How to scale local SEO for multiple locations

So you've just landed a new client — and instead of having one business location, they have multiple locations or franchises.

Your agency might already be an expert in local SEO, but when a client has more than one location, things get a bit trickier. Every day, potential customers search for local businesses on their phones, ready to make a decision. With 50% of smartphone users visiting a business within a day of conducting a local search, showing up in those results drives foot traffic, boosts conversions, and builds lasting customer loyalty. When your clients win, your agency's reputation grows too.

Not to worry. Although it takes some extra planning and organization, it's definitely possible to put together a strong local SEO strategy for multiple locations. In this guide, you'll find exactly what your agency needs to know to build an effective SEO campaign for local business clients with multiple locations.

Key takeaways

• Every location needs its own Google Business Profile and its own unique page on one main website — separate websites per location hurt both SEO and user experience.

• Name, address, and phone number (NAP) details must match everywhere online; even small inconsistencies like "Avenue" vs. "Ave" can confuse search engines and harm rankings.

• Local intent converts fast — 76% of people who perform "near me" searches visit a business within a day.

• Location pages may not drive huge traffic, but they typically earn higher conversion rates and rank for more keywords — signals worth showcasing in client reports.

• Multi-location tracking is exponential (10 locations x 10 directories = 100 listings to check), so a single dashboard for every location's rankings, reviews, and traffic keeps the workload manageable.

What is multi-location SEO?

Multi-location SEO is the practice of taking local SEO best practices and applying them to all of your clients' business locations. If a client's business is located in various different cities or countries, your agency needs a multi-location SEO approach to improve search traffic for various locations and reach customers where they're at.

Local SEO humanizes and brings local businesses closer to their target audience, in an increasingly globalized, digitalized and competitive business context.

Anthony Guilhem, President, Momentumm Digital

Let's say your client has a clothing retail shop in Philadelphia and a second location in Pittsburgh. Or you could be dealing with a large organization with multiple retail locations across several cities, states, or even countries. Even Starbucks, a massive nationwide chain, needs to be found when someone searches for "Coffee Near Me." Whatever the case, they will want locals to find the shop nearest to them at the top of the SERPs.

Implementing a multi-location SEO strategy lets search engines differentiate between your clients' multiple business locations. This gives their local customers relevant information on the products or services available near their location.

How does local SEO work?

Typically, when someone performs a Google search, its algorithm quickly scans its index to deliver the best results based on these SEO factors:

• Proximity: How close the business is to the searcher.

• Relevance: How well the business matches the search query.

• Prominence: How established the business is online. Think backlinks, reviews, and overall online presence.

But local SEO ranking factors are a bit different. For local searches — like "electrician near me" or "best pizza in Chicago" — Google pulls up the Google Map Pack (or Local Pack). The Local Pack is like the VIP section for local businesses, highlighting three top spots, complete with business information like location, reviews, and phone number. With 42% of local Google searchers clicking into map pack results, getting your client's business to show up here is essential for local visibility.

When deciding which businesses to feature in local search results, Google looks at a few key factors:

• Location: Where is the searcher, and how close is the business? Proximity matters.

• NAP consistency: Is the business's Name, Address, and Phone number the same everywhere online? Even little details, like "Avenue" vs. "Ave," can throw off search results.

• Google Business Profile: Is it fully optimized and up to date?

• Online reviews and star rating: Google loves stars, but it also cares about the quantity of reviews. More reviews + better ratings = higher ranking.

• Social media engagement: Are people checking in, sharing, and chatting about the business online?

Want to show your clients why appearing in the Local Pack matters? The AgencyAnalytics SEO Proposal Template makes it easy to break down local SEO strategies and highlight the value of boosting local visibility.

Which clients benefit most from local SEO?

