What Does Giving an Agency Access Mean?
Giving an agency access means inviting each agency person, by their own email address, to a role on your account that lets them do the job and nothing more, so you never share your login and can remove them in one click.
Every platform in this guide is built for it. Apple tells podcasters that “Each person should access Apple Podcasts Connect with their own Apple Account” and that it strongly recommends adding more than one person to an account (Apple Podcasts for Creators). Google Analytics says the email address and password of the Google Account you add “become the Analytics login credentials for that user” (Analytics Help). A shared password does none of this: it cannot be scoped, it cannot be audited by person, and changing it locks out everyone at once.
For companies hiring outside help with search, local listings or a podcast, this is the first practical step after signing. It also matters for security: our guide to protecting a podcast from hijacking starts from the same principle of one login per person.
How to Give an Agency Access at a Glance
| Step | Action | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | List the accounts and what the agency must do in each | A role chosen per platform |
| 2 | Collect a personal account email for each agency person | Valid Google and Apple accounts, no group addresses |
| 3 | Add users in Search Console | Agency appears as full or restricted user |
| 4 | Add managers on Google Business Profile | Agency appears as manager |
| 5 | Invite users in Apple Podcasts Connect | Agency activates its own Apple Account access |
| 6 | Assign a LinkedIn Page role | Agency appears as content admin or analyst |
| 7 | Add users in Google Analytics at the property level | Agency sees only the property it needs |
| 8 | Log every grant and set a review date | A list you can revoke from when the contract ends |
Time: 30 to 60 minutes for five platforms. Tools: owner or admin access on each account, a shared access log. Cost: free. Skill level: beginner.
What You Need Before Starting
You need the top role on each account, because only owners or admins can invite others, and a personal sign-in email for each person at the agency. In Search Console you “can grant permissions to other users only if you are a property owner” (Search Console Help). On Google Business Profile, only owners can add or remove users (Google Business Profile Help). In Apple Podcasts Connect, only users with the Admin role can invite (Apple Podcasts for Creators). In Google Analytics you need the Administrator role at the account or property level (Analytics Help).
Ask the agency for named individuals rather than a team inbox. Search Console says “An email group cannot be added as a user,” and Google Business Profile says you “can’t add Google Groups as managers or owners” (Search Console Help; Google Business Profile Help). If you have not verified your site yet, start with our Search Console verification guide.
Step 1: Decide What the Agency Must Do in Each Account
Choose the lowest role that covers the agency’s tasks; you can raise it later. The table below gives our recommendation for a typical PR or search agency, with the platform’s own description of each role.
| Platform | Our recommended agency role | What the role can do, per the platform |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Full user (restricted user for reporting only) | Full user “Has view rights to all data and can take some actions”; restricted user “Has simple view rights on most data” (Search Console Help) |
| Google Business Profile | Manager | Edit business info, respond to reviews, manage posts and photos, download insights; cannot add or remove users or remove the profile (Google Business Profile Help) |
| Apple Podcasts Connect | Analyst or Show Manager, limited to the relevant shows | Legal and Admin can access everything; Apple’s role table assigns other tasks to Finance, Show Manager and Analyst (Apple Podcasts for Creators) |
| LinkedIn Page | Content admin (analyst for reporting only) | Content admin creates and manages posts and events; analyst sees only the Analytics tab (LinkedIn Help) |
| Google Analytics | Viewer or Editor at the property level | Property-level users can access only that property (Analytics Help) |
Keep owner, Admin, Legal and super admin roles inside the company. Those roles can add or remove other people, and in Apple’s case the Legal role receives “formal legal notices” and other “legally significant communications” (Apple Podcasts for Creators).
Step 2: Collect a Personal Account Email for Each Agency Person
Each person needs a valid Google Account for Search Console, Business Profile and Analytics, and an Apple Account for Apple Podcasts Connect. Search Console says “Users must have a valid Google Account”; Analytics says you “can only add users whose email addresses are registered in Google accounts” (Search Console Help; Analytics Help). Apple says an invitee without an Apple Account will be prompted to create one with two-factor authentication during the invitation (Apple Podcasts for Creators).
Step 3: Add Users in Search Console
Open the property, go to Settings, then Users and permissions, click Add user, enter the email, choose a permission level and save. The Users and permissions page “is visible only if you’re a property owner” (Search Console Help). Choose full user for an agency that submits sitemaps or inspects URLs, and restricted user for one that only reads reports.
