For retailers that have both an online store and various physical storefronts, integrating the two to reap the benefits that come with free local listings is possibly the most complex (and rewarding) aspect of eCommerce SEO.
While I work with all types of large-scale sites, eCommerce SEO is a strong focus of mine, and going in-depth into the free local listings topic has been one of the most challenging research pieces I’ve conducted so far.
So much so that I’ve discovered that many retailers end up giving up on trying to make the free local listings integration work due to its complexity, even though they’re often halfway there in terms of pre-existing local inventory integrations with the online store.
There are many benefits and considerations that overlap on this topic with local inventory Ads, so you can think of this guide as a starting point for the free local listings component of the setup, with hands-on experience from seeing the process through with clients.
Important free local listing surfaces
There are many surfaces that are noted within Google’s documentation related to free local listings, but there are 3 in particular that should be of interest to eCommerce SEOs. Included in this list (from most to least impactful) is the ‘In stores nearby’ product carousel, the ‘See what’s in store’ Google Business Profile (GBP) experience, along with the various rich result extensions for standard organic listings.
‘In stores nearby’ product carousel
The first surface of interest is a type of organic product grid, specifically for products that are available in physical stores close to the searcher. The product grid (which mostly shows as a carousel) has an ‘In stores nearby’ title, signifying the distance that the retailer is from the searcher through a blue pin within the product preview.
It was only in late 2024 that this location-specific organic product grid started showing globally for all users, joining the likes of the other grid types: popular products, deals, fast shipping and delivery, along with other product-specific grids. The unique aspect about ‘In stores nearby’ is that it is heavily location dependent for when it appears (compared to popular products), making it more difficult to track. But with it now being a default feature of Search, it has become a feature that regularly appears for commercial queries.
The ‘See what’s in store’ (SWIS) unit
The ‘See what’s in store’ (or SWIS) surface for free local listings relates to products that can appear on a Google Business Profile (GBP). For branded searches that trigger a GBP listing to show for a business, the SWIS feature can appear at the bottom the GBP listing, showing a list of product categories determined by the categories inputted for products within Google Merchant Centre Next (GMC Next).
Searchable product categories
My experience is that the SWIS feature alone on GBP listings is less of an SEO opportunity (in terms of it mostly showing for branded queries), it is the inclusion within the map pack (or 3-pack) where the larger business opportunity lies. The free local listings contained within the SWIS unit can enable the business to rank within the map pack, visibly showing that a product is in stock alongside when inventory was last updated. The experience involves clicking on a product category or using the search function to locate a product, which then takes you to a Google Hosted Local Storefront product page, where you’re then able to click on the PDP.
Note: the SWIS products feature is distinct from the manually loaded products on GBP listings. Manually adding products on your GBP listings isn’t an approach that I would advise, considering the manual upkeep required to ensure valid product information. By having the SWIS unit appearing on your listings, product data is synched with GMC Next, with product information and inclusions changing as product feeds are updated. Both the SWIS unit and manually loaded products won’t show on GBP profiles together, so it is likely that one will override the other.
Map pack ‘In stock’ blue ticks
The inclusion within the map pack for non-branded queries in this fashion is highly dependent on having a local inventory feed setup, with removal from ranking within the map pack likely happening as soon as the product is no longer in stock. Whereas the SWIS unit in general doesn’t necessarily require a local inventory feed in my experience, and can just start showing on GBP listings where relevant through having a standard product feed being setup within GMC Next. But it is only with the local inventory integration that the SWIS product information becomes especially useful to searchers.
Map pack product previews
Another version of the map pack previews that can appear for Google Business Profiles involves showing the relevant product previews themselves, alongside the ‘In stock’ blue ticks. This treatment makes the free local listing products much more visible for non-branded queries and increases the likelihood of obtaining the click from the searcher. This display is again heavily dependent on having the local inventory feed being in place, with the Google Hosted Local Storefront product page having a separate CTA link to get the product at a store nearby.
