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Google Business Profile ID: Where to Find It in Two Steps

Dec 4, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Sep 9

Somebody has asked you for your Google Business Profile ID and you cannot find it. It is in a settings menu most owners never open, and Google has moved it at least once, which is why so many sets of instructions online are wrong.

Here is the current location, from Google's own documentation:

  1. Go to your Business Profile. The simplest way is to search for your business name while signed in to the Google account that manages it.

  2. Select More, then Business Profile settings, then Advanced settings. Your Business Profile ID is listed there under the available settings.

That is the whole job. If you have seen instructions telling you to open a separate Business Profile Manager, or to find an Info tab, or to read a long number out of the address bar, those describe an older version of the product.

What the ID actually is

It is the unique identifier for your listing on Google. Google's own description is that you can share it with support by phone, chat or email so they know precisely which listing you mean.

That is its main practical use. When something is wrong with your listing and you contact support, the ID removes any ambiguity about which business you are talking about. Some third-party tools also ask for it when connecting to your profile.

It is not your Gmail address, and this trips people constantly

The search results for this question are full of people asking about Google IDs, Gmail IDs and account IDs as though they were interchangeable. They are not.

  • Your Gmail address is your login. It identifies the person signing in.

  • Your Business Profile ID identifies the listing, not the person. One login can manage several listings, each with its own ID.

  • Neither one is a password and neither is secret. Sharing your Business Profile ID with a support agent or a tool is normal and safe. Sharing your login is neither.

If somebody helping with your marketing asks for the ID, that is a reasonable request. If they ask for your Google password, that is not, and there is a correct way to give them access instead.

The right way is to add them as a manager on the profile, which you can do without giving up your login and can undo at any time. That is covered in our guide to adding a user to a Google Business Profile.

If you cannot find the setting at all

  • Check you are signed in to the right Google account. Managing a profile from the wrong account is the most common cause, and the profile simply will not appear.

  • Check the profile is verified. An unverified listing has a reduced set of settings.

  • Check you have the right access level. A manager can see the settings; someone with no role on the profile cannot.

If you are being asked for this because someone is about to work on your listing and you want a second opinion first, book a free SEO consultation. You will speak to the person who does the work.

Written by Spencer Capron at Capron Media, in collaboration with our AI agents. The same way we do the work for clients. Spencer reviews everything published here.

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