Connecting Google Accounts

Local Visibility Lab needs OAuth access to a Google account that manages each profile in order to: read reviews, publish posts, upload photos, fetch performance metrics, and detect suspensions. This page covers how to set that up cleanly.

Two access models

There are two patterns. Pick whichever fits your agency:

Pattern A — One agency Google account that manages many client profiles

Most common. You create a single Google account (something like gbp@youragency.com) and add it as a Manager to each client's Google Business Profile. In the platform, you connect that single Google account once, and all client profiles inherit access.

Pros: simple, only one OAuth to maintain. Cons: if that Google account is suspended, all access stops.

Pattern B — Each client's own Google account

Some clients prefer to grant you OAuth access using their own Google login (with you as Manager on their profile). The platform supports this — you connect a separate Google credential per profile, and the platform tracks which credential each profile uses.

Pros: clients keep full control; no single point of failure. Cons: more OAuths to maintain; some clients won't want to grant their personal Google access.

You can mix both in the same org. Each profile records which Google credential it uses.

How to connect

1. Settings → Integrations → Google.
2. Click Connect Google Account.
3. A Google sign-in popup opens. Sign in with the account you want to use.
4. Review the requested scopes and click Allow.
5. You're returned to the integrations page. The Google account now appears with a green "Connected" badge.

You can connect multiple Google accounts; each gets a row in the integrations list.

Linking a credential to a profile

By default, when you import a profile via OAuth, the platform records the credential that was used. To change which credential is used:

1. Open the profile → Settings tab → Google Credential.
2. Pick from the dropdown of connected Google accounts.
3. Save.

The platform uses this credential for all Google API calls on this profile — important if you have multiple credentials connected.

Requesting Google access from a client

Send the client this quick instruction (or use a tokenized intake form that does it for you):

1. Sign in to business.google.com with the Google account that owns your business.
2. Pick the location.
3. Click Users in the left sidebar.
4. Click Add user.
5. Add: gbp@youragency.com (or whichever email we provided you).
6. Choose role: Manager.
7. Click Send.

Within minutes, you'll receive a confirmation in your Google account, and your platform connection will be able to access the profile.

Token health

OAuth tokens occasionally expire or get revoked (the client removed you, they changed their password, Google rotated something). The platform handles this automatically where possible (refresh tokens) and surfaces issues clearly when it can't:

• Google integration shows "needs reauth" — the token is gone. Reconnect Google. (The profile's own status is unaffected; this is surfaced on the integration row.)
• Email alert: "Google connection expired for X" — same thing, plus a clickable reconnect link.
• Admin → Failed Jobs — recent jobs that failed due to auth issues.

Disconnecting

Settings → Integrations → Google → Disconnect. This:

• Revokes the OAuth token with Google.
• Flags the Google integration as "needs reauth" for any profile using this credential (visible on the Integrations page).
• Stops all scheduled posts, monitoring, and metric pulls for those profiles until reconnected.

Use it when an account is compromised or you're rotating credentials.

Connecting Google Analytics 4

The same Google integration screen has a separate GA4 card. Click Connect GA4, sign in, and the platform pulls GA4 properties accessible to that account. Then per profile, you can attach a GA4 property which feeds reports and the daily metrics cache.

Connecting Google Search Console

Same flow: Connect Search Console → sign in → per profile, attach a verified property. GSC data shows up in reports and the keyword-performance widgets.

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Next: Connecting Social Media Accounts