The cost of poor visibility in Google Maps and AI for your locations

The basis for the calculation: how much revenue does a franchise location generate?

According to the franchise statistics of the Dutch Franchise Association (NFV) (reference year 2025), 34,937 franchise locations together generate around €50.5 billion in revenue. That is an average of €1,445,459 per location per year, or roughly €3,960 per day. The differences between sectors are large: a supermarket is far above that average, a hair salon far below it. That is why you should use your own revenue per location in the calculator.

We calculate with small percentages. Not because the loss is always small, but because even one per cent adds up to large sums across a chain. The figures per sector are in the franchise marketing by sector overview.

Example 1: what does poor visibility cost per location?

Suppose a location misses out on a small share of new customers because of poor visibility. For example because the profile is incomplete, because the location is not in the Maps top three, or because AI assistants only mention competitors in response to a local question. In the benchmark of 100 chains, only 40% of profiles turned out to be fully completed, so the risk is far from theoretical.

Example 2: what does it cost a franchise chain?

For a chain, you add up that loss across all locations. Even if only some of the locations are lagging behind, the amount quickly exceeds a whole marketing budget.

Example 3: why AI widens the gap

In the classic search results you see ten links and a map with three locations. An AI assistant often gives one answer with two or three names. If you are not in it, you do not get a second chance. As a growing share of your customers ask ChatGPT, Gemini or AI Overviews a local question, revenue shifts to the locations that do get mentioned.

A worked example: suppose 10% of a location's new customers come in through an AI answer and new customers make up half of revenue. Then 5% of revenue runs through AI. A location that is missing from those answers then loses up to €72,273 a year. How to measure and improve this is explained under GEO services for franchise brands.

Exactly where the missed revenue comes from

Revenue missed through poor visibility has a handful of recurring causes. The profile is incomplete, so Google considers the location less relevant to a search. The category is wrong, so the location does not show up for the most important search. Reviews are old or unanswered, so customers choose the business next door. The location page is missing, so AI systems have too little information to recommend the location. And the opening hours are wrong, so customers find the door closed and say so in a review.

Each of those causes can be fixed on its own. The tricky part for a chain is that they are distributed differently across locations. That is why a good approach always starts with a measurement per location, not with a general campaign.

Example 4: incorrect opening hours

A small example with big consequences. Suppose a location has different opening hours around the holidays that are not in the profile. If, as a result, three customers a day make a wasted trip or stay away because they think the location is closed, and a customer spends €50 on average, that is €150 a day. Over a ten-day holiday period that comes to €1,500 for one location. Across fifty locations it is €75,000, before you even count the negative reviews that follow. A central annual calendar of special opening hours prevents this for a fraction of that amount.

How to win back missed revenue

Start with the locations where there is the most to gain. These are usually locations in cities with a lot of competition and locations just outside the Maps top three. First get the basics right: complete profiles, the right category, correct opening hours and a link to a dedicated location page. Then set up a fixed review process and measure every month per location. Most chains can see within three months whether the approach works, because direction requests and calls per location are measurable in the Business Profile.

Calculating with the figures from your own Business Profiles

You do not have to rely on averages alone. Every Business Profile shows how many people requested directions, how many called and how many went to the website. Take those figures for the past twelve months for a strong and a weaker performing location in comparable cities. The difference in direction requests and calls is a direct measure of missed customers.

An example: location A gets 400 direction requests a month, location B in a comparable city gets 250. If a quarter of direction requests turn into a customer who spends €50, the difference is 150 x 0.25 x €50 = €1,875 a month, or €22,500 a year. That is the amount location B leaves on the table compared with location A.

Example 5: what a Maps top three position brings in

Turn the sum around. If better profiles, reviews and a location page get a location into the Maps top three for the most important search in its own city, the number of direction requests and calls often rises noticeably. Even if that brings in only 1% extra revenue, it is €14,455 per location per year. With twenty locations taking that step, it adds up to €289,092 in extra revenue. That return comes back every year, as long as the management stays on track.

Work it out yourself for your chain

Enter your own number of locations, revenue per location and a realistic loss percentage. The result is an indication, not a forecast.

What fixing it costs compared with what you miss

Weigh the loss against the cost of good management. Our Growth package costs €250 per location per month, so €3,000 a year. That is roughly 0.21% of average revenue per location. If good management retains more than that percentage in revenue, it pays for itself.

What this means for your franchise marketing fee

Franchisees pay a marketing contribution and expect customers in return. If part of that contribution goes to national campaigns while their own location is hard to find, it feels like money down the drain. With the calculations on this page you can show what local visibility delivers per location and why part of the fee should go there. That makes the conversation with the franchisee advisory council more businesslike. How to explain and allocate the contribution is covered in how a marketing fund works.

The assumptions, stated honestly

These calculations are examples. The real effect depends on your sector, the competition at each location and how many customers arrive through search. Use them to see the order of magnitude, not as a promise. If you want to know your actual starting position, request a no-obligation scan for three locations. The cost of unanswered reviews counts too; that is covered in what an unanswered negative review costs. If you want to know why many agencies do not measure this, read eight reasons agencies fall short. More about the approach is on local SEO services for chains and the prices are on what franchise marketing costs.