With so much of our daily lives happening online, virtually every business can benefit from a solid SEO strategy — but that doesn't mean every business needs local SEO. So, who does? Primarily, local SEO is most effective for local businesses that rely on foot traffic or cater to a specific geographic area like:

• Hotels, restaurants, cafés, and bars

• Medical and legal practices

• Home services businesses like contractors, landscapers, and plumbers

• Brick-and-mortar retail stores

Unlike ecommerce stores or online service providers, these businesses depend on local customers — and local SEO is what brings nearby searchers straight to your client's door.

How to rank multiple locations on Google

Getting your clients' businesses to rank in multiple locations, cities or neighborhoods can be tricky. But these key steps give your agency a clear sequence to follow — bookmark this article and reference it as needed.

1. Optimize each location's Google Business Profile

Having a GBP listing is non-negotiable for your local business clients. With over 90% of global search traffic, Google is the king of search engines — and nearly half of all Google searches have local intent. And if a client has multiple business locations, they should also have multiple Google Business Profiles.

Get started by creating a Google Business Profile listing for each location. But first, you'll need a Business Location Group. This is important because any time they want to create a post or an update, you can do it from one location across several profiles at once. Google will give you the option of bulk-uploading information to streamline the entire process.

Image Source

Here's a brief rundown of what a fully optimized Google Business Profile should include:

• Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP): Consistency is key — make sure it's accurate everywhere.

• Business categories: Choose the most relevant categories so Google knows exactly what your client offers.

• Hours of operation: Keep these up-to-date, especially for holidays.

• Website: Include a direct link for easy customer access.

• Services or products: Clearly list offerings, highlighting popular ones for maximum impact.

• High-quality photos: People love visuals — show off their location and products to attract more attention.

• Reviews: Encourage happy customers to leave feedback.

Customers are 2.7x more likely to trust a business with a complete profile — and 50% more likely to make a purchase.

As you fill out each listing, keep these multi-location specifics in mind:

• Make sure to link to each location's individual page on the main website. In other words, link to https://awesome-business.com/city, not just https://awesome-business.com.

• The phone number for each listing should put customers directly in touch with that location. Don't provide the central office's phone number.

• Ensure the business name is the same across all listings. Don't include city or other geo-specific words in the name.

• Select as few categories as possible from the list Google provides, and ensure they're consistent across listings. The only exception is if two locations provide very different services, but that's uncommon.

To optimize their multi-location GBP listing, be sure to fill out specific business details for each location. This can be done by uploading a spreadsheet to their GBP and requesting bulk verification.

Optimizing your client's profile isn't a one-and-done task — you need to keep it active too. Use Google Posts to respond to reviews and share updates or events. This shows Google and potential customers that the business is active and engaged, improving your client's chances of climbing to the top of local searches. Other habits to build into your GBP strategy:

• Posting frequently (using high-quality photos and videos)

• Use local keywords (but avoid keyword stuffing)

• Manage reviews

• Answer questions

Real estate investing is often location-specific. Leveraging local SEO tactics such as optimizing Google My Business profiles, creating location-specific landing pages, and earning local citations helps us connect our clients with interested prospects in their target areas.

Omar Muñoz, Co-Founder, REInvestor SEO

Read More: We've created a full Google Business Profile audit checklist to help optimize your clients' GBP profile.

2. Determine which areas to target

The first step to getting clients' multiple locations to rank on Google is choosing which location-oriented pages you need to create in the first place. Obviously, this would include any location where the client has a physical presence, such as a storefront or office. However, it can — in many cases — expand to their service area.

Start by making a list of the top five or six locations closest to your client's local business. Think about where their customers are most likely coming from to visit their business and create a location page for that city or area. Part of this will depend on how readily available your client's products or services are. For example, there's limited value in trying to fight for a spot to rank for your client's coffee shop in a town that's 30 minutes away, but a Peruvian restaurant or a specialized dental practice may be worth the drive.

Then, do your keyword research. Keyword research is a staple of any SEO strategy, but for local search engine optimization, you have to be even more precise. Focus on geo-specific terms, including explicit searches that mention location (like "bakery in Chicago") and implicit searches (like "bakery near me"). These keywords are pure gold because they connect your clients with nearby searchers who are ready to act. In fact, 76% of people who perform "near me" searches visit a business within a day!

