Users, Roles & Permissions
This guide explains the four workspace roles, team seats, invitations, and location access. Invite people to your workspace, choose what they can access, and manage their permissions.
What are workspace roles?
Every person you add to your Ranksphere workspace is assigned a role.
Their role determines which business locations they can access, what tools they can use, and what changes they're allowed to make.
Ranksphere has four workspace roles: Owner, Admin, Member, and Guest.
Understanding the different roles
| Role | What they can do | Best suited for |
| Owner | Has full access to all locations, team members, permissions, billing, and workspace settings. | The person who owns or manages the Ranksphere account. |
| Admin | Can manage all locations, team members, permissions, and most workspace settings. Cannot access Billing. | Managers or team leads responsible for managing the workspace. |
| Member | Can work on locations shared with them and use tools allowed by their permissions. | Team members managing day-to-day work for selected businesses. |
| Guest | Has limited access to shared locations, mainly to view information and review progress. | Clients or other people who need to check information without managing the workspace. |
Owner
The Workspace Owner has full control over the workspace.
They can manage all locations, invite and remove users, change permissions, update workspace settings, and manage billing.
Each workspace can have only one Owner.
The Owner cannot be removed, and their role cannot be changed from within Ranksphere.
Admin
Admins can manage most parts of the workspace, including all locations, team members, permissions, and workspace settings.
However, Admins cannot access Billing. Billing is reserved for the Workspace Owner, and this permission cannot be granted to Admins.
The Admin role is suitable for trusted managers or team leads who help oversee the workspace.
Member
Members can work on the locations shared with them.
Depending on their permissions, they can use tools such as:
- Local Rank Tracking
- Reviews
- Google Posts
- Citations
- Reports
Members cannot manage workspace users, workspace settings, or billing.
This role is useful for team members responsible for specific businesses or clients.
Guest
Guests have limited access to the locations shared with them.
By default, Guests can mainly view business information and progress. They can also comment on and approve Google Posts, but they cannot make changes to business data or workspace settings.
The Workspace Owner can give Guests permission to perform certain additional actions, such as replying to reviews, from Settings → Permissions.
The Guest role is useful when you want to give clients access to their business information without giving them full management access.
For more information about Google Post approvals and reviews, see Google Posts and Reviews.
How does location access work?
Not everyone in your workspace can see every business location.
Access depends on the person's role and which locations have been shared with them.
| Role | Which locations can they access? |
| Owner | All locations |
| Admin | All locations |
| Member | Only locations shared with them |
| Guest | Only locations shared with them |
For example, if you're managing five businesses and want a client to see only their own business, you can invite them as a Guest and give them access to that location.
They won't be able to see your other locations unless you share those locations with them.
How to change someone's location access
- Go to Settings → Users.
- Find the Member or Guest whose access you want to change.
- Open the menu beside their name.
- Select Manage location access.
- Choose the locations they should be able to access.
- Save your changes.
You can update location access whenever needed.
Note: Removing someone's access to a location does not remove them from the workspace. They can still access any other locations shared with them.
For more information about managing business locations, see Locations in Ranksphere.
How do team seats work?
Every person with access to your workspace uses one team seat.
This includes Owners, Admins, Members, and Guests.
The number of team seats included in your subscription depends on your plan.
Team seats included in each plan
| Plan | Included team seats |
| Free (14-day trial) | 1 |
| Single Business | 1 |
| Starter | 2 |
| Growth | 5 |
| Agency | 15 |
For example, if you're on Starter, your workspace includes two team seats.
One seat is used by the Workspace Owner, leaving one seat available for another user.
Do pending invitations use team seats?
Yes. When you invite someone, Ranksphere reserves a team seat for them, even if they haven't accepted the invitation yet.
If they accept, they'll use that seat as a workspace user.
If you cancel their pending invitation, the reserved seat becomes available again.
Can I invite people during the free trial?
No. Team invitations are available only on paid plans.
The free trial includes one team seat, which is used by the Workspace Owner.
How to add more team seats
If you need more users than your plan includes, you have two options:
- Purchase extra team seats for $5 per seat per month.
- Upgrade to a plan that includes more seats.
Extra team seats are available on every paid plan.
Only the Workspace Owner can purchase additional seats because Billing is restricted to the Owner.
For more information, see Billing, Plans & Add-ons.
How to invite someone to your workspace
You can invite other people to help manage your businesses or review their progress.
Steps to invite a user
- Go to Settings → Users.
- Click Invite new user.
- Enter the person's email address.
- Choose their role: Admin, Member, or Guest.
- If you're inviting a Member or Guest, select the locations they can access.
- Click Send invite.
Ranksphere will send an invitation to their email address.
What happens after sending an invitation?
The invitation contains a link that is valid for seven days.
What happens next depends on whether the person already has a Ranksphere account.
| User | What they need to do |
| Already has a Ranksphere account | Sign in and accept the invitation to join your workspace. |
| Doesn't have a Ranksphere account | Create an account first, then join the workspace. |
While the invitation is pending, it uses one of your available team seats.
If the person hasn't accepted the invitation, you can resend or cancel it from Settings → Users.
How to manage your team
Go to Settings → Users to see everyone who has access to your workspace.
From here, you can manage existing users and pending invitations.
What can I manage from the Users page?
| Action | What it does |
| Change role | Change a user's role, such as from Member to Admin or Guest. |
| Manage location access | Choose which locations a Member or Guest can access. |
| Remove user | Remove someone from the workspace and release their team seat. |
| Resend invitation | Send another invitation email to someone who hasn't joined yet. |
| Cancel invitation | Cancel a pending invitation and release the reserved team seat. |
Location access settings are only shown for Members and Guests because Owners and Admins can access every location.
