What is a Google Business Profile Organization Account For Agencies & Why Do You Need One?

With 86% of consumers reporting they use Google to discover new businesses near them, it’s never been more critical to have an active and attractive Google Business Profile (formerly called Google My Business).  

So you know all about Google Business Profile and manage Google Business Profiles for your clients. But how can you streamline the management of multiple Google Business Profiles? 

Step in Google Business Profile Organizations Accounts.

Yes, it's a bit of a mouthful to say BUT is perfect for agencies or marketers who need access to multiple Business Profile accounts, the lesser-known Google organization account could save you a lot of admin time. 

If you want to learn how to set up a Google Business Profile Organization Account and how to use it, you’re in the right place.

Keep reading to find out everything you need to know, PLUS a secret hack for getting quick and easy access to your clients’ Business Profile accounts.    

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What is a Google Business Profile Organization Account?

If you’re an agency or freelancer who manages Google Business Profiles for your clients, you can set up an Organization account within Google Business. This allows you to manage multiple locations on behalf of your clients from one place.

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Who needs a Business Profile Organization Business Account?  

If you manage multiple Google Business Profiles for your clients, it’s easier to have an overview and to manage the different accounts with an Organization Business Profile Manager dashboard. 

Your clients can invite you to manage their accounts using your Location Group or Business Profile Group ID number.

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What are the benefits of having a Business Profile Organization Account? 

When you set up an Organization Account in Google Business Profile, you’ll automatically be able to: 

• Get access to insights so you can monitor how customers interact with your clients’ businesses (with insights, you can learn more about how customers find the business — through direct search, discovery searches, or branded search). This is great for reporting back to clients on their performance. 
• Clients can still read and reply directly to their customer reviews without you needing to get involved.
• Manage your client’s businesses in bulk through the Google Business Profile API (this is most relevant for businesses with chains).
• Manager user access.
• Access customer support specifically for third parties managing Business Profile accounts.   

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How can I create a Google Business Profile Organization Account?

In order to set up your Organization Account in Google Business, head to https://business.google.com/agencysignup

Step 1: Enter the your agency’s domain: 

Step 2: Sign in with an email address on your domain and click confirm:

Step 3: Confirm it is your agency’s primary Business Profile account

Step 4: Enter the additional information requested until you’ve fully set up your account  

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What are agency user groups in a Google Business Organization Account? 

If you’re managing the Business Profiles of multiple locations for your clients, you can create user groups so that different teams of people can manage specific locations or groups of locations. This can help keep things more organized. 

When you create a group, you select the people you want to have the same access to edit specific locations. You can share access to multiple locations at once.

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Who can create a user group in an Organization Account? 

Anyone in your organization can create user groups; there are different levels of access you can give to people you add:

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Source: Google

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How do I change my Google Business Profile to an Organization Account?

When you have your Business Profiles set up in a personal account, you can easily change it to a Business Profile Organization Account. 

You first need to set up an Organization Account by following the steps above. 

Then you can move the locations over to your Organization Account: 

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How to move one Business Profile location

Step 1: In your organization account, ask for access to the profile you want to move

Step 2: Pick a group for the profile. Learn about location groups.

Step 3: Accept the invitation in your personal account. Learn how to accept.

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How to move more than one Business Profile location

Step 1: In your personal account, move all the profiles you want to move to the Organization Account into one group. Learn how to change groups. 

Step 2: In your personal account, add your organization as an owner of the group. 

Step 3: Enter the 10-digit organization ID. Learn where to get the ID.

Step 4: In your organization account, accept the invitation. Learn how to accept.

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How to request access to client’s Google Business Profiles using your Organization Account

In order for you to manage your client’s accounts with a Business Profile Organization Account, they need to give you access. 

Step 1:  Sign in to your Google Organization Business Profile Manager

Step 2: Click on Manage Invitations, where you can see any invites from your clients:

You can request access to businesses that are already claimed by clicking request access in the top right corner:

Step 3: Select the Location Group to assign. Location groups can only be added for those with organization profiles

Step 4: Type in the name of the business you want to request access to: 

Step 5: Google will confirm this business is already claimed & ask you to enter your agency details

Step 6: Click Request Access

Step 7: Your client will receive your request and will need to confirm it

Step 8: You can see all your pending requests in your organization dashboard under Manage Invitiations and Requests Sent: 

Step 9: When your client accepts your request, you will receive a confirmation email:

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How do you find your Location Group ID number in Google Business Profile Manager?

Organization accounts can only manage other businesses within "Location Groups", and the location group ID is the one that needs to be used if an end user wants to invite the organization account to get access.

You’ll find your Location Group ID in your Organization Business Profile Manager under: 

Businesses → Group Settings

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In the business group info you will see your business group location ID number: 

IMPORTANT: this is the number your clients need to add you to their Business Profile account. 

It is NOT the number you find under organizational info; that is a different number 🤷🏻‍♀️

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The easiest way to request access to a Google Business Profile Account

Do all the above explanations give you a full on headache?! Making manual requests whenever you need access to a client’s Google My Business is time-consuming and wastes your resources. 

Leadsie has a super simple solution: it allows you to request access to multiple Google Business Profiles at the same time.  

With Leadsie, you can send a personalised Leadsie request link to your client.

The client clicks on the link, logs in to their Google account and grants you the access you’re requesting. 

Leadsie does the work in the back end and adds you as a manager or owner to the account. It removes steps from the manual process and makes your client onboarding smooth and easy.

What's more, we now fully support Agency Organization accounts! To get access with your Organization account, just go to your Google integration settings and select the account attached to your Organization, the Business Group and it's done!

You can even request access to Google Ads, Analytics and Tag Manager with the same link. 

If you manage multiple assets for your clients, you can easily request access to their Facebook pages, Facebook Ad accounts and Instagram via Leadsie. 

If you want to simplify your client onboarding and make client onboarding hassle-free, then try us out for free for 14 days. 

You can create your account in less than a minute below 👇