Choosing and working with an SEO agency
Who owns your website, Google Business Profile and analytics if you leave an agency?
Written by the Top SEO Experts Team
Reviewed by Ritik NamdevLast updated 19 min read
Quick answer
You should own your domain, Google Business Profile, Google Analytics 4 property, Search Console property and hosting, all under accounts tied to your company email. The agency should hold manager or user access. Check this before you sign, because some of these are slow and awkward to recover once an agency holds the top role.
Nobody asks who owns the Analytics property on a kickoff call. The question turns up two years later, usually in the middle of an argument about fees. By then the agency holds the only Administrator role, and the owner is asking for logins as a favor.
Our view None of that takes bad intent. It takes convenience and a missing sentence in the contract.
Below: every asset worth checking, how to see who holds it, what Google documents about each one, and the contract language to ask for. If an agency has already stopped answering, jump to the exit checklist.
Key takeaway Own every asset that carries your identity, your data or your customers’ trust. Give the agency the lowest role that still lets it do the job.
Who should own what in an SEO engagement?
The business should own anything that carries its identity, its data or its customers’ trust. The agency should work inside those assets with the lowest role that still lets it do the job. That’s our view, not Google policy.
| Asset | Who should hold the top role | What the agency usually needs | How to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain registration | You, as registrant | Nothing, or DNS access you grant | Log in to the registrar with your own email |
| Hosting and CMS admin | You | An admin or editor login you can revoke | Check the billing email and the user list |
| Google Business Profile | You, as primary owner | Manager access | Profile settings, People and access |
| Google Analytics 4 | You, as account Administrator | Editor or Marketer | Admin, then access management |
| Search Console | You, as verified owner | Delegated owner or full user | Settings, Users and permissions |
| Content, design, code | You, by written assignment | A license while working | The contract’s ownership clause |
Read the table by rows. For each row, the top role decides who is in control. If that role is not yours, you do not control the asset.
Two more items belong on the list even though we can’t point to a Google rule for them: call-tracking numbers and ad accounts.
Watch out Ask who holds the account and who pays the provider. A tracking number the agency leases on its own plan can disappear with the agency.
For each row, write down four things:
- Where the asset lives
- Who holds the top role
- Who pays for it
- Who your backup owner is
Fifteen minutes with that table beats any amount of trust.
Why does ownership go wrong?
It goes wrong because it’s convenient at the start and nobody revisits it. An agency creates accounts to move quickly, uses its own email because yours is slow to answer, and the setup hardens. Nothing feels like a trap until someone leaves.
Google’s page on hiring an SEO is blunt about where accountability sits: you’re responsible for the actions of any companies you hire. It also says that if an SEO has FTP access to your server, they should be willing to explain all the changes. Control and responsibility belong together.
Most disputes trace back to three habits:
- The agency registers the domain or creates the Business Profile under its own login “for speed.”
- The agency is the only Administrator, so the client can’t add or remove anyone.
- The contract says nothing about who owns the work product, so each side assumes.
A written checklist is the only test of good faith you can run before the relationship ends.
Who owns my domain, and how do I check?
The registrant owns it. ICANN’s name holder FAQ describes the domain name holder as the registrant, also called the registered name holder.
It says the authorization code needed to move a domain between registrars comes from the registrar. The registrar must provide it within five calendar days of the request.
Definition The registrant is the person or company named as the domain’s holder at the registrar. Whoever is the registrant owns the domain.
That FAQ carries no date on the page and refers to rules as of May 2018. Transfer rules have also been under review. A registrar’s blog post from April 2025 described recommendations approved in March 2025.
They would shorten the common 60-day transfer lock and drop the lock after a registrant change. Treat any lock period as something to confirm with your registrar today.
The most reliable test is practical rather than legal, so work through these five steps in order with your own login open.
- Find the registrar. A WHOIS or RDAP lookup usually shows it, even when the owner’s details are hidden.
- Ask who holds the login. If it’s the agency, ask for a transfer into an account you control.
- Confirm the registrant name and email match your company, and that renewal notices go to someone you control.
- Turn on auto-renew with a card that’s yours.
- Ask where DNS is managed. DNS records control your website and email, so ownership there matters as much as the domain.
If you change only one thing this week, make it step 2. If the agency is the registrant, our reading of the FAQ is that the code goes to them. So the request has to come through them or through a lawyer.
