How does local SEO work for a multi-location business?
One profile per location, one page per location, and a naming system that scales.
One Google Business Profile per physical location, one page on your site per location, identical name formatting across all of them, and reporting broken out by location. Multi location local SEO is a structure problem before it is a content problem.
The structure rules
- One profile per address. Google's guidelines say not to create more than one page for each location, and require a precise real world address with permanent signage. Do not consolidate two real offices into one profile, and do not split one office into several.
- Consistent naming. Google's guidelines prohibit adding location descriptors, service descriptors, or taglines to the business name field. Every location uses the same real world business name. Resist the urge to append the city.
- One landing page per location. Each profile's website field should point to that location's page, not the homepage. That page carries that location's NAP, hours, staff, and local proof.
- Location level category choices. Locations that genuinely differ in what they do should carry different primary categories.
Where multi location programs fail
Three ways, repeatedly. NAP drift, where a suite number or a phone number changes at one location and never propagates. Duplicated location pages, where the same 600 words appear 14 times with the city swapped, which is thin content at scale. And blended reporting, where a rollup of all locations hides the two that are failing.
What it costs to run
LevelUp's SEO retainers start at $1,850 a month for L1, $2,800 for L2, and $3,850 for L3, with $350 a month added per additional location. That per location add is not a fee for existing. It funds real work: a separate profile to maintain, a separate page to keep current, separate review flow, and separate reporting.
Related: Do you need a page for every city?, Why NAP consistency matters, How do you track local SEO?, retainer pricing.