Location assets (Google’s current name for what most marketers still call location extensions) attach your address, hours, phone number, and a map link directly to your ads. The fastest path to using them: go to Assets in Google Ads and link your Google Business Profile, or add your chain locations manually if you sell through third-party retailers. Everything else, from where these assets show up to how Google bills for clicks on them, is what the rest of this guide covers.

TL;DR:

• Location assets are free to add, but advertisers should regularly update their Google Business Profile to ensure accurate contact and store information.
• Ads show location assets primarily on local intent searches, with mobile users seeing call buttons and desktops linked to maps, but display and YouTube placements depend on proximity.
• Linking chain or affiliate locations offers more control for manufacturers and aggregators, while campaign-level assets override account-level settings for targeted local promotions.
• Performance improves when location assets are paired with relevant photos, call extensions, and store visit tracking, with at least two weeks of data recommended before assessing results.
• Most common issues, such as disapproved or mismatched locations, can be fixed by verifying profiles and correcting upstream data, not by editing inside Google Ads directly.

Table of Contents

• What Location Extensions Show and How Google Charges for Them
• How to Set Up Location Extensions in Google Ads
• Where Your Location Data Actually Appears
• Optimization Best Practices for Local Ad Performance
• Fixing Common Location Asset Problems
• How Tradewinds United Media Implements Location Assets for Clients
• Why Most Advertisers Underuse a Free Feature
• Let Tradewinds Handle Your Location Setup and Local Ad Reporting
• Sources
• FAQ

What Location Extensions Show and How Google Charges for Them

A location asset pulls live data from your Google Business Profile: street address, business hours, a clickable phone number, a map thumbnail, and an estimated distance from the searcher. Google sources all of it straight from Google Maps and Google Business Profile, so if your profile listing is wrong, your ad will be wrong too.

These assets are eligible to appear across several placements:

• Search Network, where they show beneath the ad copy on both mobile and desktop
• Display Network placements, often on partner sites and apps
• YouTube video ads, when a viewer is close to a physical location
• Google Maps itself, where a location asset can turn a map search into a direct ad interaction

Mobile users tend to see a tap-to-call button rendered prominently, while desktop users are more likely to click through to a map view.

Here’s the part advertisers often miss: adding a location asset to your account costs nothing. You only pay when someone interacts with it in a way that counts as a click, such as tapping the directions icon or the call button. Google caps this at no more than two billable clicks per impression across an ad and its assets, so you’re not paying for every stray tap. This is different from the chain and affiliate location option, which is built for manufacturers or franchisors who don’t own the storefront directly but still want their retail partners’ addresses attached to the ad. Businesses that depend on walk-in traffic or local pickup tend to see the clearest lift from turning these on, largely because store visit conversions give you a way to connect the click to an actual visit.

How to Set Up Location Extensions in Google Ads

Setting this up takes fifteen minutes if your Google Business Profile is already clean. Here’s the sequence:

1. Open Ads & assets. In the left-hand menu of your Google Ads account, click “Ads & assets,” then select “Assets.”
2. Choose “Location.” Click the blue plus button and pick the location asset type.
3. Pick your linking flow. You’ll see two options: link an existing Google Business Profile, or add chain locations if you’re an aggregator or manufacturer.
4. Flow A: Link Google Business Profile. Sign in with the Google account that manages your Business Profile, grant Google Ads permission to access it, and select the specific listing (or listings) you want attached to your campaigns. Once linked, Google Ads automatically syncs your address, phone number, and hours going forward, so you don’t have to manually update the ad every time your hours change for a holiday.
5. Flow B: Chain or affiliate locations. If you’re selling through retail partners rather than a location you operate, add the chain directly in the Assets tab. This is the recommended path for manufacturers and aggregators because it gives you more control over data accuracy than relying on someone else’s Business Profile. In select cases, you can instead select up to ten specific locations straight from Google Maps if you don’t want the whole chain attached.
6. Decide account-level or campaign-level. Location assets applied at the account level flow into every eligible campaign by default. If you only want a specific campaign, like one targeting a single store’s trade area, to show location data, apply the asset at the campaign level instead. Campaign-level settings override the account default.
7. Save and let it propagate. Assets typically go live within a few hours, though full syncing across networks can take a day.