Who owns my Google Business Profile?
Whoever is the primary owner controls it. Google’s help pages say a profile can have multiple owners but only one primary owner.
| Role | What it can do |
|---|---|
| Owner | Add or remove users |
| Primary owner | Everything an owner can do, and the only one who can transfer primary ownership |
| Manager | Almost the same access, but can’t add or remove users |
So if the agency is an owner and you’re a manager, it can remove you. If it’s the primary owner, you can’t make yourself primary.
Google’s owners and managers help page also notes that each user needs their own Google Account. It adds that Google Groups can’t be added as owners or managers.
How do you check and transfer it?
To check, open your profile, go to Business Profile settings, then People and access, and look at each person’s role. Our setup: you hold primary ownership with a Google Account tied to your business email, and the agency gets manager access.
If the agency is currently primary owner, Google’s transfer steps are short:
- Open People and access.
- Choose the person.
- Edit their access.
- Select Primary owner.
Google adds that a new owner or manager must wait 7 days before managing all features.
What if the agency will not cooperate?
If they won’t cooperate, Google’s request ownership page says the current owner gets three days to respond. With no response, you may be able to claim the profile and verify your business, though Google warns the option isn’t always available.
Add up Google’s documented waits. The current owner has three days to answer an ownership request.
Then a new owner or manager waits 7 days before managing all features. That’s up to ten days of reduced control.
- Ownership requestThe current owner has three days to answer.
- Waiting periodA new owner or manager waits 7 days before managing all features.
- TotalUp to ten days of reduced control.
It’s our arithmetic, not a Google promise, so start before you send a termination notice.
Watch out Google’s documented waits add up to as many as ten days of reduced control. Start the transfer before you send a termination notice.
Our decision rule: ask for the transfer first, in writing, with a date. Use the request route only if that’s ignored, and expect it to take longer than a cooperative transfer. Our Google Business Profile guide and GBP optimization service page cover what to do with the profile once it’s yours.
Who owns my Google Analytics 4 property?
It belongs to whichever Google account created it, and the roles inside it decide who controls access. Google’s GA4 access documentation lists five roles: Administrator, Editor, Marketer, Analyst and Viewer.
| Role | What Google says |
|---|---|
| Administrator | Full control and can manage users; can grant full permissions to any user, including themselves |
| Editor | Full control of property settings but can’t manage users |
How do roles inherit?
Per Google, a role at the account level carries down to the property, and a user’s effective permissions equal the most permissive role they hold.
What catches people out?
Example An agency has Editor on the property but Administrator on the account. Its effective role on the property is Administrator, and the property view alone won’t show that. Always check the account level.
- If the agency created the GA4 account, ask for Administrator on it for a login you control, not just on the property.
- Give the agency Editor or Marketer for daily work. It rarely needs Administrator.
- Treat your historic data as the asset. If a property is deleted or access is lost, you lose the baseline that proves what SEO did. That matters for the next agency and for measuring SEO.
Who owns my Search Console property?
The verified owners do, and the verification method decides how hard they are to remove. Google’s owners, users and permissions page distinguishes two kinds of owner:
- Verified owners prove ownership with a token.
- Delegated owners are granted ownership by a verified owner, without a token.
Two lines on that page matter for exits. A property must have at least one verified owner, or no users will have access. And if you don’t delete the tokens, a removed owner can re-verify ownership if they choose to.
Verification can sit in an HTML file, a meta tag, a DNS record, a Google Analytics account or a Google Tag Manager account. When an agency verified through its own tag manager container or analytics account, removing that is what actually ends its access.
We’d go in this order:
- Add your own verified owner first, using a method you control.
- Make the agency a delegated owner or full user.
- Keep a list of every verification token on the site.
- At exit, remove the agency’s user, then its tokens, then confirm your own ownership still shows.
Our Search Console guide explains the reports you’ll want to protect, and it’s worth reading before you hand anyone else the keys.
Want to apply this to your site?
Not sure where to start? Get a plan for your own business.
Who owns the website, content and design?
Possibly not you, unless a contract says so. This is general information, not legal advice.
What does the Copyright Office say?
