Answers / Multi-Location & Franchise

Should Each of My Locations Have Its Own Google Business Profile?

Yes, if customers can visit each location. Google's guidelines say not to create more than one profile for each location, so each eligible location gets its own profile with its own address, hours and phone.

Updated Oct 9, 2026 · by CitedLocal

What Google's guidelines say

• One profile per location. Google says not to create more than one page for each location, in one account or several. Duplicates cause problems with how your information shows on Maps and Search.
• Consistent names and categories across locations. Google says all locations should have the same name unless the real-world name consistently varies by location.
• Accurate address or service area for each location.

Why each location needs its own work

Each profile ranks on its own, against its own nearby competitors. A strong flagship doesn't carry a weak second location. That's why we audit, fix and report on every location separately. The process is the same for one location or fifty.

Set each one up properly

1. Same brand name on every profile. No city names or keywords stuffed into the name.
2. Each location's own phone number and its own page on your website.
3. Categories that fit that location, which can differ if the services differ.
4. Accurate hours per location, including holidays.
5. You as primary owner of every profile, managed from one account or business group.

When not to create a profile

• A location customers can't visit and that doesn't travel to customers.
• Virtual offices or mailboxes.
• A second profile for the same location to target another service. Use categories and services instead.

If you want this handled every month, see our Google Business Profile management.

How Do I Add a New Location on Google Without Hurting My Existing One?

Create a brand-new profile for the new address. Don't edit your existing profile's address to the new one. That moves your reviews and history away from the original location.

The mistake to avoid

Owners sometimes change the address on their existing profile to the new location. That moves the profile, with its reviews and history, and leaves the original location without one. Opening a second location means adding a second profile.

Step by step

1. Add a new Business Profile for the new address, under the same owner account.
2. Use the same brand name as your first location.
3. Give it its own phone number. Sharing one number across locations blurs which is which.
4. Verify it. Expect a verification step for the new address. It may be a video.
5. Build a location page on your website and link the profile to it.
6. Set hours, categories and services for what this location actually offers.
7. Start reviews from day one: ask customers at the new location to review that location.

What to expect

A new profile starts with no reviews and no history, so it usually ranks below your established location at first. That's normal. Don't try to speed it up by copying reviews or photos from the first location.

Keep the two from competing

• Each location's website page should talk about its own area.
• Don't list the same service area for both unless they genuinely serve it.
• Make sure listings on Yelp, Apple, Bing and others are created for the new address, not edited from the old one.

If you want this handled every month, see our Google Business Profile management.

Do I Need a Separate Phone Number for Each Location?

Ideally, yes. Google's guidelines ask for a phone number "that connects to your individual business location" and to use a local number instead of a central call center line "whenever possible." One shared number across locations makes them harder to tell apart.

What Google's guidelines say

• Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location.
• Use a local phone number instead of a central call center helpline number whenever possible.
• The number must be under the direct control of the business.
• Don't use numbers that redirect callers to a different business. Premium-rate numbers aren't allowed.

Why it matters beyond Google

Your phone number is one of the strongest identifiers tying a location's listings together. If five locations share one number, directories and AI assistants have a harder time telling which reviews, addresses and hours belong where.

What about call tracking?

Call-tracking numbers are common in advertising. If you use one on a profile, keep it local, controlled by the business and routed to that location, and keep the main location number consistent on your website and directories.

Can a central team answer?

Yes, as long as the number on each profile is that location's own line. Calls can be forwarded to a central team behind the scenes; the published number should still be specific to the location.

Additional numbers

Google allows additional phone numbers on your profile. Use them for genuine needs, like a separate line for a department, not to list every number you own.

If you want this handled every month, see our Google Business Profile management.

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