How to Navigate and Use the Complete Management Interface
When Google retired the standalone Google My Business app in 2022 and moved all profile management into Google Search and the web dashboard at business.google.com, it left a significant number of business owners and agencies uncertain about where to find the management functions they had been using for years.
The interface changed substantially. Things moved. Features were renamed. And many guides written before the transition still show the old interface, creating confusion for anyone trying to follow them on the current platform.
This guide covers the complete current Google Business Profile management interface: the two primary access routes, where every management function is located, what each section does, and how agencies and multi-location businesses should structure their access.
Whether you are managing a single listing or a portfolio of dozens, this is the navigation reference for the GBP interface as it exists today.
Table of Contents
Google Business Profile is managed through two interfaces, both of which access the same underlying data and provide the same management capabilities.
Which one you use is largely a matter of workflow preference, though each has some interface elements that are more accessible through one route than the other.
Interface 1: Google Search (recommended for quick edits)
The Google Search interface is the quickest access route for routine profile management. Sign in to the Google account that manages your GBP listing, then search your business name on Google.
A management panel appears above the search results showing your profile data, a series of quick action buttons, and access to the edit interface. For most routine profile edits updating hours, adding a post, responding to a recent review this is the fastest path.
The Search interface provides a simplified editing experience optimised for the most common management tasks.
The full range of profile fields, including some attributes and less commonly used sections, is more comprehensively accessible through the business.google.com dashboard.
Interface 2: business.google.com (recommended for comprehensive management)
The business.google.com dashboard is the full web-based management interface for Google Business Profile. It provides access to every profile field, all analytics data, the full review management interface, the post creation tools, and the account-level management features including user access control and multiple listing management.
For comprehensive profile optimisation work, agency management, or any task that requires access to the full feature set, business.google.com is the primary interface.
Audit Your Profile Against the Top Local Competitors
Once you know your way around your GBP interface, GMB Crush shows you how your profile compares to the businesses already ranking above you and exactly what to change first.
The Google Search management panel is the most commonly used interface for business owners managing a single profile because it is the most directly accessible it requires only signing in and searching the business name.
The quick action bar
When you search your business name while signed in, a management panel appears with a row of quick action buttons below the profile overview.
The specific buttons visible depend on your business category and what Google determines are your most commonly used actions. Common quick actions include: Edit profile, Add photo, Read reviews, Add update (post), and See your profile.
These quick actions are shortcuts to the most common management tasks. Clicking any of them opens the relevant editing interface directly without requiring you to navigate through menus.
Edit profile
The Edit profile option opens the full profile information editor.
This is where you manage the core identity and content fields of your profile.
The editor organises fields into sections:
- Business information: name, category, description, opening date
- Contact: phone number, website URL, and any additional contact options
- Location: address (or service area for SABs), service area configuration, and map pin position
- Hours: regular opening hours, special hours for specific dates, and additional hours (for specific parts of the business, such as kitchen hours for a restaurant)
- More: additional attributes specific to your business category health attributes, accessibility features, payment methods, service-specific attributes, and any other category-relevant options
Changes made in the Edit profile interface typically apply within hours.
Significant changes primary category, address may be subject to a brief review period.
Photos and videos
The photo management section is accessible from the Search management panel.
You can upload new photos, view existing photos, and see customer-contributed photos that have been added to your listing by Google Maps users.
Photos are organised by Google into categories (exterior, interior, at work, team, product) based on the content Google’s vision AI detects in each image.
Customer-contributed photos cannot be deleted by the business owner unless they violate Google’s content policies, in which case they can be flagged for review. Your own uploaded photos can be managed and deleted from the photos section.
Reviews
The reviews section in the Search management panel shows your recent reviews and allows you to respond to them.
Responses can be written directly in the panel and appear publicly on your profile.
The full review history and additional review management options flagging reviews for policy violations are accessible from both the Search panel and the business.google.com dashboard.
Your Competitors Are Already Using GMB Crush
GBP audits, geo-grid ranking maps, competitor analysis, review monitoring, and AI Overview insights. All in one platform. Start your 14-day trial today.
- Managing Your Profile via business.google.com
The business.google.com dashboard provides the same editing capability as the Search interface with a more comprehensive layout. If you are managing multiple listings from the same account, business.google.com is the primary interface since the Search panel only shows one listing at a time.
Dashboard overview
When you sign in to business.google.com, the dashboard shows your listing or listings with a performance summary.