If an agency needs to manage users itself, Search Console offers a delegated owner, granted “without the use of a verification token,” which any owner can later remove from the same screen (Search Console Help). Prefer that to giving the agency a verification file or tag of its own. If you see the error “This user may only be added as ’Owner’,” the person already owns a containing property, and Google says adding them at a lower level “would be a demotion,” which is not allowed (Search Console Help).
Step 4: Add Managers on Google Business Profile
Go to your Business Profile, select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access, select Add, enter the email, choose Manager under “Access” and select Invite. Invitees “can accept the invite and become users right away,” and pending invites can be cancelled under “PENDING” (Google Business Profile Help).
Managers can do most day-to-day work, including responding to reviews and managing posts and photos. Google adds a cooling-off rule: new owners or managers “have to wait 7 days” before they can remove other users, transfer primary ownership or delete the profile (Google Business Profile Help). For profile basics see setting up a Google Business Profile.
Step 5: Invite Users in Apple Podcasts Connect
From Account, under People, click the Add (+) button, enter the person’s name and email, select roles, set show access and click Invite. The invitee receives an activation email (Apple Podcasts for Creators). Two details matter for agencies. If you do not change show access, the user “will have access to all shows by default,” so restrict it if you publish more than one show. And “Users must have the same user role for all shows they can access,” so a person who needs different rights on different shows needs the broader role or a second conversation about scope (Apple Podcasts for Creators).
Apple says an invited Admin needs “a valid payment method associated with their Apple Account,” one more reason not to make an agency an Admin. To read the analytics an Analyst can see, use our guide to Apple and Spotify podcast analytics.
How Many Roles Does Each Platform Offer?
LinkedIn names the most roles on its help page, six, and Google Business Profile the fewest, two.
Roles named on the platform’s own help page
Sources: LinkedIn Help, “LinkedIn Page admin roles”; Apple Podcasts for Creators, “Users and access”; Search Console Help, “Managing owners, users, and permissions”; Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your Business Profile owners & managers.” Read November 2, 2026.
Counts are of roles each page names. Search Console’s owner level has two types, verified and delegated, with the same permissions; Google Business Profile’s primary owner is a type of owner. LinkedIn’s six are three Page admin and three paid media roles. Google Analytics is not charted because the page we read names only some of its roles.
The chart shows that platforms with more roles let you scope an agency more tightly, so on LinkedIn and Apple there is rarely a reason to grant the top role.
Step 6: Assign a LinkedIn Page Role
Give the agency content admin to post and manage events, or analyst to read performance; keep super admin in-house. LinkedIn says a super admin can add and remove “any type of admin,” edit Page information and deactivate the Page, a content admin can create and manage posts, including boosting, and events, and an analyst has access “only” to the Analytics tab (LinkedIn Help). For ad work, LinkedIn’s paid media roles, Sponsored Content poster, Lead Gen Forms manager and Landing Pages manager, act through Campaign Manager, and a member can hold a Page admin role and a paid media role at the same time (LinkedIn Help).
LinkedIn’s roles page links to a separate article with the steps for adding admins, which we did not read, so we do not repeat them. Page setup is covered in how to set up a LinkedIn Company Page.
Step 7: Add Users in Google Analytics at the Property Level
In Admin, under Property, click Access Management, click +, then Add users, enter the email, choose permissions and click Add. Add at the property level unless the agency genuinely needs every property: Google says a user added at the account level “also has access to all the properties in the account, with the same set of permissions,” and that you “cannot give a user fewer permissions than you assigned at higher levels” (Analytics Help). Analytics lets you “add as many users as you need.” If the agency is measuring AI or press referrals, our guide to tracking AI referral traffic in GA4 covers the reports.
Step 8: Log Every Grant and Set a Review Date
Keep one list of who has what role on which platform, and review it at each contract renewal and the day an engagement ends. This is our recommendation; none of the platforms requires it. The list makes offboarding a ten-minute job. Removal paths, from each help page:
- Search Console: Settings, Users and permissions, open the menu next to the user, Remove access. If a warning says the user might regain access, they were a verified owner; remove the tokens listed, also shown under “Unused ownership tokens” (Search Console Help).
- Google Business Profile: People and access, select the user, Remove person. Their past review replies and posts stay on the profile (Google Business Profile Help).
- Apple Podcasts Connect: Account, People, click edit, select the user’s checkbox, Remove (Apple Podcasts for Creators).
- Google Analytics: Access Management, find the user, select the checkbox, REMOVE; deleting needs the Administrator role at the account level (Analytics Help).
