Many business owners express a common concern: they have no idea who has access to their Google Business Profile (GBP) and they don’t know how to gain access themselves. This lack of control can bring problems for their business including being unable to reply to reviews, fix inaccurate information, and in return maintain their clients’ trust. Thankfully, gaining access to your GBP is easier than you may think, and doing so will allow you to regulate who else has access to it. Let’s explore how you can figure out who has access to your GBP!
Ask EVERYONE in Your Office
To begin gaining access to your GBP, you should seek out colleagues or associates within your business to see if they might have access to the profile. In many cases, someone within the business has already claimed your GBP. It is important to reach out to everyone within your business and avoid assuming that someone doesn’t have access based on their job title — assuming this can complicate and prolong the process.
You can either send out a mass message to everyone in your organization or reach out to individuals one by one to ask they if they have ownership of the GBP. (To see if you have access, you will want to log into gmail, click the “waffle” icon in the top right corner of your screen, and click “Google Business Profile” if it appears. If it does not appear, then you don’t have access to any profiles.) If someone has access, that’s great news! You can request that they add you as an owner to the GBP — therefore allowing you to take control of the listing. If no one has access, see what next steps you should take below.
Try To Claim Your Google Business Profile
In the event no one in your organization has access to your GBP, you can try to claim it. To do this, you will want to start by searching for your business on Google and click “Own This Business?” on the GBP. Once you have followed the steps to claim your business, a portion of the phone number or email of the current owner of the profile, if there is one, will appear. This provides you with helpful information that you can circle back to your team with. You will want to check back in with everyone in your organization to see if anyone recognizes the email or phone number. If someone does, work with them to gain access to the profile.
However, if no one recognizes the information provided by Google, or if no ownership details are available, don’t worry — keep reading!
Note: If no GBP appears in your search results, you will need to set up a profile for your business.
Contact Google Support
Ideally, we would all like to be able to gain access to our Google Business Profile’s without assistance, but that unfortunately is not always possible. If no one within your organization recognized the phone number or email associated with your GBP, it is possible that someone outside your organization may be controlling it. If that is the case, it is important to take the necessary steps to gain control of your profile.
If you find that no phone number or email was provided by Google, it is likely that no one has access to your GBP. In this case, it is important to gain ownership of the listings to avoid having it claimed by someone else.
No matter which of these scenarios you have found yourself in, it is important to take some time and reach out to Google Support. When reaching out, it’s best to use a business domain email to show your affiliation with the company and provide as much information as you can. Google may ask you to submit additional information or they may call you at a later date to help you gain access to your GBP. Once you follow through the steps on the support ticket, Google will review the information you provided and should grant you ownership of the GBP.
Remember You’re Not Alone
Gaining access to your Google Business Profile can be both frustrating and time-consuming. However, it’s very important to remember two crucial things; firstly, it’s a common issue, and secondly, you do not have to tackle it alone.
If you are having trouble figuring out who has control over your Google Business Profile and need some help, Vivid Image’s Online Listing Experts are here for you. With our knowledge, we can take time off your plate and get you access to your GBP.
