A company with several branches has one profile per location, and each profile needs the same care as a single one. The extra work is keeping them consistent with each other. This page explains how that works with us, from access to packages.
One profile for each location
Google expects one Business Profile for a business at each place where it serves customers. A branch with its own address and staff gets its own profile. A second profile for the same place is a duplicate, and Google can keep a duplicate off Search and Maps. The rules are in Google’s guidelines.
Google’s guidelines for representing your business describe what counts as a location and what does not. The manager starts by listing every location, the profile that represents it, who owns each one, and any old or duplicate listings. Duplicates are reported to Google with evidence, and what stays or merges is agreed with you before anything is sent. In a clinic, a practitioner’s or a department’s own profile counts as a separate location.
Keep names, categories and hours consistent
Customers compare branches, and so does Google. Each profile should carry the real business name, written the way it appears on the signs and in the paperwork, without added keywords. Categories should match what each branch does, and hours should differ only where the branches really keep different hours.
The manager keeps one agreed record of the data for the whole network and checks each profile against it. A network-wide offer goes to the locations where it applies, and a local announcement stays with its branch. Primary ownership of every profile stays with the company, never with the personal login of a branch employee.
Access for several profiles
You give the manager the manager role on each profile from the owner’s login, the same way as for a single location. If your locations sit in a business group, which Google describes as a shared folder for profiles, the manager can be added to the group once instead of to each profile, and that access is simpler to withdraw later. The manager agrees with you which route fits your setup.
Business Profile Manager is the tool Google provides for companies with several locations, and it supports bulk updates through spreadsheets. Store codes must stay unchanged during a bulk edit, or new records can appear by mistake. Our article on Google My Business and Google Business Profile explains where the tool fits today.
Verification for new branches
Every new location has to be verified before the regular work on it can start. Google decides which methods it offers. Some chains qualify for bulk verification, which has its own conditions and can still require evidence from individual locations, so each opening needs a person on site who can show the business.
Our article on how Google Business Profile verification works explains when the bulk route applies, and Google’s own page on bulk verification lists the requirements. Plan openings with this in mind: the verification date is Google’s decision, so we never promise that every location goes live together.
One manager for the whole network
One manager looks after your locations, so the network has one person who knows the whole picture. The manager helps you agree the packages branch by branch and one order of work for all of them, and prepares the posts and the review replies separately for each location.
Decisions about names, categories and offers are best made once by whoever runs the network, then applied everywhere. For a chain, the conversation therefore starts with the person responsible for the network.
A package for each location
Each location has its own package, chosen for the work that location needs, and each location is billed separately. A busy flagship can be on Business while a quiet branch stays on Start. You can start with one location and add the others later. The terms for several locations are agreed individually with your manager.
The published price of each package per location is on the Google Maps management pricing page. Examples of how the work differs by trade are in the catalog of industries we serve.
To discuss your network, send the list of locations for a free express review.