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By Ruchi Pardal
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~ 7 minutes read
~ 7 minutes read
Managing multiple business locations in Google Business Profile can quickly become overwhelming, especially when each store or service area needs consistent branding, accurate local data, and strong visibility in Google Search and Maps. For many multi-location businesses, the biggest challenges aren’t just adding locations; it’s keeping them updated, preventing duplicates, and ensuring each one ranks where it matters.
Search Engine Land notes that multi-location businesses often face issues such as duplicate listings, inconsistent NAP data, and category mismatches, which limit visibility across Google Maps and Local Pack rankings.
Whether you’re a franchise, retail chain, healthcare network, or service-based business expanding into new markets, poorly managed listings can lead to missed customers, inaccurate directions, and lost revenue. And with Google continuing to prioritize local relevance and proximity in search results, every location must be optimized and consistently maintained to stay competitive.
This guide will walk you step by step through how to add, verify, and manage multiple locations in Google Business Profile, along with best practices to help each location rank, maintain accuracy, and streamline updates at scale.
Adding multiple locations requires setting up separate location entries within the same Google Business Profile account. Google confirms that each physical location must be independently created, verified, and maintained.
To add a new business location:
Read More: How to Change Your Business Address on Google Maps
A Chicago restaurant chain added third and fourth locations but initially used identical business names without city identifiers. Google displayed them inconsistently. After adding unique store identifiers and proper NAP formatting, visibility stabilized within two weeks.
This aligns with Moz’s Local Search Ranking Factors highlighting the importance of unique names and accurate NAP.
Google requires verification to confirm ownership and authentic presence. Multi-location brands often encounter delays or verification loops.
Google typically offers:
For bulk verification, Google requires proof such as business licenses, utility bills, or corporate documentation.
A national retail chain used Google’s bulk verification system for 42 locations. After submitting legal documentation and headquarters contact information, Google approved the entire list in four days. This eliminated the need for individual postcards and accelerated rollout.
Even if your business locations are correctly added and verified, some may not appear in Google Maps search results. This is because Google uses three key ranking factors to determine which listings to display:
Relevance: How closely your business matches a user’s search intent. If your categories, services, or keywords don’t align with what people are searching for, your listing may not appear.
Distance: How far your location is from the searcher or the geographic area included in the query. Locations farther away may not show unless the search explicitly includes that area.
Prominence: How well-known and trusted your business is—both online and offline. Reviews, backlinks, citations, and brand recognition all influence this.
Related Post: 5 Tips To Improve Your Google Maps SEO
Common causes include:
Fixes include:
Two gym branches 200 meters apart alternated in visibility due to Google’s proximity filter. The weaker location improved prominence by adding reviews and posting weekly updates, which restored consistent visibility.
NAP consistency and accurate data are critical for all locations. Moz and Ahrefs confirm that data uniformity across all listings is essential for strong local SEO.
Businesses should:
A regional bank discovered that seven branches were showing incorrect holiday hours, causing customer complaints and lower visibility. After updating hours and syncing data across directories, Local Pack placements improved within ten days.
Google evaluates both the business profile and website to determine ranking and relevance. Strong location pages improve Maps visibility.
Read More: Local SEO for Multiple Locations
Include:
A healthcare network saw a 32 percent organic traffic lift after adding location-specific pages with addresses, provider bios, and service details. This aligns with Search Engine Journal’s findings that local content significantly improves Maps and organic visibility.
A nine-step enterprise method for managing multi-location Google Business Profiles:
Managing multiple Google Business Profile locations requires precision, compliance, and ongoing optimization. Many brands struggle with verification delays, inconsistent data, duplicate listings, category conflicts, or low prominence across branches. ResultFirst provides end-to-end expertise in local SEO services, including multi-location SEO strategy, helping enterprises manage location scalability, improve Maps visibility, and build stronger regional authority.
Our team aligns Google Business Profile management with local SEO, review strategy, and technical optimization to ensure every location ranks where customers are searching. If you want to simplify multi location management and improve visibility across all branches, ResultFirst can build your complete multi location growth plan.
You can add multiple locations by logging into Google Business Profile and selecting Add business. Create each location with accurate NAP details and categories. Complete verification through postcard, video, or phone. For brands with 10 or more locations, use Google’s bulk location import and bulk verification system. This allows you to manage all branches in one dashboard.
Locations may not appear because they are unverified, suspended, duplicated, incorrectly categorized, filtered by proximity, or missing prominence signals such as reviews and citations. Google may also hide locations with inconsistent NAP information. Updating categories, improving reviews, and ensuring consistent data typically restores visibility.
Yes. If your business has 10 or more branches, you can use Google’s bulk verification process. Google will request legal documentation, headquarters contact information, and proof of operational control. Once approved, all locations are verified together without needing individual postcards.
Use standardized templates for hours, categories, descriptions, and attributes. Update all profiles from the Google Business dashboard and audit them monthly. Multi location management tools or agency systems help maintain consistency across dozens or hundreds of listings while preventing conflicts.
Yes. Google recommends dedicated location pages to help algorithms understand relevance and proximity. These pages should include address details, contact information, photos, embedded maps, local keywords, and schema markup. Strong local pages support better visibility in both Google Maps and Local Pack rankings.
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