How should a business represent multiple locations online?

Definition: As of October 2026, Google's representation guidelines call for a separate Google Business Profile for each eligible location, with accurate addresses or service areas. These profiles are business listings on Google Search and Maps.

Key facts

• Google's representation guidelines require consistent names unless real-world branding varies, and consistent categories for locations providing the same service.
• Google's eligibility rules generally require in-person customer contact during stated hours, with specified exceptions.
• Google's service-area guidance allows a service-area business one profile for the area it serves.
• Google's LocalBusiness documentation instructs websites to define each local business location separately in structured data, a machine-readable description of page content.

Which locations qualify for a profile?

Google's representation guidelines prohibit duplicate profiles across accounts. A virtual office, a rented mailing address where the business does not operate, is ineligible.

The eligibility rules distinguish premises from eligible operations: rental properties such as vacation homes are ineligible, while sales or leasing offices can qualify for verification. Exceptions to the in-person contact requirement include ATMs and express mail drop boxes, which must provide contact information for customer assistance.

Which information belongs to each location?

Google's representation guidelines call for a location-specific phone number or website, preferring local phone numbers where possible.

For websites, Google's LocalBusiness documentation defines url as the working URL of the specific business location. Its required properties include name and address; recommended properties include telephone and openingHoursSpecification for business hours. A practical implementation is a page for each location containing its own address, contact details and hours, with corresponding structured data.

How do service areas differ from additional locations?

A service-area business visits or delivers to customers without serving them at its business address. Google's service-area guidance requires removal of the displayed address in that case. The area is specified through cities, postal codes or other geographic areas.

Google's representation guidelines allow separate profiles for a service business with separate locations, separate service areas and separate staff at each location.

How can a website describe a location?

Google's LocalBusiness documentation recommends the most specific business subtype available. This shortened JSON-LD example, a format for structured data, uses the documentation's fictional restaurant details:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Restaurant",
  "name": "Dave's Steak House",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "148 W 51st St",
    "addressLocality": "New York",
    "addressRegion": "NY",
    "postalCode": "10019",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "url": "https://www.example.com/restaurant-locations/manhattan",
  "telephone": "+12122459600"
}

The same documentation recommends validating markup with the Rich Results Test and inspecting deployed pages with URL Inspection.

Related terms

• Google Business Profile
• LocalBusiness structured data
• GeoCoordinates structured data
• Structured data

FAQ

Should every branch have a different business name?

Google's representation guidelines require the same name unless real-world representation consistently varies between locations.

Can I create profiles for every city I serve?

Google's service-area guidance provides one profile for the whole service area. Adding a city to that area does not create an additional business location.

Does an online-only business qualify?

Google's eligibility rules list online-only businesses among ineligible businesses.

Sources

1. Google Business Profile Help, "Guidelines for representing your business on Google", undated
2. Google Business Profile Help, "Business eligibility and ownership guidelines", undated
3. Google Business Profile Help, "Manage your service areas for service-area & hybrid businesses", undated
4. Google Search Central, "Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data", 8 September 2026

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