Franchise marketing for opticians brings customers looking for an eye test, contact lenses or new frames to the store in their area. Our team handles this for all locations at once, with one contract and one monthly report for the franchise brand.
What makes marketing for optician chains different?
People rarely buy glasses online; they want to try them on and be measured. So the online search ends in the store. Whoever shows online which brands are on display and how quickly an eye test can be booked gets the visit.
For head office, that means keeping the brand strong nationally while letting every store win locally at that moment of decision.
How do customers search for opticians?
The search reveals what the customer needs. We build the profile, location page and ad around it.
| Search | What the location needs in order to be chosen |
|---|---|
| optician eye test [town] | Eye test as a service with online booking |
| contact lens fitting near me | Clear information on which stores fit lenses |
| glasses shop open Sunday | Correct Sunday trading hours per store |
| varifocal glasses optician | Specialisms and optometrist per store |
This is how the same question sounds in an AI assistant
In ChatGPT, Gemini or Google AI Overviews, customers ask longer questions, for example: "Which optician nearby offers a free eye test and has an optometrist?" An AI can only recommend a store if those details appear literally in the profile, reviews and location page. That is why we combine local visibility with automated hyperlocal marketing.
What goes wrong at optician chains?
These are the four bottlenecks we encounter most often at optician chains. Each one costs customers, and none of them resolves itself.
Eye test cannot be booked
Customers want to make an appointment but only find a phone number.
Brands and range unknown
Stores differ in their collections, but online every store looks the same.
Optometrist not listed
Stores with an optometrist gain no advantage from it in search results.
Sunday trading hours wrong
Different opening hours are incorrect, resulting in empty stores or angry customers.
Our approach for opticians
Our approach is set up per channel around the customer journey for opticians. Your team approves, and we carry it out per location.
| Channel | Use for opticians |
|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | Eye tests and lenses as services, booking link, brands under products |
| Store pages | Team including the optometrist, collection, booking an appointment |
| Google Ads | Campaigns around promotions and for varifocal lenses per region |
| Reminder for a new eye test after two years | |
| Review management | Reviews after the glasses are delivered, quick responses to complaints |
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Rules and points of attention for opticians
Claims about eye care and optometry must be accurate; an eye test at an optician is not a medical examination by an ophthalmologist and must not be presented as such. Offers using the word 'free' must state the conditions clearly.
We include rules like these in the marketing handbook for franchisees. Legal questions are checked by the franchise brand's lawyer.
What does better visibility deliver for optician chains?
The NFV healthcare sector, under which we classify opticians, counted 38 franchise brands with 2,201 locations and €2.8 billion in revenue in 2025. That is an average of around €1.27 million in revenue per location per year. The worked example below shows the revenue effect at which the Growth package pays for itself.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Average revenue per location per year | €1,272,149 |
| Per month | €106,012 |
| 1% extra revenue per year | €12,721 |
| Cost of the Growth package per year | €3,000 |
| Break-even point: required revenue growth | 0.24% |
Which KPIs matter for optician chains?
In addition to the standard KPIs in our monthly report (visibility, customer actions, reviews and position in Maps), in this sector we also look at:
| KPI | Why |
|---|---|
| Online eye test bookings | The start of the sale |
| Direction requests per store | Store visits from Maps |
| Repeat visits after a reminder | Value of existing customers |
When should you plan marketing for opticians?
Demand is highest around the start of the school year and in the autumn (when insurance allowances expire at the end of the year). That is why we plan campaigns, posts and review requests on an annual calendar that is correct for every location.
How do we get started with franchise marketing for opticians?
Every partnership starts with the same four steps, tailored to your sector. Head office approves, franchisees occasionally provide input, and we carry out the work. After three months, you have a comparison between the locations on the table.
| Period | What we do |
|---|---|
| Weeks 1-2 | Baseline measurement at three locations for searches such as optician eye test [town] and contact lens fitting near me, plus an AI test with fixed questions |
| Weeks 3-4 | Google Business Profile: eye tests and lenses as services, booking link, brands under products |
| Month 2 | Store pages and Google Ads: campaigns around promotions and for varifocal lenses per region |
| Month 3 | Email live and the first monthly report with online eye test bookings and direction requests per store |
Checklist: is your optician franchise brand in good shape online?
- Eye test as a service with online booking
- Clear information on which stores fit lenses
- Correct Sunday trading hours per store
- Specialisms and optometrist per store
- Review management: reviews after the glasses are delivered, quick responses to complaints
Can you not tick off every point for every location? Then the free scan shows exactly where the gains are.
Who works on franchise marketing for opticians?
You will not deal with a rotating cast of account managers. Gijs Bodenstaff is your permanent point of contact; Angela (local SEO analyst), Elisabeth (local advertising) and Peter (local SEO and link building) carry out the work, together with ten regular freelancers we have trained ourselves. Co-author Stanley Leijnse provides research and benchmarks. More on the people behind this agency.
Related sectors and services for opticians
This page belongs to marketing for healthcare chains. Similar sectors are marketing for beauty chains and franchise marketing for yoga studios. For opticians we focus mainly on location visibility in Maps and marketing automation for chains. You can read about the costs under weighing in-house against outsourcing; you can start with measuring ROI per franchise location.
Frequently asked questions about franchise marketing for opticians
Can customers book an eye test via Google?
How do we show which brands a store carries?
Do you also work for optician chains that are not franchises?
What do franchisees of optician chains notice from this?
Opticians: can customers find our locations through AI assistants?
How quickly do optician chains see results?
How does an optician chain get more eye test appointments per store?
What may an optician say about an eye test in advertising, and what not?
When is demand for glasses and eye tests at opticians highest?
How does an optician show online that an optometrist works in the store?
Sources
Gijs Bodenstaff
Franchise marketer, local SEO and GEO specialist, author
Curious how the locations of your optician franchise brand are doing? Request the free scan of three locations.