Look at the search volume and how difficult it is to rank for particular keywords. For example, can you implement keywords such as "law firms in NJ" or "legal help in New Jersey"? Use Google Search Console to see popular search queries that are getting your client's website to appear in the SERPs. This information helps you determine if it's worth it to build an entire city page based on the keyword volume.

And finally, look at who your client is competing with. Type in the keyword you're trying to get your client's business to rank for, and take note of the big brands that may be their competitors. This will help you choose your battles wisely and not waste time, money, and resources against a goliath in their industry.

3. Write relevant content on location-specific pages

Marketers love to say, "If you're talking to everyone, you're talking to no one," and that's spot-on for local SEO. Every neighborhood has its own personality and your client's content should reflect that. Think about it: a trendy downtown cafe has a completely different vibe than a family-friendly restaurant in the suburbs. Getting these neighborhood-specific details right will help your clients stand out in local search results.

Pay close attention to the content that is on the top competitors' websites and see if there's a way to incorporate similar content (without completely copying, of course) across multiple locations.

What should go on a location page? At a minimum, each page should contain the following business information:

• Address

• Phone number

• Business hours

• An embedded Google map

• Any specials unique to this location

• Any services unique to this location

• At least a paragraph of unique content that contains location-based keywords

• Directory links, such as Yelp links

Two things that shouldn't go on a location page are duplicate content and contact information for other locations. In other words, a central multi-location SEO best practice is NOT simply copying and pasting the same generic text on all your client's location-specific pages.

And consider local keywords when crafting content. For example, some locations may call it pop and others may call it soda, and that's a key distinction when developing a localized strategy.

When running multiple location SEO projects, bring credibility to the page by incorporating reviews and highlighting products or services that are specific to that location. You want Google to understand that this city page is relevant to the location you're trying to help your clients rank for.

4. Extend their reach with location pages

If a client doesn't have a physical location in targeted locations, there are still ways to gain some exposure. For example, create local pages within their website that have the city's name that they're trying to rank for.

Consider this scenario: your client has a law firm located in Philadelphia but they want to show up in the map pack in New Jersey. Although Google will most likely show closer results in the map pack to the searcher in New Jersey, your client can still organically rank first (right below the map pack) by implementing city pages.

Location or city pages may not drive a lot of traffic, but if you check your clients' Google Analytics, you'll find they typically get higher conversion rates and rank for more keywords. Those are exactly the kinds of signals to include in SEO performance tracking so local wins don't get reduced to rankings alone. And, the more location-specific pages you create for your clients, the more they will likely be rewarded by Google.

All of their location pages combined are a worthwhile strategy to increase conversion rates — something your agency should highlight in a white-labeled SEO report to showcase the value you're bringing.

As noted earlier, local search engine optimization for multiple locations doesn't mean simply posting the same page over and over again with a different city in the title tag. The content needs to be unique and relevant to that location.

We start with a local SEO audit–if you don't know where you are, you can't get to where you want to go! After that, we do local keyword research to make sure we're targeting those with the highest ROI. We then get their Google business listing optimised, target local citations, tune-up the website content to include the right keywords. Of course, the local SEO report is included so clients can see what's getting traction.

Michelle van Blerck, Communications Manager, Digital Freak

Create local SEO monthly reports in minutes with a template from AgencyAnalytics.

5. Use one website with a clear URL structure

When most agencies are confronted with running multiple location SEO campaigns for the first time, they often wonder: "Does my client need a separate website for each of their locations?"

The short answer is no. At first glance, it might seem to make sense for a local business to have a unique website for each location. In the long run, however, this is bad for both search engine optimization and user experience.

First, it confuses customers when a single brand has multiple homes on the web, especially if those sites aren't consistent, quality-wise. Secondly, it's hard enough for a single website to gain traction in search engines — imagine trying to achieve the same goal with numerous websites at once! Besides that, websites can be expensive to build and maintain, making it impractical for businesses with limited budgets or dozens of franchises.

