim this business and Manage now.
How to request access
- Go to business.google.com/add and sign in with the account you want to manage the profile from.
- Enter your business name and address, then select your business from the results.
- Google shows a message that someone else manages the profile. Select Request access.
- Fill out the form and submit it.
- Watch your inbox. Google says the current owner is notified by email and has 3 days to respond.
What happens next
- Approved: Google emails you, and you can manage the profile.
- Denied: Google emails you. Google says you can still suggest an edit to the profile and can try to appeal the decision.
- No reply after 3 days: you may be able to claim the profile by selecting Verify in your confirmation email and completing verification. Google notes this option isn't always available.
Day 0: a bakery owner requests access from the business Gmail and keeps Google's confirmation email. Day 0: the former web designer, who set up the profile years ago, gets Google's email. Day 3: no reply. The confirmation email shows a Verify link, so the owner selects it and completes verification. If Verify had not appeared, the owner would check every other account the business has used and keep each email for an appeal.
If someone took over your profile
If a profile you managed suddenly shows you as removed, start with the Google Account, not the profile. Recover the account through Google's account recovery page and change its password, then open People and access and remove anyone you do not recognise. If you no longer appear there at all, someone else manages the profile now: send a Request access with the steps above and keep the records listed below.
Keep a record
Keep your own paper trail in case you need to appeal or explain the history later:
- Every email from Google about the request, with its date.
- Documents in the business name, such as a registration certificate, lease or utility bill.
- Recent photos of your signage and storefront.
- Notes on who first set up the listing and which account they used.
Common problems
- How long does the current owner have to reply?
- Google says 3 days from when it emails them.
- The owner said no. Can I do anything?
- Google says you can still suggest an edit to the profile and try to appeal the decision. Keep the rejection email.
- Nobody replied and I don't see a way to claim it.
- Google says the option to claim after no reply isn't always available. Look for the Verify link in your confirmation email, and check every Google account your business uses.
- Our old agency set up the profile. Do they own it?
- Google's guidelines say an authorised representative must transfer ownership to the business owner immediately upon request. Ask them first, and use Request access if they don't respond.
Once you have access
Check who else can see the profile, give each person the right role, and remove anyone who should no longer manage it.
Once you have access, put the profile back in order
With Reach
Connect the account that now manages the profile to Reach. Reach scores the profile out of 100, lists what was left undone before the handover, such as hours, photos or unanswered reviews, and lets you fix most of it from the profile page.