Google Business Profile for franchises: who owns what

A Google Business Profile for franchises follows the same rule as any chain: one profile per branch that serves customers in person, each with its own address, hours, photos and reviews. What Google does not decide for you is who controls those profiles. The franchisor, the franchisee, or both? That is a business decision, and in the Philippines it is often left unsaid until a franchisee leaves and nobody can log in.

This guide is for the franchisor's operations team, and for franchisees who want to know what to ask for. The basics of setting up several branches are in our guide to Google Business Profile for multiple locations; this page goes into the franchise side.

Google allows many owners and managers on a profile, but a profile has only one primary owner. There are three common set-ups, and one of them causes most of the trouble.

• Franchisor as primary owner, franchisee as manager. Head office creates and verifies every branch profile inside one business group. Each franchisee is added as a manager of their own branch only. The brand keeps the profile, its name and its reviews if the franchisee leaves. This is the set-up we recommend for most brands.
• Franchisee as primary owner, franchisor as owner. The franchisee creates and verifies the profile and adds head office as a second owner. This suits a master franchisee or a multi-unit operator who runs many branches with their own team. Write into the agreement that primary ownership passes to the franchisor when the franchise ends.
• Franchisee only. The franchisee makes the profile with a personal Gmail and head office has no access. This is the set-up to avoid. The brand cannot fix a wrong name, cannot see the reviews and cannot get the profile back without the franchisee's cooperation.

Google's owner and manager roles are simple, and the differences are smaller than many franchisors assume.

• Primary owner: everything an owner can do, and the only person who can transfer primary ownership. A primary owner cannot remove themselves until they hand that role to someone else.
• Owner: full control. Adds and removes users, edits everything, and can remove the profile.
• Manager: almost the same access as an owner. Managers can reply to reviews, edit hours, phone, photos and posts. They can also edit the name, category and website, and close a location.
• What managers cannot do: add or remove users, or remove the profile.
• New users wait 7 days. Someone who has just become an owner or manager cannot transfer primary ownership, remove other users or delete the profile in their first 7 days.

A manager can change the name and category and mark the branch closed, so the role is not read-only. A franchisee who adds "Best Milk Tea in Marikina" to the name breaks Google's rules, and can get the branch profile suspended. The operations manual has to say what a branch may change on its own; there is a template at the end of this guide.

Who replies to reviews is the other half of the split. Our review response guidelines set out both models with a one-page template.

A business group is a shared folder for profiles in Business Profile Manager. Google used to call these location groups, and a few help pages still use the old name. You can create one once you have 2 or more profiles, and each group has its own owners and managers.

Here is the detail that matters for franchises. Anyone you add as a manager or owner of the group can see every current and future profile in it. Google also says both managers and owners can create, edit and delete profiles inside the group. So a franchisee should not be a group manager. Add them as a manager of their own branch profile only; Google lets you add owners and managers to single profiles within a group.

• One group per brand. Google recommends limiting business groups to one per business or brand. A franchisor with two brands can run two groups, each with its own team.
• Group owners: the brand's own accounts, ideally two people at head office, so access survives one resignation.
• Group managers: head office staff who look after every branch, such as an operations or marketing officer. An area manager can be one too, if you trust them with every branch.
• Branch-level managers: the franchisee and their store manager, on that branch's profile only.
• Store codes: give every branch a unique code, such as BRAND-QC-014, to match profiles to your branch list in spreadsheets.

Verifying 40 branches one video at a time is slow. Google offers bulk verification to accounts with 10 or more profiles of the same business. On a computer, open Business Profile Manager and select Verifications, then Chain, then Start. Fill in the form and submit it.

