When your agency won't give you access

If an agency set up your website and Google Business Profile, you want to leave, and now they won't give you access, you are not being unreasonable, and it isn't normal. One owner summed it up as "I feel like I'm held hostage." For your Business Profile, Google's own rules are on your side. For your website, it depends on who registered the domain and what your contract says. Here is how to get both back, in order.

Is it normal for an agency to own my Google Business Profile?

No. Agencies are allowed to manage your profile, not own it. Google's third-party policies for Business Profiles say "all end customers must retain ownership or co-ownership of their Business Profile at all times."

• You decide their access. The policy says businesses "have the right to determine whether a partner should have a Co-Owner, Manager, or no access at all."
• They must let you leave. Within 7 business days of your notice, the agency must give you a way to regain exclusive control, and remove its own permissions.
• They need your consent. An agency can claim a profile only with the owner's express consent, and Google prohibits claiming one to pressure a business into becoming a customer.

Google says it may stop agencies with repeated or serious violations from managing profiles. Quoting the policy in writing often ends the standoff.

Who owns my website, me or the agency?

It depends on several separate pieces, and an agency sometimes holds one while you hold the others. Sort out each one before you cancel anything.

The contract matters because of how copyright works. The U.S. Copyright Office's circular on works made for hire (revised 2024) says a commissioned work counts as "made for hire" only if it falls in one of nine listed categories and both sides signed a written agreement saying so. If your contract doesn't assign the work to you, the agency may hold the copyright in the custom design and code it built.

Text you wrote and photos you took are a separate question. For anything disputed, talk to a business attorney. This is general information, not legal advice.

How do I get my Google Business Profile back?

Use Google's ownership request. It works even if the agency ignores you.

1. Sign in with an account you control. Use a Google account tied to your business email, not one the agency created. Check business.google.com to see whether you are already an owner.
2. Request access. Go to business.google.com/add, find your business and select Request Access. According to Google's ownership request page, the current owner is emailed and has 3 days to respond.
3. Claim it if they stay silent. If there's no response after 3 days, you may get the option to claim and verify the profile from your confirmation email. Google notes this option isn't always available.
4. Appeal a denial. If the agency denies the request, you can appeal. Service-area businesses without a storefront contact Google support and choose "Transfer ownership of listing."
5. Report the agency. Google has a complaint form for third-party policy violations. Attach your written request and their refusal.
6. Clean up once you're in. Make yourself primary owner, remove users you don't recognize, and add any new agency as a manager only.

How do I get my domain back?

Find out who the registrant is first. If it's you, the registrar has to help you. If it's the agency, you need them to change it, which is what your written demand is for.

• Get the transfer code. To move a domain to a registrar account you control, you need an authorization code. ICANN's registrant FAQ says your registrar must provide it within five calendar days of your request.
• Watch for the 60-day lock. ICANN says a transfer can be blocked for 60 days after a change to the registrant name, organization or email, and within 60 days of registration or a prior transfer. If your goal is to move the domain, ICANN suggests transferring before you change contact details.
• File a complaint if you're wrongly refused. ICANN accepts transfer complaints when a registrar denies a transfer for a reason outside its policy.
• Don't cancel before you control DNS. If your email runs on your domain, losing DNS can take your email down along with the website.

What should I send the agency?

A short, dated, written request with a deadline. Keep it polite and specific, because Google, a registrar or an attorney may read it later.

"Please transfer the following to [your email] by [date, 7 business days out]: primary ownership of our Google Business Profile; the authorization code and registrant access for [domain]; admin access to our hosting and website, plus a full backup; DNS access; and owner or admin access to Google Analytics, Search Console, Tag Manager and our ad accounts. Under Google's Business Profile third-party policies, this is our notice that we are ending your management of our profile."

Save every reply. If the deadline passes, use Google's request and complaint process above, and take your contract and the emails to a business attorney.

What does losing access actually cost me?

Mostly the calls and reviews you've built up. If you can't recover the profile and start a new one, you start from zero reviews, and BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey found 47% of consumers won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews.

Here is a worked example of what one profile can be worth. The assumptions are made up for illustration, not a client result.

If a quarter of that slips for three months while you rebuild, that's $3,600. Pull your real number from the calls figure in your Business Profile performance report. It's another reason to recover the original profile rather than start a new one.

Is it ever fair for an agency to keep something?

Yes, a few things. Being fair about them helps you get the rest faster.

• Rented sites. If you pay monthly for a site on the agency's own platform or template, your contract may only give you the content, not the build.
• Call tracking numbers they pay for. Ask to port them to you, or switch your listings back to your main number before you go.
• Their own tools. Dashboards, reporting software and internal templates are theirs.
• Unpaid invoices. If you owe money, expect it to come up. Settle or dispute it in writing. Google's ownership policy for your profile doesn't mention payment status.

How do I make sure this never happens with the next agency?

Set it up so you own everything and the agency is a guest. It takes an hour at the start and saves months at the end.

• You are the primary owner of your Business Profile, and the agency is a manager.
• The domain is registered in your business name, in a registrar account you log in to.
• You own Analytics, Search Console, Tag Manager and the ad accounts, and ad spend goes on your card.
• The contract assigns the work to you on payment and lists what you receive when you leave.
• There is a clear exit clause and notice period in writing.
• Passwords live in a password manager you control.

Before you pick who's next, compare an agency, a freelancer or an in-house hire, and run any candidate through our checklist on how to tell if an SEO company is legit.

What does Key Rank Strategies do?

We are a growth marketing company in Costa Mesa for local service businesses in Orange County and other states. We report in calls, customers and revenue, not just rankings.

• Our work covers SEO and Google Business Profile optimization, websites, video ads, and Google and Meta ads management, run as one growth plan.
• One example: Serene Pools, a pool contractor in Orange County, went from 165 to 1,080 monthly Google clicks and from 37K to 343K monthly impressions in 6 months.

Ready to see what a full plan includes? Read how our growth plan for local service businesses works.