For a single listing, the dashboard displays key metrics profile views, search impressions, call volume, and direction requests alongside quick access to the main management sections.
The left-hand navigation panel provides access to all primary sections.
Profile section
The Profile section in the business.google.com dashboard corresponds to the Edit profile function in the Search interface.
It provides access to all profile fields organised into the same categories: Business information, Contact, Location, Hours, and More.
The dashboard interface allows slightly more granular access to some fields particularly the more complex attribute sets available for certain business categories than the Search panel edit interface.
Posts section
The Posts section provides the full post creation interface. You can create What’s New posts, Offer posts, Event posts, and Product posts from this section.
Draft posts can be saved for later completion. Published posts are visible here with their publication dates and engagement data. The section also shows which posts are currently live (within their expiry window) and which have expired.
Reviews section
The Reviews section in the dashboard provides the complete review management interface. All reviews are listed with their dates, star ratings, and text. You can respond to any review from this interface.
The flag function for reporting policy-violating reviews is accessible here. Reviews can be filtered by star rating and response status to identify reviews that have not yet received a response.
Messages section
The Messages section manages the direct messaging function, which allows customers to contact you through your GBP profile without making a phone call. Messages are managed here and can be responded to within the interface.
If messaging is not enabled for your profile, this section provides the option to turn it on. Note that enabling messaging creates an expectation of response Google monitors response rates and may display response time information on your profile.
Photos and Videos section
The Photos section in the dashboard provides a more comprehensive photo management interface than the Search panel.
You can upload photos in bulk, view all photos organised by category, see the performance data (views) for each photo, and manage customer-contributed photos. Video content is managed from this same section.
The Performance section (called Insights in some interface contexts) provides the analytics data for your GBP profile.
This is where you monitor how your profile is performing and identify trends in customer engagement.
Key metrics available
- Profile views: how many times your profile appeared in search results over the selected period, broken down by where it appeared (Google Search vs Google Maps)
- Search queries: the specific search terms customers used to find your profile one of the most directly actionable data points in the entire dashboard, because it shows which queries are actually driving traffic
- Customer actions: the actions customers took after finding your profile website visits, phone calls, direction requests, and booking clicks
- Direction requests: the number of times customers requested directions to your location, with a geographic breakdown showing where those requests originated
- Phone calls: call volume over the selected period (availability varies by region and account configuration)
- Photo views: how many times your photos have been viewed
How to use performance data for optimisation
The search queries data is the most actionable insight in the performance section.
Queries that appear with high impression volume but produce few profile views or actions indicate a category or relevance gap your profile is appearing for these searches but not compelling enough for customers to engage.
Queries that are absent but should be present (service types you offer that customers in your area are searching for) indicate category or services menu gaps to address.
Direction request origin data, when available, shows the geographic distribution of where your customers are searching from.
Comparing this against your stated service area identifies geographic demand patterns that can inform where to focus review acquisition and service area configuration efforts.
Track Your Map Pack Ranking Across Your Full Area
GMB Crush’s geo-grid maps your Map Pack position at every point across your service area so your management effort is directed at the geographic gaps that actually matter.
- Access Management: Adding Users and Agencies
GBP provides a user access management system that allows multiple people to manage a listing with different levels of access.
This is essential for businesses working with external agencies, for multi-person teams where different staff need different access levels, and for businesses that want to grant management access without giving someone the ability to delete the listing.
Access levels
Google Business Profile has three access levels. Owners have complete control including the ability to add or remove other users, transfer ownership, and delete the listing. A listing can have multiple owners, but only one primary owner.
Managers can edit all profile information, create posts, respond to reviews, and add or remove site managers, but cannot remove owners or delete the listing.
Site managers have limited access they can edit basic profile information and respond to reviews but cannot manage users.
Adding a user
- Go to business.google.com and select the listing.
- Click the three dots (more options) or navigate to the Business Profile settings.
- Select ‘Managers’ or ‘People and access.’
- Click ‘Add’ and enter the Google account email address of the person you want to add.
- Select the appropriate access level (Owner, Manager, or Site manager).
- Click ‘Invite.’ The invited person receives an email and must accept the invitation to gain access.
For agency access, grant Manager-level access to the agency’s Google account. Avoid granting Owner access to external parties unless there is a specific operational reason recovering ownership from an uncooperative external Owner can be a lengthy process.