So what's the best approach? Capitalize on URL structures. Start with one main business website for your client. For example:

https://awesome-business.com

Location landing pages can be set up as subdomains, which look like this:

https://city.awesome-business.com

Or as subdirectories, which look like this:

https://awesome-business.com/city

Google has said there's not much difference between the two regarding search engine optimization, including multiple-location SEO. Whichever you choose, each location needs to have its own unique URL.

6. Optimize each location's on-page SEO

After creating individual location pages full of useful information, it's time to optimize each location's on-page SEO. The goal here, of course, is for your client to show up for local searches. The goal is easy, but gaining top ranking for a particular location can be tricky.

To do this, check each page's title tag, meta description, and H1 tag. Each of them should contain geo-specific keywords for the location.

In addition, tell Google more about each location by adding structured data to the page. Schema markup is like adding labels to your client's website so search engines understand the content better. It tells Google key details like business hours, service areas, or events — and adding local schema boosts the chances of showing up in valuable features like Google's Map Pack or Knowledge Graph. While it sounds technical, Google's structured data markup helper makes it easy — no coding required.

Here's an example of structured data in code from Google:

Finally, check that Google can find your client's location-targeted pages. If the pages can only be accessed through a search function or dynamic branch finder, Google won't be able to crawl them, and all your optimization will be for nothing. Ensure all the pages get crawled by submitting an XML sitemap to Google.

7. Optimize for mobile

With Google now prioritizing mobile-first indexing — and over 63% of searches happening on mobile devices — having a mobile-friendly website is non-negotiable for local SEO (and SEO in general).

Make sure your client's website:

• Loads quickly on mobile devices.

• Has user-friendly, responsive navigation.

• Includes easy-to-use features like click-to-call buttons.

8. Keep citations consistent across the web

Your client's website is all set. What's next? Once their GBP listings are good to go, repeat the process to create similar listings on other third-party sites. Bing Places for Business and Yahoo Local Listings are two good places to start. Yelp, Yellow Pages Online, and Facebook are also worthwhile. A Google search for industry-related local business directories can help you find other relevant places to list your client's local business as part of their multiple-location SEO approach.

Don't fall into the trap of creating too many listings, though. Unless you're actually dealing with a nationwide franchise that has dozens — or even hundreds — of unique locations, creating too many irrelevant listings won't help your client that much, and they could actually be harmful.

Why? Google pays attention to whether a company's business profile is consistent online. Citations — mentions of their business name, address, and phone number (NAP) — are scattered across sites like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and social media. Even small inconsistencies, like different phone numbers or abbreviations, could confuse search engines, hurt trustworthiness, and lower search rankings. It's also easier to monitor and update your client's information across a limited number of listings.

When dealing with SEO for multiple locations, everything becomes exponential. 10 locations x 10 directories = 100 business listings that need to be checked for accuracy. Depending on their industry, your client may have business information on a variety of local directory sites, but some places to check regularly as part of your agency's multiple location SEO program:

• Yelp

• Bing

• Google Business Profile

• Yahoo

• Yellow Pages

If you find any inconsistencies, correct them and update them as necessary. The good news? Tools like Yext or BrightLocal audit and correct these discrepancies — saving you time and boosting your client's credibility.

One final point: other people talking about your client's business online might inadvertently publish inaccurate or misleading information, which can hurt your client's SEO through no fault of their (or your) own. Google your client's business regularly, and if you discover inaccurate information anywhere, contact the site right away and request that it be changed.

9. Gather and publish location-specific reviews

Reviews are another key part of a local business's reputation — 75% of people check them when looking up local businesses. While positive reviews are essential for establishing credibility, Google also values quantity — the more reviews, the better your client's chances of ranking higher in local search results. As most business owners know, however, getting online reviews for even a single location can be tough.

If you help your client with content marketing, one way is to include CTAs encouraging customers to leave reviews on Google or Yelp. For even better results, though, your client will often need to actively ask customers for reviews in person. That's because customers are most likely to write a review immediately after having a positive experience with a brand.

