Assign Review Replies by Location Manager: A Setup Guide

To assign review replies by location manager, do two things. First, invite the person who runs each location to that location's Google Business Profile with the Manager role, which lets them reply to reviews without controlling who else has access. Second, set a written rule for who drafts, who approves and who escalates, so a reply never depends on whoever happens to be logged in. Google handles the first part. Your process handles the second.

This guide covers both: the exact Google steps, how to structure access across many locations, how to hand a review from one person to another, and where AI drafting fits without removing the human who signs off.

TL;DR

• Give each location manager the Manager role on their own Business Profile. Keep Owner for one or two accountable administrators.
• Managers can respond to reviews and edit profile information, but they cannot add or remove users or delete the profile.
• For many locations, use business groups to share access in bulk. For very large or technical setups, Google offers an API.
• Write a handoff rule: who drafts, who approves low-star replies, who handles safety, legal or refund issues.
• AI can draft broadly, but sensitive reviews should go to a named human before anything posts.

Table of Contents

• What "location manager" means in Google Business Profile
• How to give a location manager access
• Match access to the task
• Managing many locations without inviting people one by one
• Designing the review reply handoff
• Where AI drafting fits, and where it stops
• An onboarding checklist for agencies and franchisors
• Our perspective: assign the work, not just the access
• Using Local Review Reply for location-based review work
• Common mistakes to avoid
• FAQ
• Sources

What "location manager" means in Google Business Profile

The phrase is ambiguous. In an HR or scheduling tool, a location manager is someone assigned to oversee staff at a site. In Google Business Profile, there is no job title called location manager. There are two delegated roles: Owner and Manager.

According to Google Business Profile Help, managers have mostly the same access as owners. They can edit business information, publish posts, download insights, answer questions and respond to reviews. Owners additionally control users and can delete the profile.

That split is the whole design. The person who answers reviews every day does not need the power to change who has access or to remove the listing. So when someone says "assign by location manager," the useful translation is this: give the person responsible for one location the Manager role on that location's profile, and organize review work around that person.

If you landed here looking for how to assign an employee to a site inside a scheduling, payroll or lighting-control system, those are separate products with their own menus. Everything below is about Google reviews.

How to give a location manager access

Before anyone can reply to reviews, the business has to be verified. Google's review guidance states that you must verify your business before replying. Confirm that first.

Then, per Google's instructions for owners and managers, an owner does the following:

1. Open the Business Profile.
2. Choose More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
3. Select Add.
4. Enter the person's email address.
5. Choose Manager as the access level.
6. Select Invite.

The invitee accepts, and the profile appears in their account.

Two habits save trouble later:

• Use a named person's own Google Account. Google's guidance notes that each user should have their own Google Account so nobody has to share a password. A shared login makes it impossible to tell who replied to what, and it breaks the moment someone leaves.
• Use a business email the company controls. If a manager invites from a personal Gmail and then quits, you have a gap in access. A company-controlled address means the company can always find the account.

Match access to the task

A common mistake is giving a person or an agency more access than the job requires. Because a Manager cannot add users or delete the profile, an error or a departure does less damage than it would with an Owner. We would use this rule of thumb:

This is our recommendation, not a Google requirement. Google defines the roles. How you apply them is up to you.

Managing many locations without inviting people one by one

Inviting a manager to each profile works for three locations. At thirty, it becomes a spreadsheet problem. Google describes two scale options.

Business groups

Google's guidance for agencies and chains says that organizing profiles into business groups makes multiple locations easier to manage and lets you share changes and access across profiles. To add a group to a location, you sign in to Business Profile Manager, choose Businesses, select the business group, open the location, choose Users, select Invite new users, choose Add one of your groups, pick the group and role, and choose Add.

Two caveats from the same page. If the invite option is missing, the location owner has not granted the access you need. And grouping simplifies administration, but it does not override the owner's permission boundary for a particular location. An existing location can belong to more than one business group.

For a franchise, that suggests a practical pattern: one group per region or per franchisee, with each franchisee's own staff holding Manager access on their own sites only.

The Business Profile API

Google's API documentation says multi-location operators and authorized third parties can manage location information, read and respond to reviews, subscribe to push notifications for new reviews, invite or remove managers, and create user and location groups. Google also cautions that using the API well takes technical experience and coding knowledge.

So this is a scale option, not the simplest setup. A staged approach makes sense: use the standard interface while you are small, move to business groups as location count grows, and consider API-based tooling when review volume or agency coordination makes manual handling expensive.

Designing the review reply handoff

Access answers who is allowed to reply. A handoff answers who should. Without one, reviews sit unanswered because everyone assumes someone else has it, or the wrong person answers an angry customer.

A simple routing table for each location:

The categories in the fourth row are our suggestion for what to treat as sensitive. They are not a legal definition, and if a review involves a legal threat or a possible injury, talk to your own attorney or insurer before posting anything public.

Write down five things per location

1. A named accountable reviewer. One person, with a named backup.
2. A reply window. Pick a target that fits your volume, such as the next business day. Google does not set a required response time in the sources we used, so this is your standard.
3. A shared voice guide. Greeting, sign-off, words you never use, how you refer to staff.
4. An escalation list. The topics that always move up a level.
5. A coverage plan. Who answers during vacations.

For restaurants and service businesses, consistency usually comes from this structure: each location has a named reviewer and everyone uses the same voice guide, while exceptions get escalated rather than patched with improvised templates. If you want a starting point for the voice guide, our review response templates show the tone we aim for.