How to change someone's role
- Go to Settings → Users.
- Find the person whose role you want to change.
- Open the menu beside their name.
- Select their new role.
The Workspace Owner's role cannot be changed from within Ranksphere.
How to remove a user
- Go to Settings → Users.
- Find the person you want to remove.
- Open the menu beside their name.
- Select Remove user.
Once the person is removed, the team seat they were using becomes available again.
How to resend or cancel an invitation
Pending invitations appear in the Users list with a Pending label.
To manage an invitation:
- Go to Settings → Users.
- Find the pending invitation.
- Open the menu beside it.
- Choose to resend or cancel the invitation.
Canceling the invitation releases the seat reserved for that person.
How to manage role permissions
Each workspace role has default permissions that control what users can see and do.
Workspace Owners and Admins can adjust these permissions from Settings → Permissions.
Permissions are organized by feature, with separate settings for Admins, Members, and Guests.
You can allow or restrict specific actions depending on what each role needs to do.
What permissions can I change?
Some common examples include:
| Permission change | What it allows you to do |
| Guest feature access | Allow Guests to view additional parts of the workspace. |
| Review replies | Give Guests permission to reply to reviews. |
| Member restrictions | Limit certain actions that Members can perform. |
| Tool access | Allow or restrict specific actions within a feature for a role. |
How to update role permissions
- Go to Settings → Permissions.
- Find the feature or action you want to manage.
- Choose the role you want to update.
- Allow or restrict the action as needed.
Important: Permission changes apply to everyone with the same role in your workspace.
For example, if you allow Guests to reply to reviews, that permission will apply to all Guests in the workspace, within the locations they can access.
The Workspace Owner always has full access, so there is no separate Owner permissions column.
Only Workspace Owners and Admins can open and manage the Permissions page.
Can I give Admins access to Billing?
No. Billing is only available to the Workspace Owner.
This permission cannot be granted to Admins, Members, or Guests.
For more information, see Billing, Plans & Add-ons.
Who can manage workspace users and permissions?
Only Workspace Owners and Admins can manage team members and workspace permissions.
| Team management action | Owner | Admin | Member | Guest |
| Invite users | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Change user roles | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Manage location access | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Remove users | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Resend or cancel invitations | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Update role permissions | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Manage Billing | Yes | No | No | No |
Members and Guests cannot invite users, change roles, or manage workspace users.
Although Admins can manage team members and permissions, they cannot access Billing or purchase additional team seats.
Quick guide to common team actions
If you already know what you want to do, use this table to find the right setting.
| What you want to do | Where to go |
| Invite a teammate | Settings → Users → Invite new user |
| Change someone's role | Settings → Users → Menu beside user |
| Update location access | Settings → Users → Manage location access |
| Remove a user | Settings → Users → Remove user |
| Resend an invitation | Settings → Users → Pending invitation menu |
| Cancel an invitation | Settings → Users → Pending invitation menu |
| Change role permissions | Settings → Permissions |
| Add more team seats | Settings → Billing → Add-ons |
Remember that only the Workspace Owner can purchase additional seats or make billing changes.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I invite another user?
There are two common reasons:
- You're on the free trial. Team invitations are only available on paid plans.
- You've reached your team-seat limit. All available seats may already be used by existing users or pending invitations.
If you're on a paid plan, check your users and pending invitations under Settings → Users.
You can cancel an unused invitation, remove a user, purchase additional seats, or upgrade your plan.
Do Guests use a team seat?
Yes. Every person with access to your workspace uses one team seat, including Guests.
Pending invitations also reserve a seat until they're accepted or canceled.
What if someone doesn't receive their invitation?
First, ask them to check their spam or junk email folder.
If they still can't find it:
- Go to Settings → Users.
- Find their pending invitation.
- Open the menu beside it.
- Select the option to resend the invitation.
Invitation links are valid for seven days.
Can a workspace have more than one Owner?
No. Each workspace can have only one Owner.
The Owner's role cannot be changed or transferred from within Ranksphere.
If you need to transfer workspace ownership, contact support@ranksphere.io.
Can an Admin access Billing?
No. Billing is only available to the Workspace Owner.
Admins can manage locations, users, and workspace settings, but they cannot access Billing.
Billing permission cannot be enabled for Admins or any other role.
What's the difference between a Member and a Guest?
A Member can work on the locations shared with them and use the tools allowed by their permissions.
A Guest is mainly intended to view information and review progress.
By default, Guests can comment on and approve Google Posts, but they cannot change business information or workspace settings.
An Owner can also give Guests permission to perform certain additional actions, such as replying to reviews.
Both Members and Guests can only access the locations shared with them.
Can I give someone access to just one location?
Yes. When inviting a Member or Guest, you can choose which locations they can access.
You can also change their location access later from Settings → Users → Manage location access.
Will removing someone's location access remove them from the workspace?
No. Removing access to a location only prevents the user from accessing that specific location.
They will remain in your workspace and can still access any other locations shared with them.
Can I change the permissions for just one Guest?
Permissions in Settings → Permissions are based on roles, not individual users.
Changing a Guest permission applies to everyone with the Guest role.
You can still control which locations each Guest can access separately from Settings → Users.
Can Members invite other team members?
No. Only Workspace Owners and Admins can invite people, manage users, and change workspace permissions.
How much does an extra team seat cost?
Extra team seats cost $5 per seat per month and are available on paid plans.
Only the Workspace Owner can purchase additional seats from Settings → Billing → Add-ons.
See Billing, Plans & Add-ons for details.
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