Coach your client to ask for reviews in a variety of ways. One simple way is to suggest they include a request for reviews on their receipts. Printing something like, "How was your experience with us today? Let us know by leaving us a Google review!" on every receipt can go a long way towards encouraging more customers to leave feedback.

Sending follow-up emails with links to Yelp or Google Reviews can also work. Your client can also offer an incentive, such as an entry in a giveaway in exchange for reviews, as long as they don't stipulate that the review must be positive.

It's important to respond well to reviews, too. Someone should be in charge of monitoring reviews and dealing with any negative ones. When handled correctly, bad reviews can actually bolster a brand's image by giving them a chance to show off their great customer service skills.

Lastly, reputation management tools like Synup help keep your review campaigns maintained and tracked. When you're managing multi-location businesses, it's easy to lose track of locations. Investing in a few key tools will have a big payoff!

Integrate with your client's Google Business Profile, Yext, BirdEye, Yelp, Trustpilot, Grade.us, BrightLocal, or Vendasta with the AgencyAnalytics review reporting tool. Give your clients a bird's eye view of their online reputation across multiple platforms and highlight any areas that need improvement to boost their local SEO efforts.

Read More: An Agency Guide to Managing Yext Listings

10. Create a link building strategy

Building links takes time for any SEO strategy and can take even longer for a multiple-location SEO program. Taking shortcuts won't be worth it in the long run.

Local backlinks are a powerful way to improve local SEO. When your client gets links from trusted local sources — like businesses, local business directories, news outlets, and community organizations — Google recognizes them as a trusted part of the community. The more quality local backlinks your client has, the stronger their ranking.

Build links for each of your clients' location pages by prioritizing which locations they want to rank for immediately. One quick and easy way to get started is by building local listings on major aggregate sites for each location (Yelp or industry-specific directories, for example). Also, look for local links from chambers of commerce or city-level directories, as well as other off-page strategies like guest posting for nearby businesses.

Encourage your clients to build local connections by:

• Sponsoring local events.

• Collaborating with nearby businesses for content or promotions.

• Partnering with local bloggers or influencers.

It's also important to target location-specific keywords to map the links, and their intent, to the right location-specific page. For example, "Dayton Roofers" will provide more location-specific value than simply "Roofers".

Finally, consider any internal links that could be added to each location page. Are there other relevant links or updated posts that could add context or quality to a location page?

11. Put a content strategy in place

Aside from creating location-relevant content for your clients' multi-location SEO strategy, build up their authority by:

• Producing high-quality, in-depth, long-form content for each business location

• Including shorter pieces of localized content to explore related topics. This can go beyond the client's products or services and talk to the location the business serves, e.g. Top 5 Events in X City This Summer.

• Addressing any questions from local customers (on their GBP listing or in search queries)

• Updating and expanding on content with more detail and value over time

• Auditing pages that aren't gaining traction or ones that are competing for the same keyword

We focus heavily on content creation and the internal keyword side of local SEO. With Google placing a heavier focus on expert content and authoritative material for ranking websites, the best place to showcase that our clients are experts in their field, in any given location, is to provide proof through our websites, blog posts and project pages.

–Bec Moloney, Senior Account Manager, Redsteps Consulting

12. Stay active on social media

Likes and comments aside, getting involved with the local community on social media is major for local SEO. This often leads to more brand mentions, shares, and traffic to their site — all of which positively impact local SEO rankings.

Post regularly about local events, share community updates, and interact with the client's audience by responding to comments and questions.

Common multi-location SEO mistakes

After implementing all of these multi-location optimization strategies, your agency will want to avoid some common mistakes that would make your work counterproductive:

• A static sitemap that isn't being updated with new content

• Ignoring overall site maintenance

• Not generating new reviews

• Incomplete or inaccurate local business listings

• Not targeting keywords related to the local target market

• Difficulty getting popular keyword ranking tools to manage the results for multiple locations (Hint: AgencyAnalytics makes multi-location rank tracking easy!)