Read the conditions before you apply, because franchises trip on them:

• The account must list every branch you manage. Google may ask for evidence if your chain's real size differs.
• Duplicate, suspended or disabled profiles do not count toward the 10.
• Profiles owned by someone else are not verified with the rest. If franchisees already made and verified their own profiles, you have to request access to each one first.
• Service-area businesses cannot bulk verify, and neither can agencies with several different businesses in one account.
• Google gives no timeframe. It reviews the account, contacts you if it needs more, and may still ask for video verification.
• It is not permanent. Google says it may de-verify accounts that do not actively manage their profiles.

The brand's name, exactly the same on every branch. Google's guidelines say all locations of a business in the same country must use the same name, and they name franchisees directly: an authorized, fully dedicated seller of a brand may use the brand name. The franchisee's company name does not go on the profile.

There are two exceptions. Sub-brands or formats can use their own name if it is used at every location of that format, like a brand's "Express" kiosks. And a branch whose storefront, website and stationery consistently use a different name can use that name. Google's own examples reject names such as "Apple Store at Stanford Shopping Center": the mall belongs in the address, not the name. So does the barangay, the city and any slogan.

Two more rules catch Philippine chains. If one stall sells two of your brands, do not combine them as "Brand A / Brand B"; pick one, or make separate profiles if the brands operate independently. And all branches that offer the same service share the same primary category.

Most profile disputes start here, so settle each case in the agreement. If you also want the business side of who does what, see franchisor vs franchisee.

• The branch is sold to a new franchisee and keeps the brand name: keep the same profile. Remove the old franchisee's access and add the new one. Google keeps the reviews when a business gets a new owner but keeps its name.
• The branch closes: mark that profile permanently closed rather than deleting it. Our guide to closing or moving a branch on Google Maps covers what happens to its reviews.
• The branch moves to a new address: edit the address on the same profile. Never create a new profile for a move.
• The former franchisee keeps the shop under a new name of their own: that is a new business for Google. Mark the brand's profile there as closed, and the new shop starts its own profile with zero reviews.
• The franchisee holds primary ownership and will not hand it over: the new franchisee or head office can ask Google for it, and the current owner is asked to respond. Here is how to request ownership. Having the transfer written into the contract is far easier.

Only the primary owner can do it, and the person receiving it must already be an owner or manager on the profile. From Google's steps: go to the Business Profile, select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access. Select the user, select Edit next to Access, choose Primary owner and save.

Plan for the 7-day wait: Google blocks primary-ownership transfers in a new user's first 7 days. Add head office as owner on day one of every franchise.

When a franchisee is removed, their past replies and posts stay on the profile, one more reason to set a reply standard from the start.

Copy this into your manual and fill in the brackets. It is short on purpose, so branches read it.

• Ownership: [BRAND] is primary owner of every branch profile, through the business group "[GROUP NAME]". Two head office accounts are owners: [ROLE 1] and [ROLE 2].
• Access: each franchisee and store manager is a manager of their own branch profile only, using their own Google Account. Never share passwords.
• Name and category: the profile name is "[BRAND]" exactly. The primary category is [CATEGORY]. Branches never change either; request changes from [EMAIL].
• Branch may update on its own: hours, holiday hours, phone, photos of the branch, posts about the branch.
• Hours: holiday and special hours set at least a week before each public holiday.
• Photos: at least [NUMBER] new photos of the branch each month. No stock photos from head office as the cover.
• Reviews: replies follow the [BRAND] review guidelines. 1 to 3 star reviews within one working day and 4 to 5 star reviews within 3 days (our suggested targets); serious complaints escalated to [ROLE].
• Review link: each branch uses its own review link and QR on its counter. Never another branch's.
• Closures: closures of 7 days or less use special hours. Longer closures, moves and permanent closures are done by head office.
• Opening: head office creates and verifies the profile before opening day and adds the franchisee as manager.
• Exit: on transfer or termination, head office removes the outgoing franchisee's access within [X] days and adds the incoming one.

Reviews never move between branches, so a QR printed from the flagship's profile sends a new branch's customers to the wrong place. The free review link generator finds a branch by name and gives its direct review link; print it next to the counter of that branch only.