How to Allow Your Team to Respond to Google Reviews

October 5, 2026 · 7 min read

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An employee can reply to customer reviews from their own Google Account after receiving the appropriate access to the Business Profile. The owner should also decide who publishes independently, who approves difficult cases and who removes access when the working relationship ends.

First decide whether the person actually needs to publish. Someone preparing proposed replies can work in a shared document without access to the profile. This is a useful arrangement while training an employee or working with an outside editor whose responsibility is limited to the text.

Below are the access steps and a suggested way to organise the work. Google's instructions were checked on 21 September 2026. The team example is fictional. ProfileForBusiness is an independent product and is neither part of Google nor a Google partner.

Table of contents

What the manager role allows

Google provides owner and manager roles. A manager can reply to reviews, manage posts and change business information, including the name, category and website. Managers cannot add or remove users or remove the profile. Each person uses their own Google Account. Google's documentation on role permissions.

Within this set of permissions, Google does not describe a separate role limited to review replies. The practical implication for an owner is that assigning a manager means assessing trust in actions beyond writing replies. An agreement that someone handles reviews only is a working rule, not a technical restriction on the other features.

For someone whose job is the daily handling of reviews, choose the manager role. Keep primary ownership of the profile under the business's control. Giving an employee ownership requires a separate reason related to access administration, beyond simply preparing replies.

What to prepare before inviting an employee

Record the business name, location and profile address for which you intend to grant access. With several branches, it is easy to work on the wrong listing. Ask the employee to confirm their Google Account address instead of choosing a similar address from memory.

Before sending the invitation, agree responsibilities on a single page. Include the days covered, backup cover, the person who approves difficult replies and where drafts are stored. State clearly who decides on refunds or other commitments to customers. The ability to publish a reply does not mean internal permission to promise compensation.

Secure the owner's account and the accounts of everyone publishing replies. Google describes 2-Step Verification as additional protection if a password is stolen. Also agree who within the business helps recover access to work accounts. Passwords and sign-in codes stay outside the reply document.

How to add a Business Profile manager

The owner opens the correct profile and follows these steps:

  1. Open the additional options menu, profile settings, then people and access.
  2. Start adding a user and enter their email address.
  3. Choose the manager role and send the invitation.
  4. The employee accepts the invitation using their own account.

This summarises Google's official instructions for adding users. Once the invitation is accepted, check the correct location and assigned person together. Do not post a test response beneath a real review just to check the button. Make the first publication part of a real case with wording that has already been checked.

Record the date access was granted in your internal register. When responsibility for the profile changes later, this will show which account belonged to the previous employee and who needs to confirm that their cases have been handed over.

Does a new manager need to wait seven days

Google lists seven-day restrictions for new owners and managers covering deletion or restoration of the profile, removal of other users and transfer of primary ownership. Google's explanation of these restrictions.

That list does not establish a general seven-day wait before replying to reviews. Do not assume every missing reply button will reappear after a week. Check the account, acceptance of the invitation, selected profile and its verification. Google requires the business to be verified before replies can be posted. Requirements for managing reviews.

If the team still cannot complete the task, record the exact message and when the problem occurred. Separate an access problem from waiting for an already submitted reply to be published. This gives the person investigating a specific event to work from.

Responsibilities in a fictional team

Suppose a small salon has an owner, Anna, and an employee, Marek. This is an example of organising work, with no information about a real business or its results. Anna retains primary ownership of the profile, and Marek receives the manager role. They agree the following internal decision responsibilities.

Task Marek Anna
Check new reviews on working days Reviews and records cases Arranges backup cover
Reply to straightforward praise Writes and publishes within the agreed scope Checks selected replies
Complaint concerning payment Prepares a case description and draft reply Checks facts and approves wording
Promise of a refund or extra service Holds publication Makes the decision
Change listing information Reports the need for a change Approves it separately
End of the working relationship Hands over open cases Removes access and assigns cover

The table defines responsibilities in this example. It does not describe technical restrictions available in Google's interface. Marek needs to understand that permission to answer a simple compliment without approval does not automatically extend to a dispute about a service.

Initially, Anna reads every proposed reply. After checking how Marek works, she can define categories he handles independently. Record any such extension of responsibility so that both people share the same version of the agreement.

A register that prevents duplicate replies

A shared table is enough to record the review link, date noticed, person responsible, draft reply, approver and case status. Suggested statuses are: to check, awaiting decision, ready to publish, submitted and publicly visible. These are labels in your own register, not names of Google features.

Before writing, the employee assigns the case to themselves. Before publishing, they check again whether someone has already replied and whether the owner has changed the decision. When someone provides cover, they take over a specific row together with the latest agreed text.

Do not copy the customer's entire file into the register. Record only who verified the case and where an authorised person can find the necessary information. Keep the reviewer's private information out of the proposed public reply. Google also recommends protecting privacy when replying.

If a dispute needs discussion outside the profile, give an approved contact channel for the business. The employee should know who will receive that message. Sending the customer to an inbox nobody monitors leaves the case without anyone responsible for it.

Publishing and checking the visible reply

According to Google's instructions, the person managing the profile opens reviews, selects the reply option for the correct review, enters the text and submits it. Google checks replies before publication. An approved reply is public, appears as a response from the business and triggers a notification to the reviewer.

The register should therefore distinguish submission from confirmed visibility. After submitting, record the date and the text used, then later check the reply beneath the correct review. Do not promise the customer or owner that it will appear immediately.

If you notice an error after publication, hold further replies on that case and pass it to the decision-maker. Agree the corrected text and record the reason for the change. Writing guidance and examples are covered in the separate article on how to respond to Google reviews.

Removing access and handing over cases

When the working relationship ends, the owner opens people and access, selects the user and removes them. Previous replies remain on the profile. The process is described in Google's instructions for removing a user.

Use this short checklist when withdrawing access:

  • Assign every open review to the next person.
  • Hand over drafts together with decisions already made.
  • Remove profile access at the agreed point when duties end.
  • Check access to the shared document and other tools used in the work separately.
  • Confirm who covers the next shift and makes urgent decisions.

Removing the account from the profile is one part of ending the working relationship. The owner should also check pending invitations and whether the full user list is current. For multiple locations, check each one separately and record completion.

After handing over, choose one open review and check whether the successor knows its status, has the necessary decision and can access the correct profile. This is a practical test of a complete handover. A note saying access was removed does not yet show whether the customer will receive further attention.

In the handover register, record the date of the check, who performed it and the person responsible for unresolved cases. Set a date to check again if any part of the handover is still missing.

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