Getting into a Google Business Profile can stall at a few points: the wrong Google Account, an unverified profile, a suspension, or a login that left with a former staff member. Here’s how to handle each, using Google’s own Business Profile Help Centre, checked on 09/10/2026.
How to log in to your Google Business Profile
A Business Profile has no username or password of its own. You sign in to the Google Account that’s linked to it, and the management tools appear for that account. Google says the account can use any email address, not just Gmail. Google: find your profile
On a computer
- Sign in to the Google Account that manages the profile.
- Search Google for your business name and suburb, or search my business. Or go straight to business.google.com, which Google’s own help pages use as the link to your profile.
- Select Edit profile, make your changes and select Save.
In the Google Maps app
- Signed in to the same account, tap Business at the bottom right.
- If you manage more than one business, tap the Down arrow at the top and pick the right one.
- Tap Edit profile, make your changes and tap Save.
Changing your business name after verification can mean verifying again, and moving to a new address always does. Businesses with many locations manage them in bulk in Business Profile Manager. Google is also slowly adding profile management to the Gemini web app, for personal Google Accounts that manage one verified profile, outside the EEA and the UK. Google: edit your profile · Google: Gemini
Can’t see the edit options? You’re probably in a different account, the profile isn’t verified, or someone else owns it. A Claim this business or Own this business button means it isn’t yours yet: see the last section.
In? Check your profile in 3 minutes. The free Google Business Profile audit scores it out of 100. To keep it right, Get Found looks after your profile for A$29 a month ex GST, with no set-up fee: we fix it once, watch for unwanted edits and draft a reply to every review for you to approve. We’re added as a manager, never the owner, and you can remove us any time.
How to verify your business on Google
Verifying proves to Google that you run the business, and it’s what lets you edit the profile and reply to reviews. Google picks which methods you’re offered, based on your business type, public information, region and business hours, and you can’t change that. Google: verify your business
Google’s recommended method when you’re eligible. Details below.
Not offered to every business, and only in business hours. You show a Google representative your location and proof you run it.
A code to the business number. An automated phone menu won’t receive it.
Steps sent to the address shown on the verification screen.
Not offered to every business. Most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30. While you wait, don’t edit your name, address or category, and don’t request a new code.
Sometimes, for example when your website is already verified in Google Search Console.
To start, select Get verified on your profile, then the method. Once you’ve finished the steps, Google says its review takes up to five business days, rarely longer, and you’ll get an email when you’re verified.
Recording a verification video
The video must be live, unedited and continuous, at least 30 seconds long, and recorded and uploaded through your profile on your phone. For a business that visits its customers, Google asks it to show where you operate (street signs or landmarks at your business address), that the business exists (tools, equipment, branded clothing) and that you run it (doing a job, unlocking a branded van, or an invoice or utility bill in the business name). Shops show the street, signage with the exact profile name and a staff-only area. Keep bank, tax and ID numbers and other people’s faces out of shot. Google: video verification
- On your phone, open your profile and tap Get verified, then Business video and Next.
- Tap Start recording, film everything in one take, then stop.
- Tap Upload video, or Try again to record it again.
If the video isn’t accepted, Google tells you why. Tap Review issues and record a new one with everything from the first video plus what was missing.
If your profile is suspended
Google may suspend or disable a profile that doesn’t follow its guidelines. A suspended profile doesn’t show to other people on Google, and Google sends a notification to the account that manages it. These rules in its guidelines are worth checking first:
- Extra words in the business name. Google warns that adding a service, location or tagline to your real name could get the profile suspended.
- An address you don’t trade from. PO boxes, remote mailboxes and virtual offices aren’t eligible. If customers don’t come to you, hide the address.
- An ineligible business. Online-only businesses and lead generation companies can’t have a profile.
- A second profile for the same business. Google allows one profile per business.
- A phone number or website you don’t control, or one that redirects somewhere else.
- An outside helper breaking Google’s rules, such as claiming a profile without the owner’s consent.
How to appeal a suspension
- Fix the problem first, such as the name or the address.
- Gather your evidence: official business registration, a business licence, tax certificates or a utility bill, each showing the profile’s name and address. Once the evidence form opens, you have 60 minutes to submit it.
- Open Google’s Business Profile appeals tool, confirm the account linked to the profile and select the profile.
- Select Submit Appeal, add your evidence and select Submit.
