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The new location gets the same name as the first one

By the end, you'll know why the new location keeps the same name as the first, what you can't add to that name, and what phone number or page its listing needs to carry.

By Yodai · Published September 6, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026

6 min read

You're filling out the listing for the second location and you get to the name. Your first thought is that two listings with the same name are going to clash, that Google will think it's the same business entered twice. So you're tempted to add something to tell them apart: the neighborhood, the street, a "downtown" or a "2."

Google's guidelines for businesses with multiple locations say exactly the opposite: every location keeps the same name, unless one of them always uses a different name on its sign, its website, and its paperwork. What tells one location apart from another isn't the name, it's the address, the phone number, and the hours. What's missing is entering that information correctly without wrecking the name along the way.

What Google looks at to decide if a listing is a duplicate

In its help article on duplicate listings, Google gives three reasons a listing can be considered a duplicate: a verified listing for the same business already exists, several listings share the same address, or one business has several listings for different services. A listing that's flagged as a duplicate won't show up in Search or Maps. Having the same name isn't one of those reasons: the guidelines call for one listing per location, and what separates two locations of the same brand is their address.

The address is already different because the location is different, so that's not something you decide. What you do decide is the name and the phone number, and that's where two opposite mistakes creep in: changing the name so it doesn't look like the first one's, and leaving your everyday cell number on the new listing with nothing pointing to this particular location.

What to change and what to keep the same between the two profiles

The name and category don't change; the address, phone number, and, if needed, the hours do

Detail	Profile 1 (the one you already have)	Profile 2 (the new one)
Brand name	Ortiz Bakery	Ortiz Bakery
Business category	Bakery	Bakery
Photo style and description	The one you already use	Same style
Profile name	Ortiz Bakery	Ortiz Bakery, the same
Phone	600 000 001	(555) 000-0002, this location's own number (it can ring on the same cell phone)
Hours	The one you already have	Only different if it's genuinely different

The name, the category, and the photo style stay the same on purpose. Google's guidelines call for the same name across all locations and the same category if they offer the same service, so that someone who already knows you recognizes the same business somewhere else. What changes is whatever belongs to each location: its address, its phone number, and its hours if they're not the same.

The name: the same one, unless the sign says otherwise

You don't need to come up with a new name or add anything to it. Google's guidelines call for every location of a business in the same country to use the same name, and their example is a chain whose stores all use the chain's name, not the name followed by the city. There's one exception that matters here: if a location always uses a different name on its sign, its website, and its paperwork, it can use that name on its listing.

What you can't do is put information in the name that isn't actually part of it. Google's guidelines give examples of what's not allowed, like slogans, information about products or services, and information about the location, and they warn that adding unnecessary information to the name can get the profile suspended. Your customers calling the location by its neighborhood isn't enough: what counts is the name on the sign, the website, and that location's paperwork.

What the name for profile 2 looks like

Ortiz Bakery, same as the first one, because that's what's on the sign at both locations. Avoid: Ortiz Bakery Affordable Artisan Bread, or the name with the neighborhood tacked on if that's not what's on that location's sign. That's extra information in the name, and it risks suspension instead of improving your search results.

The phone number: make it point to this location

With the phone number, it's the opposite of the name: here, it's actually a good idea for each location to have its own. It's tempting to leave your everyday cell number on both profiles "until things get going," since getting a new line for a location that hasn't even opened yet feels like a hassle. But Google's guidelines call for each profile to have a phone number that connects to that specific location or a website that represents it, and if possible a local number, not one for a call center.

You don't need a physical line. A number of its own for the new location that rings on your same cell phone also works, as long as the number is yours and you control it, which is exactly what those same guidelines call for. And if both profiles share your cell number for now, at least make sure the new location's profile links to that location's page, not the homepage.

Same phone number on both profiles

If both profiles carry the same number, the new location's profile doesn't have a phone number that connects to it, and whoever calls has no way of knowing which location they'll reach. Google's guidelines call for a phone number for that location or a website that represents it: either give it its own number before publishing the profile, or make its link point to that location's page.

With the same name as always, that location's address, and a phone number or page pointing to it, the new listing has everything Google's guidelines require for each location. The only thing left to decide is which page each listing links to when someone clicks "Website": that's covered in the next lesson.

What you'll walk away with

The new listing's name is the same as the first location's, unless its sign says otherwise
No neighborhood, slogan, or service added to the name: whatever tells each location apart goes in its address, phone number, and hours
Each listing carries a phone number that connects to that location or, at the very least, a link to that location's page
The second location's listing is ready to publish, following Google's guidelines for businesses with multiple locations

Three cases to decide

Answer before opening each one. If one gives you trouble, go back to the section that explains it.

1. You're opening the second location 650 feet from the first one, on the same street. Do you add the street number or a cross street to the name so they don't get mixed up?

No. The name is the same on both, like at any location of your brand, and Google's guidelines don't allow location information in the name. What tells them apart is each listing's address, with its own number. And if both locations serve customers, each one gets its own listing even if they're that close together.

2. You don't have the budget to set up a new phone line for the second location.

You have two options. A number of its own for the new location that rings on your same cell phone, as long as it's yours and you control it. Or, in the meantime, your everyday cell number on both listings, with the new listing linking to that location's page: Google's guidelines call for a phone number that connects to that location or a website that represents it.

3. Whoever handles your marketing suggests adding "home delivery" to the new profile's name to show up in more searches.

You turn it down. A name with a service or a keyword stuffed into it on purpose breaks Google's rules and can end in suspension. The listing's name is the one on your sign, no extras; if you do deliveries, that goes in other parts of the listing, like the description or the service area, not in the name.

The real name is already set. What you decide now isn't about text but about address: whether that profile links to a new website or to a folder you already have, and that depends on whether the new location is entirely yours or belongs to another owner.

NextThe same website, two doors: a page of your own or a separate site for the new location