The “work made for hire” route exists, but it’s narrow. The table sums up two U.S. Copyright Office circulars.
| Question | What the circular says |
|---|---|
| Who owns copyright at first? | The author who created the work, per the Copyright Basics circular |
| How does ownership transfer? | It generally must be in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed |
| When is a commissioned work a work made for hire? | Only if it falls within one of nine listed categories, per the circular on works made for hire |
| What else is needed? | The parties must sign a written agreement saying so; otherwise it isn’t a work made for hire |
What does that mean for a buyer?
For a buyer, the practical reading is that a contractor-built website, written pages and custom graphics may belong to the contractor until assigned. A clause saying “all deliverables are owned by the client upon payment” closes that gap.
What about licensed parts and hosting?
Also ask about licensed parts. Themes, plugins, fonts, stock images and page-builder licenses may sit in the agency’s account.
Ask for a list of every third-party license, who holds it, and how it transfers. A site that depends on a license you can’t move is a site you don’t fully own.
Hosting deserves its own question: whose card pays for it, and who has the admin login. If the answer to both is the agency, treat the site as rented until that changes.
Which contract clauses protect you?
A short ownership section protects you better than any promise. Our post on SEO contract terms covers the rest of the agreement. For ownership, these are the clauses worth asking for, in plain terms.
- Accounts are created in the client’s name, with the client as owner or primary owner.
- The agency holds no higher role than it needs.
- The client owns all deliverables, content and data on payment, with a written assignment where needed.
- Third-party licenses are listed, with holder and transfer terms.
- A handover period, stated in days, in which the agency keeps working access and answers questions.
- Credentials and tokens are removed within a stated time after the contract ends.
- Exports of data and documentation are delivered on request, with no extra fee.
Each clause closes a gap described above. An agency does not need bad intent to leave one open.
- Client-named accountsCreated in the client's name, with the client as owner or primary owner.
- Lowest role neededThe agency holds no higher role than it needs.
- Client owns deliverablesContent and data on payment, with a written assignment where needed.
- Third-party licenses listedHolder and transfer terms are stated.
- Handover periodStated in days, with working access and answers to questions.
- Access removedCredentials and tokens go within a stated time after the contract ends.
- Exports on requestData and documentation are delivered with no extra fee.
Example Sample wording to adapt, not legal advice, worth a lawyer’s review. “All accounts, listings, domains and properties created for the Client are registered in the Client’s name. On termination, Supplier will transfer or release any item not already in the Client’s control within 14 days and will remove its own access.”
Fourteen days is an example, not a standard. Pick a period your business can live with.
Also check that payment disputes don’t suspend the handover. A clause like “no transfer until the final invoice clears” can turn your accounts into bargaining chips.
What is the exit checklist when you leave an agency?
Do this in order, and do it before you send the termination notice, not after. It keeps you in control of the sequence.
Take it one step at a time. Each step makes the next one safer.
- Audit every asset using the table above, and note who holds the top role on each.
- Add your own Administrator, primary owner and verified owner everywhere you aren’t already.
- Transfer the domain and the Business Profile ownership if the agency holds them.
- Export what’s yours: GA4 data you care about, Search Console reports, content files and a list of live redirects.
- Remove the agency’s verification tokens, tag manager containers and user logins in Search Console, GA4 and your website.
- Change passwords, revoke API keys and check who’s on the hosting and CMS user lists.
- Test in a private window and with a colleague’s account that you can still log in and that the site still loads.
- Audit every assetUse the table above and note who holds the top role on each.
- Add your own rolesAdministrator, primary owner and verified owner everywhere you are not already.
- Transfer the big twoThe domain and the Business Profile ownership, if the agency holds them.
- Export what is yoursGA4 data, Search Console reports, content files and a list of live redirects.
- Remove the agency's accessVerification tokens, tag manager containers and user logins.
- Change passwordsRevoke API keys and check the hosting and CMS user lists.
- Test your accessUse a private window and a colleague's account.
If the agency has already gone quiet, work three routes in parallel:
- The Business Profile ownership request
- A registrar support request with proof of your business identity
- A lawyer’s letter, if the domain is in the agency’s name
Don’t rebuild the site or move DNS in a hurry, and read our website migration SEO guide before you move anything.
Our first 90 days with an SEO agency post shows the same access setup at the other end, from the start of a good engagement.
What does the data not show about agency asset ownership?
We have no study of how often agencies withhold assets, and we won’t imply that most do. Many handovers go smoothly. The checklist is for the ones that don’t, and for honest misunderstandings.