Google says decisions can take up to five business days and arrive by email. Don’t create a new profile or send repeat appeals while you wait. If the appeal isn’t approved, you can request an additional review with new evidence. If your whole Google Account is restricted, appeal that first, then the profile. Google: fix suspended profiles · Google: appeal restrictions
Adding owners and managers
Every owner or manager needs their own Google Account, so nobody has to share a password. There are three roles:
The main owner. One per profile, and the only person who can pass primary ownership on.
Full control: edits the profile, adds and removes people, and can delete the profile.
Edits the profile, replies to reviews and posts updates, but can’t add or remove people or remove the profile.
- Go to your Business Profile and select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
- Select Add and enter the person’s email address.
- Under Access, choose Owner or Manager, then select Invite.
New owners and managers wait seven days before they can delete the profile, remove other people or transfer primary ownership. Google: owners and managers
Stay the primary owner and add your web designer or agency as a manager. Google’s rules say outside representatives should hand ownership over as soon as the owner asks. LeadGenie works this way: we’re a manager, never the owner, and you can remove us any time.
Getting back in when the old owner has left
Sometimes the profile sits in an account nobody at the business can reach: a former employee’s, the web designer’s or the previous owner’s.
It's your own account and you've lost the login
Recover the Google Account itself: Google’s ownership help points you to its account recovery steps, and the profile comes back with the account. Then add a second owner, so one lost login can’t lock the business out again. Google: resolve ownership issues
Someone else has it, and you can reach them
Ask them to add you as an owner, then to make you primary owner: in People and access they select you, select Edit next to Access, choose Primary owner and Save. New owners face a seven-day wait for some changes, including primary ownership, so allow a week. Google: transfer primary ownership
They won't answer, or you can't find them
- Go to business.google.com/add, enter your business name and address, and choose it from the list.
- At “Someone else may manage this Business Profile”, select Request Access, complete the form and select Submit.
- The current owner has three days to respond. If they don’t, open your confirmation email and select View request, then Verify. Google says this option isn’t always available.
If you’re turned down, you can appeal or suggest an edit. A service-area business with no shop or office uses Google’s contact form instead, entering “Transfer ownership of listing”. Don’t create a second profile, because duplicates don’t show on Search or Maps. Once you’re in, sign in now and then: Google lists not signing in recently as one reason it can revoke ownership. Google: request ownership
Keep the profile right once you're back in
With access sorted, check what’s on the profile: name, category, hours, services, photos and unanswered reviews. Our free Google Business Profile audit scores it out of 100 in about three minutes. Or let LeadGenie look after your Google Business Profile as part of Get Found at A$29 a month ex GST, with no set-up fee: we fix it once, watch for unwanted edits and draft a reply to every review for you to approve. Verification stays with you, because only Google verifies a business. Next step: how to get more Google reviews.
Questions about Google Business Profile access
Why can't I log in to my Google Business Profile?
Usually because you’re signed in to a Google Account that doesn’t manage the profile. A Business Profile has no password of its own: it belongs to one or more Google Accounts, so sign in with the account that owns or manages it and search “my business” again. If that account belonged to someone who has left, ask them to transfer it, or request ownership through business.google.com/add and follow Google’s steps.
How long does Google Business Profile verification take?
Google says its review takes up to five business days once you’ve finished the verification steps, and only rarely longer. Some profiles are verified instantly, for example when the website is already verified in Google Search Console. A postcard adds time: Google says most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30. If a verification video isn’t accepted, a Review issues notice appears on your profile and you can record a new one.
Can I choose how Google verifies my business?
No. Google decides which verification methods your profile is offered, based on your business type, public information, region and business hours, and says that choice can’t be changed. If more than one method appears, you can choose between them, and Google recommends video when you’re eligible. If none of the methods offered works for you, Google suggests contacting its Business Profile support team.
How long does a suspension appeal take?
Google says appeal reviews and decisions can take up to five business days, and the decision arrives by email. You can also check the status in the appeals tool, which shows Submitted, Approved, Not Approved, Can’t be appealed or Eligible for appeal. If the appeal isn’t approved, you can request an additional review with new evidence. Don’t create a replacement profile while you wait.
What's the difference between an owner and a manager?
An owner has full control of the profile, including adding and removing people and deleting the profile, while a manager can do almost everything else: edit details, reply to reviews and post updates. Each profile has one primary owner, the only person who can pass primary ownership on. Keep owner access inside the business and give staff and outside helpers manager access. How LeadGenie manages a profile
Do I need a Gmail address for Google Business Profile?
No. You need a Google Account, but Google says it can use any email address, so your business email works. Google also suggests linking a company email address to your Google Account to make the profile easier to manage. Each person who helps with the profile should have their own Google Account and their own access, rather than sharing your login.