Standard organic listing rich results
The final free local listing surface relates to the rich result extension that appears on standard organic listings. Ecommerce stores have the most extensive rich result set out of any business type, with the ‘nearby stores’ eCommerce rich result being another addition to this list. The standard blue pin extension on the left is the default treatment, with the versions on the right often appearing and allowing a scrollable feed to appear with the linked GBP listing when the underlined text shows.
Similar to the SWIS feature, this rich result doesn’t necessarily require a local inventory feed (unlike the ‘In stores nearby’ product grid) or even connecting your GBP listings to your GMC Next account, though that step does seem to assist with consistency of the rich result appearing. The rich result variation does provide some usefulness to searchers, but isn’t as impactful of an opportunity compared to ranking within product grids and the SWIS unit.
PDP local inventory approaches
When it comes to free local listing performance, an important consideration relates to how local inventory information is represented on Product Detail Pages (PDPs). There are effectively 3 levels for on-site PDP representation related to free local listing performance. This includes having an incomplete setup, having a more simplified in-store search function, and then the more advanced implementation that can take into account aspects such as Click & Collect and utilising parameters to alter on-site information.
Level 1: Disconnected and algorithmic
For level 1, this relates to sites that have an online store and multiple physical locations, but there isn’t any on-site functionality to see whether a product is currently sold at any of the physical store locations. Level 1 should be viewed as a missed opportunity, in that the online store isn’t leveraging the physical locations in the PDP strategy.
Level 2: On-page in-store search function
Level 2 is more common in my experience. This is for sites that have some form of search box or widget located on PDPs that allows you to search by your location to see if any of their physical stores currently have the product in-stock. There are two different layers within this level: having in-stock items being displayed in the widget, or prompting the customer to contact the store to ask about availability.
In terms of usefulness for free local listing performance, being able to show whether a product is available or not across specific locations is important for the free local listings setup. As you can see above, the PDP example has a ‘Find In Store’ tab that allows users to input their post/zip code to show the distance to each physical store and whether the product is currently in stock across each location.
Level 3: Full in-store features with parameters
The final level within the free local listings setup tends to be used more often by large retailers who have the resources and capabilities for a more intricate setup. This level relates to PDPs that have the full set of features from level 2 plus the ability to alter on-page content by using store parameters.
By having this functionality, users who click on an ‘In stores nearby’ product grid result will be directed to a more customised landing page experience the features information related to the store ID that is triggered based on the location of the user. In general, it is recommended for having up to level 3 for large retailers, but only having a thorough setup under level 2 also achieves the majority of the outcomes that you’ll be looking for within free local listings.
Setting up free local listings in GMC Next
Setting up and managing a local inventory feed and integrating it within GMC Next is the biggest obstacle for making the most out of free local listings. The discussions around implementation require the involvement of various stakeholders to find an approach that works best for individual retailers who have various physical store locations that sell products. As mentioned, the complexity involved in the setup leads to many retailers essentially giving up, as processes need to be developed to manage and monitor the integration long-term.
Google has their own implementation guide that gives a more thorough breakdown from their own perspective which I would highly recommend getting familiar with before embarking on a free local listings integration project. Assuming that a store has at least the basics of level 2 in place in terms of managing local inventory with the PDP setup, in my experience there are 3 distinct steps that should be taken to have full eligibility for free local listings. Here are the core steps that should be taken, along with hands-on experiences I’ve had when working with large eCommerce stores on this task over the years.
Step 1: Connecting GBP listings to GMC Next
Connecting your GBP listings for your physical store locations with GMC Next should be a step that you can effectively do today without requiring input from various stakeholders. Within GMC Next, there is a section that can be accessed under Settings > Add-ons to enable “free local listings”. To make the connection, you’ll need to send a request to the email that manages the GBP listings from GMC Next, which will arrive under the ‘Linked accounts section’ in Google Business Profile Manager (which should be instantaneous).