- Platform rules change. The Google help pages quoted here were read on 22 October 2026 and can be updated.
- Domain transfer policy is in flux. Check your registrar’s current rules.
- Contract and copyright outcomes depend on your state, your contract and the facts. A lawyer decides, not a blog.
- Our role names are a practical convention, not a legal standard.
We also haven’t published our own contract language on this page, so don’t read this post as our terms. Ask any agency, us included, to put its ownership terms in writing before you sign.
When are we not the right fit?
Here are three cases where we’re probably not your agency.
| Situation | What we would say |
|---|---|
| An agency offers a bundled platform where it hosts your site, runs your listings and keeps the logins | That can be convenient. Our view is that it’s rarely worth the lock-in, and we wouldn’t recommend it as a default. If you want it on purpose, we’re probably not your agency |
| You’re already in a dispute with a current vendor over who owns what | We’re not the right call. Get a lawyer’s advice first |
| A capable in-house person can run the accounts | You may not need an agency at all |
That last question is covered in when to hire an SEO agency.
To compare agencies on this and other points, see our posts on whether your agency is outsourcing and how to evaluate SEO case studies. They use the same buyer-side approach. For what an engagement with us includes, see our SEO services.
FAQ
Can an SEO agency legally keep my domain name?
That turns on whose name is on the registration and what your contract says. The registrant is the domain’s name holder. So if the agency registered it in its own name, getting it back may take negotiation or a lawyer.
This is general information, not legal advice. Ask for the registrant record before you sign.
How do I take back a Google Business Profile an agency owns?
Ask the agency to make you an owner and transfer primary ownership, which only the primary owner can do. If they won’t, Google lets you request ownership from the current owner, who has three days to respond. After that, you may be able to claim the profile by verifying your business.
Should an agency be an administrator on my Google Analytics?
It can be, but your own login should hold Administrator at the account level too, so the agency can never lock you out. Most agency work needs Editor or Marketer access. Google says an Administrator can manage users and grant any role, including to themselves, which is why you want to be one.
Who owns the content and design an agency creates for my site?
Not automatically you. US copyright initially belongs to the creator, and a transfer generally has to be in writing and signed. The work-made-for-hire route has narrow conditions.
Add an assignment clause to the contract that takes effect on payment. This is general information, not legal advice.
What happens to my Search Console access if the agency verified the property?
If the agency is the only verified owner, you can lose access when it’s removed. Google says a property needs at least one verified owner, and tokens left on your site let a removed owner re-verify. Add your own verified owner early and delete the agency’s token when you part ways.
What should I ask a new SEO agency about ownership before signing?
Ask which accounts it will create, in whose name, and who holds the Administrator or primary owner role. Ask for the domain registrant record and a written statement that you own your site, content, data and profiles. Request a documented handover process, including how long it keeps access after the contract ends.
To see how your profile and site look to search today, run the Local SEO checker, then Get Your Organic Growth Plan.
Sources
- Google Search Central, “Do you need an SEO?” (hiring an SEO): https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/do-i-need-seo, accessed 22 Oct 2026
- Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your Business Profile owners & managers”: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3403100, accessed 22 Oct 2026
- Google Business Profile Help, “Transfer primary ownership of a Business Profile”: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3415281, accessed 22 Oct 2026
- Google Business Profile Help, “Request ownership of a Business Profile”: https://support.google.com/business/answer/4566671, accessed 22 Oct 2026
- Google Analytics Help, “GA4 Access and data-restriction management”: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9305587, accessed 22 Oct 2026
- Google Search Console Help, “Managing owners, users, and permissions”: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7687615, accessed 22 Oct 2026
- U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 1, “Copyright Basics”: https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf, accessed 22 Oct 2026
- U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30, “Works Made for Hire”: https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ30.pdf, accessed 22 Oct 2026
- ICANN, “Name holder FAQs”: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/name-holder-faqs-2017-10-10-en, accessed 22 Oct 2026
- Safenames, “How will proposed changes to ICANN’s Transfer Policy affect domain owners?” (16 Apr 2025, a registrar blog): https://www.safenames.net/resources/blogs/safenames-blog/2025/04/16/how-will-proposed-changes-to-icann-s-transfer-policy-affect-domain-owners, accessed 22 Oct 2026
Want to apply this to your site?
Not sure where to start? Get a plan for your own business.
