Managing Google Business Profiles across several Australian locations

Short answer: keep ownership of every location under the business's own Google account, use business groups so the right people can manage several profiles at once, agree one written standard for names, categories and hours, and run a fixed weekly check across every location — whether that's two shops in Sydney or a spread from Perth to the Gold Coast.

With a single location, gaps are obvious. With five locations across different states, one branch quietly drifts: stale public holiday hours, a missing service, a run of reviews nobody replied to.

1. Get access right first

• The business itself should hold primary ownership of every profile, not an individual staff member's personal account.
• Give staff and contractors manager access instead of sharing logins.
• Remove access the day someone leaves.

Google's Business Profile manager tools explain the difference between owners and managers, and business groups let several locations be managed from one place.

2. Agree shared standards across states

Write a one-page standard every location follows:

• Business name: the real-world name, consistent everywhere, no keywords added.
• Primary category: the same across locations offering the same service.
• Description and services: a shared core, with local detail layered on top.
• Photos: each location's own exterior and interior — never copied from another branch.
• Reply tone: who answers reviews, and how.

3. Localise what genuinely differs

Address, phone number, hours, parking and local team belong to each location. Public holiday hours also genuinely differ — Melbourne Cup Day only applies in Victoria, and other public holidays shift by state, so a single national hours template will be wrong somewhere.

4. Run a weekly routine

1. Unanswered reviews, by location.
2. Hours and special hours for the coming month, checked per state.
3. Any suggested edits Google has proposed that you didn't make.
4. Posts scheduled for each location.

5. Opening, moving or closing a location

• Opening: verify the new profile before launch, using that location's real address, phone number and photos — not a placeholder.
• Moving: update the address on the existing profile instead of creating a duplicate, and post about the move.
• Closing: mark it closed rather than deleting it, so customers searching in that suburb still get an accurate answer.

Checklist

• Business owns every profile
• Named managers assigned per location
• Written standards shared with staff
• Weekly check completed for every location, state by state

Where Local SEO AI helps

The Business plan covers up to five locations with pooled monthly credits and up to ten users, so each site keeps its own profile, reviews and posts while you get one overview across states. Reports & actions lists next steps per location. If you run profiles across multiple cities, revisit choosing the right category for each one — or start with special hours if state public holidays are the immediate problem. Live Google connection is awaiting Google's approval.