For a business with multiple physical locations, mark up each location page as its own LocalBusiness entity, using the most specific subtype that accurately describes it. For Google’s Local Business rich-result eligibility, the documented required properties are the business name and physical address; other details such as phone, hours, URL and coordinates are recommended where accurate and applicable. A department within one location is different: model it as a nested department, not as another physical location.
Decide whether the page represents a location or a department
Start with the real-world entity the page describes. A distinct physical site should have its own location-specific business entity. A department that shares a parent location belongs under that business as a nested department item. Google’s Local Business structured-data guidance recommends the most specific applicable subtype, such as Restaurant, DaySpa or HealthClub.
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| Page subject | Model to use | How to distinguish it |
|---|---|---|
| A separate physical business location | A location-specific LocalBusiness entity |
It represents a distinct site and should have details specific to that location, including its address. |
| A department inside one location | A department nested under the parent business |
It shares the parent location but may have department-specific details, such as hours or phone. Put differing properties on the department item. |
For a department, Google advises using the store name plus the department name unless the department has its own explicit brand. Its example describes a pharmacy within a department store; see the Local Business documentation.
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Google’s Organization guidance allows an organization to provide multiple addresses when it operates across cities, states or countries. That organization-level description does not replace a location-specific LocalBusiness entity on a page whose subject is a particular customer-facing site.
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Use one location entity on each location page
The example below is a reusable pattern, not tested or deployed code. Replace its illustrative details with accurate facts for the specific location, choose the subtype that fits the business, and use a stable, fully qualified URL and identifier strategy in production. Put the markup on a page that describes the business; although Google says it may appear on any site page, a location page is the natural fit.
<script type="application/ld+json">n{n "@context": "https://schema.org",n "@type": "Store",n "name": "Example Store — Downtown",n "url": "https://www.example.com/locations/downtown/",n "telephone": "+1-555-0100",n "address": {n "@type": "PostalAddress",n "streetAddress": "100 Main Street",n "addressLocality": "Example City",n "addressRegion": "CA",n "postalCode": "90000",n "addressCountry": "US"n },n "geo": {n "@type": "GeoCoordinates",n "latitude": 34.00000,n "longitude": -118.00000n },n "openingHoursSpecification": [n {n "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",n "dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"],n "opens": "09:00",n "closes": "17:00"n }n ]n}n</script>The code uses sample data; do not publish it unchanged. Google’s documented required properties for Local Business rich-result eligibility are name and physical address. The other properties shown are recommended or useful when applicable, not universal requirements. Follow Google’s property guidance for the current specification.
Choose fields that match the location and its page
| Property | How to use it | Status in Google’s Local Business guidance |
|---|---|---|
name |
Use the business name for the location represented by the page. | Required for Local Business rich-result eligibility. |
address |
Provide the physical address as a PostalAddress. Include applicable fields such as street address, locality, region, postal code and country. |
Required; Google recommends including as many applicable address fields as possible. |
url |
Use the fully qualified URL for that specific location. | Recommended. |
telephone |
Use the primary customer contact number for the location, including country and area codes. | Recommended. |
geo |
If supplied, give latitude and longitude for the location. Google specifies precision of at least five decimal places. | Recommended; use only accurate coordinates. |
openingHoursSpecification |
Describe the actual hours for that location. | Recommended; do not copy hours that do not apply to the page’s location. |
image |
Use images that represent the marked-up business content. Google recommends multiple high-resolution images in 16:9, 4:3 and 1:1 aspect ratios; its guidance refers to at least 50K pixels when multiplying width by height. | Recommended; ensure the images represent the location or business described. |
Do not add a property simply because it appears in a sample. Structured data should describe information that is accurate and visible on the page, rather than hidden, misleading or inconsistent details. Google’s general structured data guidelines describe policy violations and content mismatches that can prevent a feature from appearing. JSON-LD is Google’s recommended format among the supported structured-data formats.
Validate and deploy the markup carefully
- Add the required properties. Include the location’s business name and physical address, then add other accurate properties that apply.
- Check the guidelines. Compare the markup and visible page content with Google’s general and Local Business-specific guidelines.
- Validate the page. Run its URL through Google’s Rich Results Test and address any reported errors or warnings that matter to the implementation.
- Deploy to a small set of location pages. Confirm the entities and details are specific to each page before rolling the pattern out more widely.
- Inspect how Google sees the page. Use URL Inspection in Search Console after deployment. The page must be accessible to Google; it cannot be blocked by
robots.txt, anoindexdirective or a login requirement. - Help Google discover changes. Google recommends submitting a sitemap. After publishing, discovery and crawling may take several days, and recrawling is not immediate.
These steps follow Google’s published Local Business workflow. Passing validation confirms that markup can be parsed against the applicable test; it does not ensure that a rich result will be shown.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the markup can—and cannot—do
Correct structured data can make a page eligible for a Google search feature, but it does not guarantee that the feature will appear. Google states: “Google does not guarantee that features that consume structured data will show up in search results.” Its systems decide whether and how to present eligible results. Treat LocalBusiness markup as a way to describe each location accurately, not as a promise of a ranking change or a particular search display.
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