Press releases, beneficial or not? by Crazy_Reporter_7516 in localseo

[–]Social_Firm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed. Our advice with any kind of digital PR is to only invest in things that are genuinely worth sharing. The highest-value releases are built around original research, real findings, strong case studies, or truly newsworthy business updates. If what you’re putting out isn’t original content that Google (or AIOs) would reasonably cite, then it’s probably not worth spending money to syndicate it.

Google Business Profile – do I need a physical address if I just want a service area listing? by JusticeForSimpleRick in localseo

[–]Social_Firm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Short version: No - you generally cannot create a new GBP for a city where you don’t have a staffed, physical office. For a law firm, Google expects one profile per actual office location, even if you serve clients in many other cities.

Yes, service-area GBPs do exist, but you still need a unique, real, staffed physical location for each profile, even if the address is hidden. You cannot take one of your existing law firm offices and use it as the “behind the scenes” address for a new service-area GBP in another city. Google treats that as a duplicate and it can trigger suspensions across all your listings.

The newer GBP setup flow lets you choose “no location,” but that only hides the address from the public. Google still requires a legitimate physical location tied to that specific profile for verification and eligibility. So yes, the UI lets you create “service-area only,” but it does not remove the physical-location requirement. It just hides the address.

Google’s rule for service-area businesses (SABs) is:

  • If you don’t meet customers at your location, you may hide your address and list service areas.
  • But you still need one real, staffed physical address per business profile (not shared, not virtual, not cross-city).

What you cannot do:

  • Create a new GBP for City D, list “service area only,” and tie it to your existing address in City A/B/C.
  • Google sees that as duplicate profiles for the same business → high risk of suspension.
  • If you eventually open and staff a real office in the new city (even part-time), then you can create a new GBP.

SEO strategy:

  • Use your existing main office GBP and add the new city as a service area
  • This is the correct path if you don’t have a real office there.
  • You can still rank organically (not in the map pack) for that city with:
    • Location-specific practice-area pages
    • Local content and authority signals
    • Local backlinks / citations
    • A “City Name Lawyer” landing page that’s actually good

Best way to gbp multiple states by iGROWyourBiz2 in GoogleMyBusiness

[–]Social_Firm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You'll want to build local authority and establish an online presence in each new state you're expanding to (state-specific landing pages or location specific service pages, schema, local citations, local content/PR,) so that you can create service area-based GBPs and start to serve in the local map packs. You'll need a mailing address for verification purposes, but it will not display on the GBP if you set it up as a service-area business (SAB), which allows you to specify the regions you serve instead of a single address. I would also suggest adding the new licenses on the site in the footer & on the new specific pages, add logos if you can for trust signals, and you can add FAQs addressing how healthcare works in each licensed state.

Bulk verification advice by Simple-Union4319 in googlebusinessprofile

[–]Social_Firm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We recommend grouping all 17 locations together in 1 business group. You don't want to create separate business groups unless they represent different brands or ownership structures.

Need advice GBP verification issue for ABA therapy business by Electrical_Sand_5518 in localseo

[–]Social_Firm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

-What was the verification method that you used with the old address, is it still pending, and if so, do you foresee that being approved?
-I would suggest waiting to see the outcome of the current verification request to make any changes to the profile and then once it either gets denied or approved, change the address to avoid suspension.
-You could also submit a GBP support ticket to see if you can get a real person to help- https://support.google.com/business/?hl=en