If you manage several storefronts under one brand, linking through Business Manager instead of a single Google account cuts down on the back-and-forth permission requests, and it keeps photo and inventory syncing consistent across every linked profile.

Pro Tip: Before you link anything, log into the Business Profile itself and double check the phone number and address field for typos. Google Ads will faithfully sync whatever is there, including mistakes, and you won’t catch it until a customer calls the wrong number.

Where Your Location Data Actually Appears

Not every eligible ad shows a location asset every time, and that’s by design, not a bug.

On the Search Network, location assets appear most consistently for queries that carry local intent, like a search including “near me” or a city name. Mobile searchers see the call button rendered as a tap-to-dial link that can trigger a billable interaction the moment someone taps it.

On Display and YouTube, location assets show less often and depend heavily on whether Google can tie the viewer to a nearby physical address. These placements tend to work best for retail and service businesses with several branches spread across a metro area, since the odds of a viewer being near at least one location go up.

On Google Maps, the asset behaves more like a native map result: a searcher scrolling through nearby options can click through for directions or tap to call without ever leaving the map interface.

A few things determine whether an asset shows at all:

• Proximity between the searcher and the linked address
• Relevance of the ad’s keywords to a local search
• Minimum privacy thresholds Google enforces on location data, meaning very small radius targets sometimes fail to serve because too few people fall inside them

It helps to remember that location targeting and location assets solve different problems. Targeting decides who is even eligible to see your ad based on geography. The asset is what decorates the ad once someone in that geography actually sees it. Run both together and you get an ad that’s not only shown to the right region but that also proves, visually, that you’re right around the corner.

Optimization Best Practices for Local Ad Performance

Once the technical link is live, the difference between a location asset that performs and one that just sits there usually comes down to a handful of details.

Start with your photos. Google has started pulling merchant photos directly from a linked Business Profile into the location asset automatically, and a sharp storefront photo does more for click-through than the address line ever will. Upload current, well-lit images, ideally a clean exterior shot and one or two interior shots, sized to Google’s recommended dimensions for Business Profile photos. If your existing photos are outdated or low quality, you can turn off automatic use of them by disabling the setting that grants Google Ads a license to pull merchant photos and other rich media from your linked profile, right inside your Ads account settings.

A short checklist worth running before you scale spend:

• Confirm your Google Business Profile address, hours, and phone number are current
• Upload or refresh merchant photos, or opt out if you’re not ready
• Link the account (or add chain locations) and verify the sync completed
• Test the asset at the campaign level before applying it account-wide
• Monitor local actions and store visit conversions weekly for the first month

Pairing matters too. Location assets tend to perform better alongside call extensions and sitelinks, since a searcher gets multiple ways to act (call, click for directions, or jump to a specific page) without leaving the ad. If you sell physical inventory, adding local inventory assets on top of location data can close the loop even further.

Pro Tip: Give a new location asset at least two full weeks of data before judging performance. Store visit conversions lag behind clicks, sometimes by several days, because Google has to match location history data after the fact.

Fixing Common Location Asset Problems

Most issues trace back to a few root causes, and they’re usually fixable without contacting Google directly.

1. Disapproved location. Check that your Business Profile is verified and that the category, name, and address match what’s publicly listed on Google Maps. A mismatch between your website’s listed address and your Maps pin is a frequent trigger.
2. Data mismatch between Ads and Maps. Update the source, either your Business Profile or your chain feed, rather than trying to edit the asset inside Google Ads directly. The asset only mirrors what’s upstream.
3. Missing chain locations. Re-check your feed formatting if you’re using the chain location flow. Small formatting errors in address fields are the most common reason locations silently fail to appear.
4. Lost access to Business Profile manager. Request ownership transfer or verify your identity through Google’s account recovery flow before attempting to relink in Ads.
5. Still stuck? Escalate to Google Ads support with your customer ID, the linked Business Profile ID, and screenshots of the error, which speeds up resolution considerably.

