Claim and Verify All Listings with a Domain Email
We all know how to claim and verify a Google listing, but many don’t realize that the account you use to claim and verify a listing really matters.
The email you use signals to Google that you are authorized to manage this business profile and can make the verification process and future edits easier. For that reason, always try to use a domain-level email for the brand when claiming or verifying a listing.
If your listings are already claimed, audit them for unwanted users and remove anyone unnecessary. You want as few users with direct access to the individual profiles as possible.
My recommended set-up is to have a domain email as the primary owner on all individual listings and then add another domain email as a backup owner. To give other users access to manage the listing, I recommend using business groups.
How to use GBP business groups
Business groups are Google’s solution for giving agency accounts the ability to streamline and more easily manage user access to listings. When you first set up an agency account, you will want to organize all the listings you have access to into business groups. You can organize these however you like, based on your business set-up.
For example, if you manage listings for multiple brands, you can organize the groups by brand. If they all belong to a single brand, you can organize them by location instead. For franchises where multiple locations may be owned by the same person, you can create a separate group for that franchisee and give them access to all their locations by adding them to the group. You also have the option to keep all locations in one group. Ultimately, it depends on your preference and how you want to delegate user access.
The main function of business groups is to simplify user access management. Instead of adding users directly to individual listings, you can give them access at the group level. This way, users can manage multiple listings at once without needing to be added to each one individually.
You can add as many users as you want to each group. Make sure those users are not sending any mass email blasts or making Google Maps edits with the email address connected to the group. If their user account is restricted by Google, it can cause all the locations in the group to be suspended.