Short answer: scope each location as its own small project first, then combine them into one monthly plan. A single blended number of links across twelve locations hides the places that need the work most, and it makes reports impossible to read.
Start with an inventory, not a link count
Before any outreach, list every location with the facts that decide the work:
- The legal name and the public name as customers know it
- The address and phone number exactly as they should appear online
- The service categories that location sells
- The landing page on the website that represents that location, if one exists
- Whether the Google Business Profile is verified and who manages it
- The three or four competitors that show up for that city
A location with no landing page of its own is a separate problem. Links need somewhere sensible to point. If a branch exists only as a line in the footer, fix that first, because every link you build for it will point at a page that cannot answer the searcher.
Fix listings before you build links
Citation and NAP consistency, meaning the name, address and phone matching across listings, is a widely used practice, and it is cheap to check. Inconsistent data makes every later step harder, and it is easy to miss across many branches because each one was set up by a different person in a different year. The citation and NAP audit page explains what an audit covers.
Group the locations by readiness
Sort locations into three groups. This takes an hour and saves months of muddled reporting.
- Ready. A proper landing page, a verified profile and listings in decent shape. These can move straight to link work.
- Needs fixes first. A thin page, a duplicate profile or conflicting listings. Spend the first month on repairs.
- Hard market. A small town with few local sites, or a niche with few relevant hosts. Plan for fewer placements and say so in the scope.
Do not spread effort evenly. Even spreading looks fair and produces a report where every location got a little and none got enough.
Split each month into three kinds of work
Local link work is not one activity. A useful monthly plan names three:
- Listing maintenance. Corrections, duplicates and new listings.
- Link placements. Relevant local and trade sites, with agreed target pages.
- Community and press. Sponsorships, local stories and event mentions, which depend on editors and organizers. See geo-targeted digital PR for how that part runs.
Different locations will lean on different parts. A location in the Ready group might get mostly placements. A location in the second group might get only listing work for a month.
Pace the work
Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and prominence includes information from across the web such as links, articles and directories. Prominence builds over time, and a steady pace looks more natural than a burst. Plan a few placements per location per month rather than a large batch in week one. If a location gets nothing in a month, the report should say why.
Write a scope that can be reviewed
A scope you cannot audit is a scope you cannot defend to a client. For each location, write down what was planned, what was done, what is pending and what was declined. Changes should be made in writing, and one named person should own the account on each side. Our how we work page shows the structure we use.
Know what a scope cannot promise
No scope can promise a map position, a traffic figure or a number of leads. Links are one signal among many, and the outcome depends on the site, the competition and the category. Buying or exchanging links for ranking purposes can go against Google's spam policies on link schemes, and careful, relevant, editorial-style placements reduce that risk but do not remove it. Put that in the scope, so your client agrees to it before the work starts.
Search guidelines and tactics change, and Google can revalue or ignore links at any time. Nothing here is a promise of rankings, traffic or leads, and results are never assured.