Why we ask for access to your Google Business Profile and Search Console
What these two accounts show, why a partner needs to see them to do the job, and how to grant access without giving up ownership.
The short answer
Two accounts tell a web partner things nothing else does. Search Console shows how search engines see your site: which pages are indexed and which dropped out, crawl and structured data errors, security and manual action warnings, and which queries bring visitors to which pages. Your Business Profile shows how you appear in maps and local results: hours, details, reviews and the edits strangers suggest. Without access, a partner is working blind on search visibility and local presence, and the problems that appear there first, a hack warning, a page removed from the index, a wrong opening time, go unseen. Access is granted as a user or manager on accounts the business owns. Ownership does not move, everything is logged, and access ends at exit in one click. If the business does not own these accounts yet, claiming them is the first task.
What each shows and why it matters
| Account | What it shows | Why a partner needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Search Console | Indexing coverage; crawl errors; structured data validity; security and manual actions; queries, clicks and positions; sitemap status | Diagnosing visibility drops; catching hacks early; verifying migrations and redirects; fixing errors after changes |
| Business Profile | How the business appears in maps and local results; hours, categories, photos, reviews, suggested edits, calls and direction requests | Keeping details correct; answering reviews; preventing drift from anonymous edits; measuring local presence |
| Analytics (related) | What visitors do on the site | Understanding behaviour; verifying tracking after changes |
Granting access properly
- Confirm the business owns the property and profile, on a company account, not an employee’s personal one or the previous agency’s.
- If not, claim and verify them as the business; consolidate duplicates.
- Add the partner as a user or manager with the level the work needs.
- Record the access in the setup document with who has what.
- Review quarterly alongside every other access list.
- Remove at exit with one click, keeping the history.
What we do with them
Weekly, read Search Console for new errors, coverage changes and warnings. After every deploy, check indexing and structured data on changed pages. After a migration, verify redirects and coverage daily for weeks. Monthly, review queries and pages for the report. On the Business Profile, keep details current, answer reviews, reject wrong suggested edits and watch calls and directions as a local signal. All of it in your accounts, all of it visible to you.
What this means for you
Own your Search Console property and Business Profile on a company account, grant your partner user or manager access, and expect them to read both regularly and act on what they show. It costs nothing, changes no ownership, and it is the difference between a partner who sees a problem the day it appears and one who hears about it from a customer months later.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to give a partner access to these accounts?
Yes, when done as it should be: the business owns the property or profile, and the partner is added as a user or manager with the level of access the work needs. Nothing about ownership changes, everything the partner does is logged, and access is removed at exit. What is unsafe is the reverse: a partner who owns the accounts and the business who is the guest.
What does a partner actually do with Search Console?
Read indexing coverage to catch pages that dropped out, fix crawl and structured data errors, watch for security and manual action warnings, see which queries and pages bring traffic, submit sitemaps after changes, and verify redirects after a migration. It is the primary diagnostic tool for search visibility, and most problems show up there before anywhere else.
We do not think we own our Business Profile. What now?
Claiming it is the first task: verifying the business through the process the platform provides, and consolidating any duplicate profiles. Until it is claimed, anyone can suggest edits, reviews go unanswered, and hours and details drift. A partner can guide the claim, but the owner of the profile must be the business.
Sources
- Google Search Central: Search Console help (accessed 2026-09-12)