Managing Location Groups

Multi-location businesses may have dozens, or even hundreds or thousands, of listings on the Google platform. Google has developed a feature known as location groups so businesses with multiple locations can keep them organized within the Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) platform. Location groups offer organizations, agencies, and other user groups (like executive-level managers) a safe way to manage select groups of business listings. As a best practice, Google recommends creating a location group anytime you want to share location management responsibilities with a coworker, a branch manager, or an agency. Location groups are also helpful if you want to run location ad campaigns. However, it’s best to limit the number of location groups to one account per business or brand, unless you have a complex organization with multiple divisions to which different sets of users need access. The best way to think of location groups is like a shared folder. When you create a location group, you can share access to a set of business listings with any organization or group that you choose. This is much safer than the alternative, which would be to share your username and password with other users.

To create a location group, follow these steps:

Sign in to Google Business Profile
If you only have one location currently, click “Manage locations”
If you have two or more locations currently, click “Create location group”
Enter the location group name and click “Done”

Of course, the entire point of creating a location group is to allow multiple people to manage your listings. For that to occur, you will need to transfer your locations to the location group.

To transfer locations to a location group, follow these steps:

Sign in to Google Business Profile
Select one or more locations to transfer
Click Actions and then Transfer Locations
Choose the location group/business account that you want to receive the locations
Select Transfer or Transfer Ownership

Existing locations can be added to multiple location groups. This is most useful when you are working with an agency but you also want your branch managers to have access to listings. Agencies that manage location groups for multiple brands will usually have organization accounts, which allows for additional capabilities and bulk verification. To learn more about requesting access for an agency or organization account, contact SOCi for help in managing your listings.