GMB : How to change primary owner on Google Business Profile ?

You have just bought a business and you want to create a Google Business profile listing to improve its local referencing. But, when you create your business listing, you notice that it already has an owner. It may be the previous manager of the business that was transferred to you or perhaps a third party.

What to do in this case ? Find out all the steps and tips.

How to recover the ownership rights of your Google Business Profile’s establishment listing ?

In the case of a change in the owner of a business, two situations can arise on Google Business Profile (formerly Google my Business, also known as GMB).

Either, your business listing has already been generated by Google, but it is not claimed.

Or, it has already been claimed by another person, perhaps the former owner of your business. All things considered, you’ll need to regain ownership of your business listing if you plan to control the information sent to customers.

The steps:

1. Write down the name of the establishment you want to claim ownership of,
2. Go to the Google my business website,
3. Log in to your account with your login and password,
4. Once connected, click on ”START”. Fill in the name of the establishment. It must correspond exactly to the name that appears on the record which you want to become the manager of.

5. Google business profile will make some suggestions of establishments that match your search. Select the proposal that matches your business and then click on the button ”NEXT”.

It may happen that your business does not appear at all in the suggestions made by Google my business (GMB). This does not mean that your listing does not exist. This is a bug. To solve it, you’ll have to contact customer support.

In case the business listing is already claimed, Google my business will display the following message: “This listing has already been claimed”.

This confirms that someone other than you actually has control over your business listing on Google my business. To manage this business listing, you will have to request access to the primary owner. To do this, click on the button ”REQUEST ACCESS”.

6. You will then be presented with a request form.

Allow the primary owner of the record to see your email address and your profile by checking the dedicated box. As access level, specify ”OWNERSHIP”.

7. Then enter your link with the establishment by selecting the option ”OWNER”. Then enter your personal information. This is your Name, your first name and your phone number. At the end, click on the button ”SEND”.

Google my Business is responsible for transmitting all information provided to the current manager.

The objective is to allow him to contact you easily. A confirmation message will be sent by email.

From the moment that he receives your information, the current owner of the listing has exactly seven days to respond to your request. To find out his response, simply log into your Google business profile.

What if the primary owner refuses to transfer ownership rights of the Google Business Profile account to you ?

There are two ways to respond to your transfer request : the current owner can either deny it or ignore it.

If the main owner of the listing refuses to transfer the rights to you, you must contact Google my business to have some help. You will then proceed to claim your establishment.

In case your request is ignored, you just have to wait until the end of the seven days period. If the current primary owner still does not give any sign of life then that’s good news.

In this case, Google my business (GMB) will allow you to validate the record of your establishment. To do this:

1. Go to your Google My business account.
2. You will see the button ”validate” or ”claim”.
3. Click on the validation button

Then follow the procedure to become the primary owner of the establishment’s listing. Once your ownership rights are recovered, you keep the reviews and referencing of the former owner.

You also have the possibility to update, edit and manage all the information and reviews of the establishment.

Important for communication with your customers:

Don’t forget to notify them of the ownership change with a Google post.