• Missing regular website audits (including if your client acquires a new site that may have duplicate content or other SEO issues)

• Leaving the location out of the title or meta description so that it doesn't appear as part of the listing when potential customers search locally

• Not incorporating long-tail and short-tail keywords into your multiple-location SEO strategy

• Mismanaging GBP locations (duplicate or old, forgotten listings confuse Google)

How to track local SEO success and prove ROI

Even the best strategies lose momentum without solid ROI to back them up. Don't forget to track your clients' data! Showcase the impact of your local SEO with these key metrics:

• Local search traffic: Measure how much traffic comes from local searches.

• Local keyword rankings: Use local SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to track keyword rankings over time.

• Google Business Profile insights: Look at profile views, clicks for directions, website clicks, and call tracking metrics to gauge engagement.

• Conversion rate: Track how many visitors from local searches are converting into customers.

• Local backlinks: Monitor new and lost backlinks.

• Traffic source segmentation: See where traffic is coming from (Google Maps vs. organic).

AgencyAnalytics has a feature for multi-location SERP tracking. Track each of your clients' locations — and how they appear in search results — in a single dashboard to easily compare which locations are ranking well or not. Use these SEO KPIs as part of your agency's multiple-location SEO reports to quickly identify which locations need further optimization and highlight your agency's proactive approach. If you're evaluating tools for local SEO reporting, this guide outlines the best options for multi-location workflows.

We actually put AA in place very early on. My experience in digital advertising told me that clients want real time access to reporting... even if they dont always use it. We still build a lot of custom reports, but we're able to also customize AA in a lot of ways to automate that process. We've created multiple dashboards for clients, based on the multiple things we do for them.

For example, we work with 15 location group of medical practices. We need to keep track of every location's ad budget, as well as their local SEO separately. So, we have custom dashboards built that help them with that process, while helping our team know where to focus their energy.

Ryan Burch, Owner, Tobie Group

Keep in mind that running SEO analytics for a local SEO campaign for multiple locations isn't that different from a single location. The principles are the same — you've just got to do a bit more legwork and keep track of the details. With a good overall strategy, the right SEO dashboard or local SEO report, the appropriate SEO metrics, and an efficient plan of attack, you help your client get more business at every one of their locations.

Scalable local SEO reporting strategies

After you've helped your clients gain traction in local search engines, the next step is to send them a white label SEO report with the multiple-location SEO results. Many clients don't necessarily care about the technical details and instead want the essential information presented in an understandable way.

To give you an idea of what to include, here are a few of the sections in the AgencyAnalytics local SEO report template:

• Report summary: First, you want to provide an overview of the report in plain English. This will often include the project goals and KPIs, tasks completed and results achieved.

• SEO site health: Your report should include a white-labeled SEO site audit that identifies common problems that could limit the client's ability to rank for target keywords in each location.

• Traffic overview by channel: Next, you want to show your client where their traffic comes from. This can include organic search, direct traffic, referrals, and paid search for each channel.

• Conversion from organic traffic: Traffic is great, but clients want to see how it actually impacts their bottom line. You can do this by setting up Goals in Google Analytics, which can measure things like leads, purchases, or whatever else your client considers a conversion.

• Keyword rankings: Finally, keyword rankings are an essential part of any SEO report. This section indicates if your overall strategy is trending in the right direction.

Build long-term success with local SEO

Local SEO is a foundation for long-term growth. By helping your clients thrive in their local markets, you set them up for more foot traffic and stronger customer relationships.

With tactics like tracking key performance metrics, mobile optimization, and local link building, you'll keep your clients ahead where it counts. Does local SEO require ongoing effort? You bet. But with the right approach, you'll drive measurable results for your clients — and set your agency apart.

AgencyAnalytics SEO tools bring all these local SEO metrics together, so you'll spend less time reporting and more time driving real results for your clients. Try it out for free today — no credit card required.