When sending through the request to your GBP Manager account, it’s important to make sure the email you’re requesting only has the relevant GBP profiles attached to it. This means if you work multiple clients, you will not want to connect the same email that is attached to all accounts in your Manager account, it will need to be a unique email specific to the relevant listings. The same goes for if GMC Next has sub-accounts for regional domains. In this instance, the email address used to make the connection will also need to be unique for each regional sub-account in order to segment the integration.
Step 2: Setting up a local inventory feed
This is the most complicated step of all, especially when taking into consideration managing local inventory over time, which comes with its challenges. Instead of trying to re-iterate what Google’s documentation explains in terms of setting up a local inventory feed, I instead think it’s most useful to explain some insights from going through this process with clients. There is a lot of documentation from Google on this topic which can somewhat feel overwhelming, but is important to read through to get an idea of some of the options that are available. Here are the primary resources I would suggest reading:
- Local inventory ads and free local listings overview
How to upload your local inventory data to Merchant Center - Content API for Shopping – Local inventory service
- Change the product page experience for your local inventory ads
- Pickup with Merchant Hosted local Store Front
My experiences with setting up a local inventory feed have been mostly focused around using the Content API method. The setup has often involved using feed management tools (primarily Feedonomics and the Symprosys app for Shopify stores) that integrate with GMC Next. For one client, they have ~50 stores within Australia. The challenge for them was that stock is managed at warehouses on a State level, so the setup became more complex with local inventory numbers for individual stores within a State needing to reflect the same inventory numbers for each. For the industry they operate in, most of their products are high ticket items, making inventory management more simple in a sense. For another store in the US that I work with, they have ~300 store locations. Unlike other projects I’ve worked on, they don’t currently use a feed management tool, instead using FileZilla to generate their own supplementary feeds that are managed with a more complex and intricate setup.
In general, each major project I’ve worked on that has a free local listings component to it, the setups are completely different. It seems to very much depend on the business type, CMS used, along with internal capabilities and existing processes that determine the approach. An aspect that seems to be challenging across the board is that any kind of setup for local inventory feeds often has various points of failure, which opens up the setup to be susceptible to breaking or at least errors at scale. When trying to setup a local inventory feed, it is important to involve multiple stakeholders in the discussion to figure out an approach that makes most sense for your individual needs.
Step 3: Connecting the local inventory feed with GMC Next
Within Settings > Data Sources, there is a tab titled ‘Supplemental sources’ for where you can add your local inventory data source. Within this section, you’re able to see issues found with your local inventory file over time, such as if you have connected all of your GBP listings to the GMC Next account but a listing has been marked closed, this will be flagged within the report.
Note: I have worked on large eCommerce projects where they have added the local feed as a ‘Primary’ source rather than a ‘Supplemental’ source. It seems the major advantage to this setup is for if a store has quite a large catalog and you want full control over your product data. So if the local component to feed management is especially important to business operations, then it may be worthwhile to consider using the local feed as a separate Primary source rather than a Supplemental source.
If you’re able to make it through to this final step and everything is functioning as expected, then your online store should now have full free local listing eligibility, meaning that your store will now have the ability to rank within the ‘In stores nearby’ product grid. Within GMC Next, there is unfortunately yet to be a way to segment your free listings analytics data by free local listing appearances, but I suspect Google may look to provide more insights around this feature as the development of GMC Next continues. The same goes for the merchant listings report in GSC, where it is not possible to segment for when your site appears within the ‘In stores nearby’ grid.
Final thoughts
When it comes to setting up a local inventory feed to make the most of the free local listing features, the integration can have a meaningful impact on both traffic and in-store transactions. While I wouldn’t consider this guide as a complete view on the topic at this time, I do think it adds to the existing information provided by Google and the absence of hands-on experience on the topic that is available on the web. I will look to continually update this guide over time as I learn more on the topic of free local listings, along with a client case study that I’m working on to provide more insight on what a before and after for the implementation can look like.
I would also like to give a special thanks to Chris Lydle, who worked at Google for a decade and was the Global Lead for Local Shopping, and gave his time to speak with me on this topic to help guide some of the points mentioned throughout. Chris is now working at Napp Solutions, a company that assists retailers with their local inventory integrations.
