How to manage Google Business Profiles for multiple locations
A head-office playbook for keeping every dealer and branch listing accurate, answered and found, from hours and photos to reviews and calls.
If you sell through dealers, franchises or branches, your brand is only as good as its worst listing. One showroom with old hours, a wrong phone number or a pile of unanswered reviews sends buyers to the rival down the road. Here is how head office can keep every location in shape without chasing each one by hand.
Step 1: Audit every listing
Start with a list of every location and check each profile for:
- Hours, including holiday hours.
- Phone number, and whether it matches the store page.
- Photos, and how old they are.
- Category and address.
- Reviews waiting for a reply.
Mark each location as complete or needs attention. This becomes your weekly view.
Step 2: Make head office the source of truth
Most listing errors come from many people editing many profiles. Decide which fields head office owns (brand name, categories, standard hours, holiday hours, core photos) and which fields the location can suggest changes to.
When something changes across the network, such as festival hours, edit it once and push it to every location together.
Step 3: Give every location a store page
Your website should have a page per location with the same name, address, phone and hours as the listing. Consistency between the two helps buyers trust what they see, and gives the listing a page to link to.
Step 4: Answer every review, at every location
Reviews are the part of a listing that changes daily. Make it someone's job:
- Route each review to the location it is about.
- Reply in the showroom's voice, with a specific next step, such as a named manager calling back.
- Escalate unhappy customers so someone actually calls them.
- Watch ratings by location, so head office can see which branch needs help.
Google notes that "helpful and positive replies to reviews can show that you're responsive to your customers" (Google Business Profile Help).
Step 5: Do not lose the calls your listing creates
The call button on a listing is often the most valuable thing on it. Track calls by location and source, so you know which calls came from Google, a store page or an ad. Missed calls are where buyers leak away; have a plan to get back to them quickly, such as a WhatsApp message to the missed caller.
Step 6: Track where each location ranks
"Near me" searches are local. A showroom can rank first two streets away and fifth a kilometre out. Track rank across a grid of points around each location, for the searches buyers actually make, and compare with nearby competitors.
Step 7: Check what AI answer engines say
More buyers now ask ChatGPT or Perplexity for a recommendation. Ask the questions your buyers ask, such as "best bathroom fittings showroom in Jubilee Hills", and check:
- Is your location mentioned?
- Where does it appear?
- Is anything wrong, such as old hours?
Most errors trace back to a source you control, like the listing or store page. Fix the source.
Step 8: Connect listings to leads
A perfect listing that produces calls nobody follows up is wasted. Every lead should carry the dealer and the source it came from, so head office can see which locations convert and which ad spend works.
A weekly rhythm for head office
- Monday: review locations that need attention and push fixes.
- Daily: clear the review queue and missed calls.
- Weekly: check rank and AI answers for priority locations.
- Monthly: compare leads and cost per lead by dealer.