How to Manage Multiple Google Business Profile (formerly GMB) Listings for Service Area Businesses

When you run a restaurant or a store, selecting the right address for a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business profile) Listing is usually very easy. For service-based businesses, though, selecting the right business address can be more challenging. This is especially true for service area businesses that require multiple listings. Many businesses that offer professional services or home services, like attorneys, locksmiths, and plumbers, don’t require customers to come into their places of business. These businesses might even be run from the owner’s personal home office or a coworking space. How do you ensure your service area businesses are ranking in all the zip codes and cities you serve without breaking Google’s guidelines for properly listing service area businesses on Google Business Profile? We know that one of the fastest ways to get a Business Profile suspended is by using the wrong business address. Entering an address that is not eligible for a listing, according to Business Profile Guidelines, can lead to a listing being suspended or removed. The best approach is for home-based businesses and companies that don’t have offices to leave the address field blank in their Business Profile. The service area should be listed instead. To learn more about managing multiple Business Profile Listings for service-area businesses, review these detailed guidelines for representing your business on Google. If you have multiple service-area businesses, then you should create multiple Business Profile Listings.

Google’s guidelines acknowledge that businesses may need to create multiple listings if they fall into the following categories:

Businesses with different staff serving different areas
Businesses with listing addresses that are more than two-hours apart (by driving)
Businesses with service areas that don’t overlap

These rules only apply when business owners see customers at their own houses or offsite locations. The business’ industry or business category does not matter. If this applies to your business, then you should be classified as a service area business and an address should not display publicly on your Google profile. Franchises may be guided by a different set of rules when it comes to Google Business Profile. According to Google’s guidelines, franchises can have multiple home-based listings when different locations have different owners, or when different locations are independently set up and independently licensed. Have questions about managing multiple Business Profile Listings? Learn more about our Local Listings Management service at SOCi.