The Ultimate Guide to Auditing Multi-Location Businesses with I Search From

When a business expands and opens new locations, the marketing team needs to understand how each of them appears in search results. At first glance, it may seem that if the brand is strong, the website is optimized, and the Google Business Profile is fully completed, all locations should rank similarly. But in reality, it works very differently.

Google generates local results separately for each city or neighborhood, and what you see from your office has little to do with what users see in other areas. One of your locations may rank first in one region while completely missing from the Local Pack in the next — simply because the algorithm evaluates local signals differently in each place.

This is why multi-location businesses need more than a general SEO overview — they need a precise audit of every single location: map visibility, organic rankings, and the competitive landscape. Without this, it’s impossible to see which branches receive maximum visibility and which are losing it.

The good news is that such an audit can be done quickly and without complex tools.

The iSearchFrom service allows you to view Google results exactly as real users see them in any city — with just a few clicks.

In this guide, we’ll break down how to audit a network of 5+ locations, what data to focus on, and how to get a clear, accurate picture across all your branches.

How to Audit a Network of 5+ Locations Using iSearchFrom

Before jumping into the steps, it’s important to understand why iSearchFrom solves the core challenge of multi-location SEO.

A standard Google search won’t work — you’ll see personalized results, not what users in other cities actually see.

VPNs aren’t reliable either: they change your IP, but they don’t replicate Google’s real local signals.

iSearchFrom solves this precisely: it sends a search query as if it were performed by a real user in a specific city, on a specific device, and on your chosen Google domain (.pl, .de, .com, etc.).

No VPN, no cookies, no personalization — just clean, objective local search results.

This makes it possible to quickly check each location and see where your business is genuinely visible — and where competitors completely overshadow you.

Multi-Location Business Audit

Auditing a multi-location business isn’t a single test — it’s a series of repeated steps for every branch.

Below is a practical framework that helps you quickly check the Local Pack, map visibility, and organic rankings for all your locations.

Step 1. Prepare Your List of Locations and Key Queries

Start by creating a foundation for the audit:

select the city or district for each location, note the exact address, define 5–10 key queries you want to test visibility for, and specify which devices you will use for evaluation (desktop and mobile).

If you operate in a multilingual region, mark the search languages in advance.

For example, for a pizzeria in Warsaw (Śródmieście), this might look like:

a location at ul. Chmielna 12, with queries such as “pizza Warsaw center,” “pizza Warsaw Śródmieście,” “pizza delivery Warsaw,” “pizza near me,” “best pizza Warsaw,” and “pizza takeaway Warszawa.”

You can run checks on both desktop and mobile, and choose Polish or English if the location serves many foreign customers.

This prepared setup makes it easy to compare results across all branches and see differences in local visibility.

💡 Important: for multi-location businesses, queries must be localized for each city.

Step 2. Open iSearchFrom and Set the Correct Location

On the main screen you’ll see three primary parameters:

• Country — the country 
• Language — the search interface language 
• Device — Desktop or Mobile 

Be sure to configure:

• City — the exact city (Warsaw / Katowice / Gdańsk / etc.) 
• Google domain — www.google.pl / google.de / google.com / etc. 
• Safe Search — Medium or Off 
• Personalized Search — Off 

Why this matters:

This creates a clean, non-personalized simulation of the query — without cookies, search history, or profile factors influencing the results.

Step 3. Run Each Key Query

Enter the queries you prepared in Step 1 into the search field.

Click Search, and you’ll see results exactly as a user in that location would see them.

Step 4. Check the Local Pack and Google Maps

Record the following:

• whether your profile appears in the Local Pack (top 3 on the map) 
• your position on the map (if you’re lower) 
• rating 
• number of reviews 
• presence of photos 
• correctness of categories 
• whether the address/area matches the query 

💡 Tip: competitors who outrank you usually win because of:

newer reviews, more photos, more accurate categories, or higher profile activity.

Step 5. Check the Organic Search Results

Record your site’s position, whether you have a city-specific page, any location-targeted landing pages, and which competitors appear above you.

For multi-location networks, it’s crucial to have a dedicated page for each city:

/warszawa, /krakow, /poznan, etc.

Step 6. Repeat for Each Location

Yes, it may sound like routine — but with iSearchFrom, it takes just 2–3 minutes per city.

You’ll end up with a table like this:

 

City	Query	Local Pack	Map	Organic Position	Competitors Above
Warsaw	pizza Warsaw center	no	#7	position 14	3 competitors above
Kraków	pizza Kraków delivery	yes	#2	position 6	1 competitor above
Poznań	pizza near me Poznań	no	#5	position 11	2 competitors above
Wrocław	pizza Wrocław takeaway	yes	#1	position 4	0 competitors above
Gdańsk	best pizza Gdańsk	no	#9	position 18	4 competitors above

 

A table like this instantly shows which locations are strong — and which ones are underperforming.

Step 7. Look for Patterns

Typical patterns in multi-location businesses include:

• Location A — many reviews → consistently ranks in the top results 
• Location B — few reviews → ranks only for branded queries 
• Location C — no city-specific page → doesn’t rank organically 
• Location D — low profile activity → doesn’t appear in the Local Pack 

From these patterns, you can quickly build an optimization plan for weak locations.

How to Interpret the Results and Improve Weak Locations (Short Version)

Once you’ve checked all locations, it’s important to understand why some branches rank better than others.

Here’s a concise framework that helps you read the results and quickly strengthen underperforming locations:

1. The location does not appear in the Local Pack

What it means: Google doesn’t consider this branch sufficiently relevant.

Why it happens: few reviews, low activity, incorrect category, or an improperly defined service area.

What to do: update the category, add photos, collect fresh reviews, and clarify the service area.

2. The location appears on the map but ranks below competitors

What it means: you are relevant, but competitors are stronger.

Why it happens: they have more reviews, more photos, or higher activity in their profile.

What to do: strengthen review generation, add more media, publish updates, and improve local landing pages.

3. The location appears in the Local Pack but not in organic search

What it means: your GBP profile is performing, but your website is not.

Why it happens: no dedicated city page, weak content.

What to do: create a city-specific page, add local keywords, NAP data, and local backlinks.

4. The location ranks only for branded searches

What it means: Google recognizes the brand but doesn’t understand your services.

Why it happens: lack of content and missing local SEO signals.

What to do: rewrite the description, add services and FAQs, publish local content, and build local mentions.

5. A competitor ranks higher everywhere

What it means: there is a systemic gap.

What to do: check their categories, inspect their local pages, review freshness, and overall profile activity.

Conclusion

A multi-location audit isn’t a one-time check — it’s a recurring process that reveals which branches are truly visible in search and which ones lose customers due to local factors. When you view results through the eyes of users in each city, it becomes clear where your network performs strongly and where improvements are needed — whether that’s reviews, photos, local pages, correct categories, or profile activity.

Tools like iSearchFrom make this audit fast and accurate — without VPNs, personalization, or distorted data. Use them as part of your regular workflow, and all your locations will maintain strong and consistent visibility across every city where your business operates. A systematic approach to local visibility is no longer just about SEO — it’s about business growth and competitive advantage.

About the author:

Stacy S. is a Marketing Officer at iSearchFrom, where she helps brands understand how customers truly experience Google search. She specializes in analyzing real user behavior and transforming those insights into practical, data-driven marketing strategies that drive business growth.