The permission system is role-based, but it also supports fine-grained control when the defaults are not enough. This gives agencies a clean way to let clients, internal staff, and contractors work inside the same account without everyone seeing everything.
If you are already familiar with organizations and locations, this guide is the access-control layer that sits on top of that structure.
The five roles
#A Custom option also exists when assigning access, letting you set per-permission overrides instead of a fixed role.
Steps and details · includes a table
| Role | Who it fits | Access level |
|---|---|---|
| Viewer | Stakeholders and owners | Review and analytics visibility only |
| Responder | Customer service staff | Viewer access plus review replies and AI suggestions |
| Manager | Marketing and operations | Can manage campaigns, widgets, and forms |
| Admin | Senior operators | Can manage everything operational including deletes and editing locations; team management, location creation/deletion, and API access stay Owner-only |
| Owner | Business owner or ultimate administrator | Full access. Auto-assigned to the account owner and not selectable when inviting |
Permission categories
#Advanced permissions cover 68 permissions across 15 categories: Reviews, Display Widgets, Social Sharing, Collect Reviews, Campaigns, Contacts, Integrations, Automations, Locations, Team, Notifications, Reports, API Access, Local Search Grid, and Publishing.
Steps and details
Most teams should start with roles and only use permission overrides when there is a clear operational reason.
Publishing permissions
#Six permissions control Google Business Profile posts. The Publishing category shows in the permission picker only while the customer's plan does not hide Publishing. A Custom member starts from the Manager set.
Steps and details · includes a table
| Permission | What it allows | Viewer | Responder | Manager | Admin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
View posts | See the post calendar, posts and their history | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Create posts | Write, edit and prepare posts | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Schedule posts | Schedule and publish approved posts | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Approve posts | Approve posts or ask for changes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Manage publishing | Change publishing settings, business facts, instructions and Autopilot | No | No | No | Yes |
Manage photos | Upload and edit photos in the library | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Permissions work inside the customer's plan and access level. A member with Create posts still cannot create posts when the customer's level is Approve posts only.
Use location scoping to keep access clean
#All Locations is best for central marketing or leadership users
Steps and details
- Specific Locations is best for branch managers, regional reps, or customer-side staff
A sensible default
#Give most internal agency operators the Manager role. Reserve Admin and Owner for people who genuinely need team, billing, or destructive settings access. That one decision prevents a surprising amount of operational mess later.