How to Verify It Worked
Access is set up correctly when each agency person can sign in with their own account and sees only what their role allows, and your user lists show their names with the intended roles. Ask the agency to confirm, platform by platform, that it can do its first task. Then check each list yourself: Users and permissions in Search Console, People and access on Business Profile, People in Apple Podcasts Connect, and Access Management in Analytics.
Common Problems and Fixes
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Search Console says “This user may only be added as ’Owner’” | The person already owns a containing property | Add them as owner of the child property, or remove their parent-property ownership |
| You cannot add an agency inbox | Email groups and Google Groups are not allowed | Invite individual accounts |
| You cannot remove someone on Business Profile | You have manager-level access | Ask an owner; only owners can remove owners and managers |
| A removed Search Console owner reappears | Their verification token is still on the site | Delete every token listed under Unused ownership tokens |
| Apple Podcasts invite does not activate | Invalid email, or invitee lacks an Apple Account | Check the address; the invitee creates an Apple Account during activation |
| Agency sees every GA property | User added at the account level | Remove and re-add at the property level |
What Not to Do
Do not share your password. Consequence: you cannot tell who did what, and changing it locks out everyone. Correction: invite each person to their own role.
Do not let an agency become the only verified owner of your site. Consequence: Search Console says that if all verified owners are removed, remaining users lose access after a grace period and “nobody will have access” until someone verifies again (Search Console Help). Correction: keep at least one verified owner inside the company.
Do not give an agency the Legal role in Apple Podcasts Connect. Consequence: that person receives legal notices meant for you. Correction: keep Legal with someone authorized to sign for the company.
Do not skip the token cleanup. Consequence: Google warns that a removed owner with tokens in place can re-verify. Correction: remove tokens, and check first that the same token is not also verifying another Google service such as Merchant Center or Google Workspace (Search Console Help).
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I give someone access to Google Search Console?
Open the property, go to Settings, then Users and permissions, click Add user, enter their Google Account email, choose full or restricted user and save. Only property owners can add users.
How many users can a Search Console property have?
Up to 100 non-owners, meaning full, restricted and associate users. Delegated owners can be added until the property reaches 500 verified plus delegated owners, and verified owners have no maximum, according to Search Console Help.
What is the difference between an owner and a manager on Google Business Profile?
Owners have full control, including adding and removing users and deleting the profile. Managers have mostly the same access, such as editing info and replying to reviews, but cannot add or remove users or remove the profile.
What role should a PR agency have in Apple Podcasts Connect?
Usually Analyst or Show Manager, limited to the shows it works on. Apple’s Legal and Admin roles can access everything, and the Legal role receives legally significant communications, so keep those in-house.
Can I add an agency’s shared email address as a user?
No. Search Console does not allow email groups, and Google Business Profile does not allow Google Groups as owners or managers. Apple says each person should use their own Apple Account.
How do I remove an agency from Search Console completely?
Remove the user under Users and permissions, then delete any verification tokens they placed on the site, which Search Console lists under Unused ownership tokens. Otherwise a former verified owner can re-verify and regain access.
Sources and Methodology
This guide is built from Search Console Help on managing users, owners and permissions, Google Business Profile Help on owners and managers, Apple Podcasts for Creators on users and access, LinkedIn Help on Page admin roles and Google Analytics Help on adding, editing and deleting users, all read on November 2, 2026. The recommended agency roles, the step order, the access log and the review date are ours, not platform rules. We did not test invitations on any platform, and we did not read LinkedIn’s separate article on adding admins or Spotify for Creators’ team documentation, which did not load for us.
- platform documentation Google Search Console Help, Managing owners, users, and permissions. Four permission levels, 100 non-owner limit, 500 owners, add and remove steps, tokens, email groups, owner-only error. Read November 2, 2026.
- platform documentation Google Business Profile Help, Manage your Business Profile owners & managers. Owner and manager roles, add, change and remove steps, Google Groups, 7-day wait. Read November 2, 2026.
- platform documentation Apple Podcasts for Creators, Users and access. Five roles, Admin-only invitations, show access, Legal role, payment method for Admins, delete steps. Read November 2, 2026.
- platform documentation LinkedIn Help, LinkedIn Page admin roles. Super admin, content admin, analyst and three paid media roles. Read November 2, 2026.
- platform documentation Google Analytics Help, Add, edit, and delete Analytics users and user groups. Account versus property level, add and delete steps, Administrator requirement, no user limit. Read November 2, 2026.