Which profiles belong in the sale review?
List each actual profile and location or service-area setup relevant to the business. Record the profile reference, displayed information, known duplicates or issues, and the proposed handoff. A multi-branch seller should not assume one account review covers every profile.
Use the selling hub to connect this work to digital assets and sale readiness. The buyer needs supported administration for the profiles it expects to use. A screenshot in a marketing package cannot establish control or provider eligibility.
A profile-ownership register links each profile to its primary owner, other users, buyer role, provider limits, agreed action, and completion evidence. It tracks the handoff. It does not determine legal ownership of the business or guarantee search performance.
What is the difference between owner and manager roles?
Google's owner and manager guide explains distinct capabilities. A profile can have multiple owners but only one primary owner. Managers cannot perform every ownership action.
Inspect the actual People and access information through the authorized account process. Record the roles rather than relying on someone saying they have full access. A user who edits hours or replies to reviews may still be unable to complete the planned ownership change.
Keep the accepted buyer role explicit. A pending invitation, accepted manager role, owner role, and primary-owner status are different facts. A closing checklist should not collapse them into one access granted field.
Who can transfer primary ownership?
Google's primary-ownership guide states that the primary owner transfers primary ownership. The seller therefore needs the actual authorized person involved, not simply any account user or outside agency contact.
Confirm the recipient, provider requirements, and accepted sequence. Use the documented profile process and actual account facts. The purchase agreement can describe the intended asset handoff without proving that Google has completed the role change.
Do not make the only controlling user unavailable before the supported transfer is ready. The team should know who can carry out the action and handle a provider question. Removing old access is a separate completion step to review.
How do new-user limits affect timing?
Google identifies a seven-day period for new owners or managers before specified actions are available. Its examples include deleting or undeleting a profile, removing other users, and making someone the primary owner. Read the actual conditions rather than assuming every edit is blocked.
Record when the relevant role was obtained and what the provider currently permits. The buyer may already be an established user, or a new invitation may still be pending. The same closing date can therefore involve different access facts.
Ask the authorized profile team to plan the sequence from those facts. An internal schedule that says transfer Friday is not evidence that the provider will allow the action Friday. Keep a pending restriction visible until the actual step is confirmed.
What should the seller verify about agency access?
Request the actual agency arrangement and profile-user list. Determine who is primary owner and whether access is held through the intended seller-controlled process. A marketing agency may have a legitimate management role without owning the operating company.
Have counsel and the authorized parties review any included digital-asset terms. Provider roles and legal assignment are distinct. A broad clause saying all marketing assets transfer does not establish that the buyer has accepted profile access.
The sale preparation guide helps organize this evidence before closing. Resolve access gaps while the needed contacts are available. A late discovery that nobody can reach the primary owner can affect the practical handoff.
How are identity, location, and duplicate issues kept separate?
Record actual unresolved provider issues without inventing their cause or outcome. A profile can have an ownership plan and still need review of displayed information, eligibility, or another provider question. Do not call every issue solved by a user-role change.
Ask the authorized profile team to assess the current provider instructions for the actual issue. Creating a new duplicate is not evidence that the acquired profile's handoff is complete. The register should show which profile and process the buyer is relying on.
Keep changes to business information consistent with supported facts and provider requirements. A sale does not authorize invented locations, reviews, or service claims. The buyer needs a clear record of what was changed and why.
Which fields make the register useful at closing?
Use one row per relevant profile, with links to controlled evidence. Keep private account recovery details and sensitive identifiers restricted. A broad deal copy can show role and status without sharing credentials.
| Register field | Actual evidence | Closing decision |
|---|---|---|
| Profile reference | Provider record and business facts | Which profile is included? |
| Current primary owner | Authorized user list | Who can perform the transfer? |
| Other roles | Current and pending access | Who else controls or manages it? |
| Buyer recipient | Accepted role and account | Has the correct access been obtained? |
| New-user limits | Relevant timing and provider response | What action remains restricted? |
| Proposed change | Agreed provider sequence | What is planned before closing? |
| Completion | Confirmed roles and dated evidence | What control has actually changed? |
Review each status with its evidence owner. A provider screen or notification can support a completed role change; a drafted request cannot. Preserve dates so the closing team can explain any remaining dependency.
How should access be secured during the handoff?
The FTC security guide supports appropriate access and authentication controls. Use named authorized roles and a controlled process rather than sending one shared password through the transaction team.
Confirm recovery routes and relevant access responsibilities under the actual account setup. Removing a seller or agency should follow the supported plan. The parties need continued authorized administration without unnecessary access remaining indefinitely.
The guidance is not proof that the seller legally owns a profile or that Google approves the proposed change. Keep security controls, legal asset terms, and actual provider completion in separate review fields.
What does a profile-count example reveal?
Assume an illustrative seller has three relevant profiles in its internal register. The buyer's primary-owner change is confirmed for two while the third remains pending. The handoff is two confirmed and one open, rather than all complete.
These chosen counts are not target facts or a recommended profile setup. The example shows why location-level status matters. A successful transfer on one profile cannot stand in for the other profiles or settle their provider issues.
Do not turn the count into a performance claim. Having control of three profiles does not establish more calls, better ranking, or preserved revenue. Those outcomes require their own actual evidence after the relevant changes.
Which marketing records should accompany the profile decision?
Use the seller-document guide to preserve relevant reports, periods, and scope. The buyer may review historical profile data, but access and reporting should follow the actual provider and agreement terms.
Keep views, calls, website visits, bookings, and completed jobs distinct where recorded. One metric should not be described as another. A profile's history is evidence to assess, not a promise that the same results will continue under new ownership.
Record which historical reports can be supplied and who retains access. A blank buyer view after a change is not proof that no earlier activity existed. Explain the source period and available evidence before drawing a conclusion.
What should the closing and post-close process confirm?
Use the sale process guide to assign the transfer and follow-up owner. Keep contacts available for provider responses, role checks, old access, and open issues. Revisit the plan if the provider process or recipient changes. The final record should identify the actual profile, role, and date.
What sequence supports a profile-ownership handoff?
- Inventory actual profiles, primary owners, user roles, and provider issues.
- Agree on the buyer recipient and supported access sequence.
- Check current new-user limits and needed authorized contacts.
- Confirm the primary-owner change and review remaining access.
- Retain dated evidence and track open profile questions after closing.
The result is a clear administration handoff with supported status for each profile. It keeps invitations, roles, legal asset terms, provider conditions, and search-performance claims from being treated as the same event.