Getting your Google Business Profile back from an old agency

If a former marketing agency or web designer still owns your Google Business Profile, you can almost always get it back. Start with a short written request to the agency asking them to make you primary owner, because that is the fastest route. If they do not answer, Google's own request access process lets you claim it with proof that you run the business. Either way, it helps to have your paperwork and a few minutes of video of your business ready before you begin.

First, find out what you are dealing with

Before you contact anyone, work out exactly who holds the profile.

Search your inbox for emails from Google about your Business Profile, especially messages like "You've been added as a manager" or "Verify your business". They show which account was used and when.
Try every Google account you have, including old Gmail addresses. Sign in, search your business name, and look for owner tools above your profile. Sometimes the "lost" profile turns out to be on an account you forgot.
Check the claim screen. Go to business.google.com, choose to add a business, and type your business name. If it is already claimed, Google shows a message saying so, often with part of the owner's email address: the first letter or two, a row of stars, and the ending after the @ sign. The ending alone often tells you whose account it is.

Write down what you find. You will need it either way.

Step 1: ask the agency directly

Most agencies hand profiles back once asked, especially if the request is short, polite and specific. Send it by email so you have a record.

Something like this works. Subject line: "Business Profile ownership for [business name]". Then:

Hi [name], we are no longer using your services, and I would like to take over our Google Business Profile for [business name, address]. Please make [your Google account email] the primary owner. You can do this under Business Profile settings, then People and access: add me as an owner, then transfer primary ownership to me. After that, please remove your own access. Thank you for your help with this.

Give it a week. If they reply asking for something, such as a final invoice, deal with that separately; most contracts do not give an agency the right to keep your listing, but if your agreement says otherwise, ask your attorney before arguing.

If the agency has closed or the person has disappeared, skip straight to the next step.

Step 2: request access through Google

When the current owner will not or cannot help, Google lets you ask for access through the profile itself.

Sign in to the Google account you want to own the profile.
Go to business.google.com and add your business by name, choosing it from the list when it appears.
Google tells you the profile is already managed by someone else. Click Request access.
Fill in the form: the level of access you want (ask for ownership), your relationship to the business, your name and a phone number.
Submit. Google emails the current owner and asks them to respond.

Google then emails you with updates. The current owner can approve you, refuse, or ignore the request.

If they approve

You get access straight away. Make yourself primary owner if they did not, and move to the clean-up step below.

If they ignore it

If the owner does not respond within the time Google gives them, the email Google sends you, or the request status in your account, may offer you the option to claim or verify the profile yourself. Follow it. The waiting period is stated in Google's messages, so keep an eye on your inbox and spam folder.

If they refuse

If the owner denies the request and you believe they have no right to the profile, you can appeal through the same process. Google's Business Profile help center at support.google.com/business has the current form. Explain plainly that you own and run the business and the other party is a former vendor.

Step 3: prove it is your business

Google usually asks you to verify before giving you control. Which methods you are offered depends on the business, and can include a phone call or text, an email, a postcard, or a short video recording.

Video verification is common now. Be ready to film, in one continuous take:

Where you are: the street sign, the building outside, or your business vehicle if you go to customers.
That the business is real: signage, your shop or workspace, equipment, products, or the tools of your trade.
That you manage it: opening the front door with your key, using the cash register or card reader, showing a business document with your name, or walking into the back office.

Have documents handy in case Google asks: a business license, a utility bill or lease in the business name, or your state business registration.

What not to do while you wait

Do not create a second profile for the same business. It splits your reviews, confuses customers, and Google may suspend one or both.
Do not argue in public reviews or posts. Keep the conversation with the agency in email.
Do not hand your own password to anyone to "sort it out". Access should always be given through roles, not shared logins.

Step 4: lock it down once you are back in

When you have ownership:

Make sure your account is the primary owner.
Remove the agency and anyone else who should not have access.
Add a trusted second owner, such as a partner, so you are never stuck again.
Check every detail: name, category, hours, phone, website address. Agencies sometimes left their tracking phone number on the profile, which can stop working when you stop paying them. Change it to your own number.
Read through recent edits and posts for anything you did not approve.

Website ownership and Google: who controls your listing explains how to set up the roles so this cannot happen again, and covers the other accounts an agency may still hold.

The other accounts the same agency may have

An agency that held your profile often also controls your website, your domain or your Search Console. Check those now, while you are dealing with it. The domain matters most, because your email depends on it too. My web designer registered my domain: how to get it back covers that one.

What to do this week

Search your inbox for Google emails about your profile and try every Google account you have.
Check the claim screen at business.google.com to see whose account holds it.
Send the agency a short, written request.
Film a practice verification video and gather your business documents.
If there is no answer within a week, use Request access.

If the same agency also controls your old website and getting it back is proving harder, you do not need their site to move on: you can see your site rebuilt first from what is publicly on it today.