Where AI drafting fits, and where it stops

The safest process is not letting a model post everywhere. It is drafting broadly and escalating narrowly. The model writes a first version for every review, and a human decides which ones can go out with a quick check and which need real attention.

Two rules from Google shape this.

First, according to Google's API policies, a business owner must give prior, specific and express consent before a tool automates or triggers review replies on the owner's behalf. Any tool you connect needs that authorization on record.

Second, the same policies require every reply to comply with Google's prohibited and restricted content rules. A drafted reply is still your public statement.

For agencies, Google also requires transparency about changes made to client accounts, and expects that when a client stops using an API-based service, the client can quickly and easily regain exclusive control. Put that in your onboarding checklist, not in a footnote.

We go deeper on the mechanics in our posts on safe auto-reply workflows and three human-in-the-loop review workflows for franchises and agencies. If your concern is how permissions and authorization work for franchises specifically, see our piece on review response permissions.

An onboarding checklist for agencies and franchisors

Whether you manage client locations or franchisee locations, the same list works:

• Record the client's or franchisee's written authorization for the tool and the person replying.
• Identify the profile owner for every location, and confirm who can accept invitations.
• Assign Manager access to the people doing daily replies. Hold Owner for accountable administrators.
• Name who approves low-star replies at each location.
• Share the voice guide and the escalation topics.
• Document how access is removed if the relationship ends, and how the client regains exclusive control.
• Review the access list on a schedule, for example every quarter, and after any staff change.

The point is the same in both cases: access governance is part of the deliverable, not an admin chore behind it.

Our perspective: assign the work, not just the access

Most teams we talk to treat this as a permissions question. They invite a manager, tick the box, and assume replies will happen. In practice, access is the easy half. The harder half is deciding who owns each review once it arrives.

We built Local Review Reply around that gap. It drafts personalized, on-brand replies in seconds, and it supports approval controls so that sensitive, low-star reviews require manual approval before posting. We think that division matters. Automation is good at the repetitive majority of reviews, the five-star thank-yous and routine praise. It is a poor judge of a complaint involving an injury, a refund dispute or a customer's personal details. Those belong to a person who can check the facts.

Our advice for a multi-location operator: assign each location one accountable reviewer, give that person Manager access and nothing more, and let the draft tool save their time rather than replace their judgment. Keep the Google ownership with a small group of administrators. And confirm the authorization of any connected account, because the tool does not grant Google Business Profile permissions. Only the profile owner can do that.

None of this guarantees a particular rating or ranking outcome, and we would be wary of anyone who says it does. What it does give you is consistency and a clear answer to "who was supposed to reply to this?"

— Ryan

Using Local Review Reply for location-based review work

If you are managing several locations, our product is built for this workflow: drafts in your brand voice, approval steps for sensitive and low-star reviews, team roles and permissions, and multi-location management with analytics for consistency. The pricing page lists a Free plan with basic functionality, then Starter at 5 AUD per month, Growth at 19 AUD per month and Scale at 49 AUD per month, plus a Custom plan. Plans differ by location count, monthly reply volume, team management and workflow features. Prices are published in Australian dollars.

Start with the Free plan on one location, test the approval flow with your most cautious manager, and expand once the handoff rules feel natural.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Making everyone an Owner. It is quick, and it removes your protection against an accidental removal or deletion.
• Sharing one login. You lose accountability and any audit trail of who replied.
• Treating group access as a substitute for owner consent. Business groups organize access, but the location owner still sets the boundary.
• Letting drafts post unreviewed on every rating. Low-star and sensitive reviews deserve a human decision.
• Skipping offboarding. When a manager or agency leaves, remove their access the same day.
• Cutting and pasting the same reply everywhere. Repetitive replies read as automated. Our guide to bulk replying without sounding like a bot covers how to avoid it.

FAQ

What is the difference between an Owner and a Manager on Google Business Profile?

An owner controls users and can delete the profile. A manager can handle daily work such as editing info, posting, answering questions and replying to reviews, but cannot add or remove users or delete the profile, according to Google. For a location manager, Manager is usually the right level.

Can one person manage reviews for several locations?

Yes. You can invite the same person as a Manager on each profile, or use a business group to share access across profiles, as Google describes for chains and agencies. Keep in mind that the location owner must grant the access for a group invite to work.

Do I need the API to handle reviews across many locations?

Not necessarily. The API suits larger, technically capable businesses and authorized third parties, and Google notes it requires coding knowledge and technical experience. Smaller operators can use the standard interface and business groups.

Can an AI tool reply to reviews on my behalf?

Only with your permission. Google's policies require the business owner's prior, specific and express consent before a tool automates or triggers review replies. We recommend keeping a human approval step for sensitive and low-star reviews.

How should I hand off a review between team members?

Assign a named reviewer per location, define which topics escalate, and name who approves the reply before it posts. Record those rules in one shared document so a backup can step in without guessing.

Sources

• Manage your Business Profile owners & managers, Google Business Profile Help
• Manage customer reviews, Google Business Profile Help
• Business Profile API overview for multi-location businesses, Google Business Profile Help
• Manage locations with business groups, Google Business Profile Help
• Business Profile API policies, Google for Developers

Recommended

• Assign Review Responses: 5 Roles, One Copyable Matrix for Chains
• Managers: 4 Reply Templates That Protect Employees Named in Reviews
• 7 Steps to Scale Google Review Replies With Mobile Approvals
• How to Collaborate on Review Replies Without Chaos