Businesses and agencies managing more than one GBP listing need a way to oversee multiple profiles from a single interface without logging into each one individually.
The Business Profile Manager is the account-level view that provides this functionality.
Accessing the Business Profile Manager
The Business Profile Manager is accessed by going to business.google.com and clicking on the account selector at the top of the page.
If your account manages multiple listings, you can switch between the individual listing view and the account-level manager view.
At the account level, all listings managed under the account are visible in a single dashboard with key status information for each.
Location groups
Within the Business Profile Manager, listings can be organised into Location groups subgroups of listings within the same account that can be managed and assigned to different team members independently.
A retail chain might create separate location groups for Northern and Southern locations, with regional managers having access only to their relevant group. Location groups are created and managed from the account-level dashboard under the Locations section.
Bulk management capabilities
From the Business Profile Manager account view, certain management functions can be applied across multiple listings simultaneously. Post publishing can be applied to multiple locations.
Hour updates can be applied in bulk. Access management for users who should have access to all locations can be configured at the account level rather than listing by listing.
For agencies managing large portfolios, these bulk capabilities significantly reduce the time required for routine management tasks.
The key factor is this: the Business Profile Manager account view is where portfolio management becomes efficient. Individual listing management for a single business can be done entirely from the Search interface. Managing five or more listings requires the structured access of business.google.com with location groups and bulk management to remain operationally manageable.
Google Business Profile sends notifications for several types of events that require your attention.
Understanding which notifications to expect and where to configure them prevents important events new reviews, profile changes, user suggestions from going unnoticed.
Types of GBP notifications
- New reviews: a notification when any new review is posted on your profile. Responding promptly to new reviews is a visible signal of engagement on your profile many businesses set up email or mobile notifications for new reviews specifically to ensure rapid response.
- User-suggested edits: Google allows Maps users to suggest edits to any GBP listing. When a suggestion is submitted for your listing, you receive a notification and can accept, reject, or modify it. Unreviewed suggestions may be applied automatically by Google if they appear credible monitoring these notifications is important for preventing unauthorised changes to your profile.
- Q&A activity: notifications when new questions are posted to your profile’s Q&A section or when existing questions receive answers from other users.
- Insights updates: periodic notifications summarising your profile’s performance data over the recent period.
Configuring notification settings
Email notification settings for GBP are managed through the notifications section of the business.google.com dashboard, accessible through the account settings.
You can configure which notification types are sent and to which email address.
For agencies managing client listings, configuring review notifications to go to both the agency and the client ensures that responses happen promptly regardless of who is actively monitoring the dashboard.
Recommended Reading
GBP Optimization: the complete 14-step guide to every ranking signal once your interface is navigated
- GMB Crush Takeaways
The Google My Business app is gone. GBP is managed through Google Search and business.google.com.
Here is the navigation framework for the current interface:
- Use the Google Search management panel for quick routine tasks: updating hours, posting an update, responding to a recent review, and checking recent performance data. It is the fastest access route for single-listing management.
- Use business.google.com for comprehensive management: full profile editing, complete review history, bulk photo management, post creation with draft saving, performance analytics, and user access management. For agencies and multi-location businesses, this is the primary interface.
- Manage user access through business.google.com People and access settings: grant Owner access only to the business itself, Manager access to agencies and key staff, and Site manager access to location-level staff. Never grant Owner access to external parties unless there is a specific operational need.
- Use the Business Profile Manager account view for portfolio management: location groups, bulk posting, account-level user management, and multi-listing performance overviews. Trying to manage five or more listings from individual listing views is inefficient the account manager view is the right tool.
- Configure review and user-suggestion notifications so nothing goes unnoticed: a new 1-star review that sits without a response for two weeks, or a user-suggested address change applied without review, are both management failures that notification alerts prevent.
The interface is the tool. The strategy what to change, what to optimise, and what your profile needs to rank is a separate question that the interface answers only partially through its performance data.
GMB Crush provides the competitive data layer that the GBP interface itself does not: how your profile compares to the businesses already holding the Map Pack positions you want, and what specifically to change to close that gap.
One Platform. Every Local Ranking Signal.
Audit, optimise, track, and outrank. GMB Crush gives businesses and agencies the data to build and maintain the GBP presence that drives consistent Map Pack rankings. 14-day trial, no credit card required.
SEO Lover, my motto is Action Over Words.