How Tradewinds United Media Implements Location Assets for Clients

We lean into location-assets-first campaigns for retail storefronts, service businesses with walk-in traffic, and any client offering local pickup, because that’s where the map click and the call button do real work. Our rollout follows a consistent sequence: audit the Google Business Profile for outdated photos and inconsistent name, address, and phone data, link it to the ad account, enable assets at the campaign level, then watch local actions for a couple of weeks before scaling spend. Reports break out store visit conversions, call clicks, and direction requests separately from standard clicks, clarifying which local action is driving business. For multi-location brands, that same audit-then-link workflow extends across every store rather than one at a time.

Why Most Advertisers Underuse a Free Feature

Here’s what surprised me pulling this guide together: location assets cost nothing to add, yet a huge share of local businesses running Google Ads never turn them on. Part of the problem is naming. Google renamed “location extensions” to “location assets” and a lot of advertisers simply never noticed the feature moved, so they’re still hunting for a menu item that no longer exists under its old name.

The bigger issue is that most advice treats this as a one-time checkbox. It isn’t. A location asset synced to a stale Business Profile with a wrong phone number or a five-year-old storefront photo can actively hurt trust in the ad, not help it. The setup step matters less than the maintenance behind it.

If you take one thing from this guide, prioritize the Business Profile cleanup before you ever touch the Google Ads link. An accurate, well-photographed profile linked correctly will outperform a rushed link to a neglected one every time, and no amount of campaign-level tweaking fixes bad source data.

— Michael

Let Tradewinds Handle Your Location Setup and Local Ad Reporting

Tradewinds United Media builds the Business Profile cleanup, the Google Ads link, and the ongoing reporting into one managed process instead of leaving you to piece it together between other tasks. That matters most for multi-location retailers and service businesses where a wrong phone number or a stale photo on even one storefront listing can quietly cost calls every day it goes unnoticed.

If you run a single storefront, a regional chain, or a service business that depends on walk-in and local pickup traffic, our Google Ads management service handles the linking, the asset testing at the campaign level, and the store visit reporting that tells you which local action is actually paying off. We also offer a standalone Google Business Profile optimization pass for advertisers who just need the cleanup before they link anything themselves. Request an audit of your current setup and we’ll tell you exactly what’s missing before you spend another dollar on local clicks.

Sources

For the exact UI steps and policy language, Google’s own About location assets and How to set up location assets help pages stay current with every interface change. For multi-location and franchise marketers managing broader listing consistency, this multi-location SEO guide covers the workflow side Google’s docs don’t.

• About location assets – Google Ads Help
• Google Ads Rolling Out Enhancements to Location Assets: Here’s How to Use It
• Google ad extensions: how to use them — Search Engine Journal

FAQ

How Do I Add a Location to Google Ads?

Go to Ads & assets → Assets, click the plus button, and select “Location.” From there you either link your Google Business Profile for automatic syncing or add chain locations directly if you’re a manufacturer or aggregator, as detailed in Google’s setup guide.

Is $20 a Day Good for Google Ads?

It depends entirely on your industry, cost per click, and goals rather than any fixed benchmark. A local service business in a low-competition market can generate real leads on that budget, while a competitive retail category may burn through it with only a handful of clicks; Tradewinds breaks down realistic local budgets in more detail on our Google Ads cost guide.

Can You Target Google Ads by Location?

Yes. Location targeting controls the countries, regions, radius, or location groups where your ad is eligible to show, which is a separate setting from location assets that display your address and map link. Very small radius targets can occasionally fail to serve if they fall under Google’s minimum privacy thresholds.

What Are the Extensions in Google Ads?

Google now calls them “assets,” and they include sitelinks, call buttons, location information, price listings, images, and promotions, among others. Location assets specifically pull address, hours, phone number, and map data from your linked Google Business Profile.

Does Adding a Location Extension Cost Extra?

Adding the asset itself is free. You’re only charged when someone clicks an interactive element like the directions icon or the call button, and Google caps billable clicks at two per impression across the ad and its assets.

Recommended

• Local Google Ads for Small Businesses: LSA or PPC?
• Ultimate Google Business Guide
• How Do I Get My Business to Rank in the “Google Map Pack”?
• Advertisers: Set Google Ads assets right with Asset Studio checklist