How Apple organizes many places
In Apple Business every location belongs to a brand. The brand carries the name, logo and cover photo, and those flow down to each location unless a location sets its own cover photo. Set the brand up carefully first, because Apple requires a brand to exist before you can add multiple locations, and every row in your file points back to it by ID.
Apple notes that each location is still managed individually whether you have 1 or 1,000, so bulk tools save typing but don’t remove the need to check each place card.
Building the file
The template ZIP holds a TSV pre-filled with your brand details, an example file and reference lists for valid categories, Good to Know values and error codes. Use those lists rather than typing your own category names. A few limits to know:
- Display Name up to 255 characters; About Location up to 500.
- Up to 3 additional categories in the add template.
- Up to 10 Good To Know values, separated by a pipe (|).
- Phone numbers of 8 to 15 digits with a plus sign and country code.
- Opening Soon dates in YYYY-MM-DD, no more than six months out.
Normal Hours is free text that Apple interprets, so write it consistently across rows. Check street and city spelling closely too: Apple warns that errors there can lead to unapproved locations or confused customers.
Editing later
For changes, the edit template exports your current locations, filtered if you like. Don’t touch Brand Reference ID, Brand ID or Location ID. After upload, a summary shows how many locations and changes the file contains before you select Send for Review. The edit template can also add photos by URL, up to 20 per upload and 100 per location, but not cover photos, logos, showcases or Action links. Apple doesn’t state how long edit reviews take; track them under Settings > Activity.
When to hand it off
If your list changes weekly or runs into the hundreds, consider an approved Apple Business partner that connects by API, and share access with them rather than handing over your login.
If it doesn't work
- The upload stops with errors: Apple Business won't process a file that has any. Fix every flagged row and upload again.
- Rows show Warning: those locations were created, but open each one and fix the flagged fields until no warnings remain.
- Postal codes lost their leading zero: start them with an apostrophe, like '01234.
- Photos, cover photos, showcases and Actions are missing: the add template doesn't handle them. Add them per location.
Questions owners ask
What does each row need?
Apple requires Brand Reference ID, Brand ID, display name and its language, two-letter country code, address line 1, city, postal code, normal hours, phone number with country code, primary category and status (OPEN or OPENING_SOON). US rows also need state and a sub-locality or neighborhood field.
How do I close or remove several locations at once?
Use the edit template from Manage > Edit Multiple Locations. Set Status to TEMPORARILY CLOSED or PERMANENTLY CLOSED with the required dates, or UNCLAIM to drop a location from your organization. There's no separate bulk delete.
Can I get insights for all locations together?
Yes. Go to Settings > Location Reports, pick one brand and a date range, and download a CSV. Reports cover brands with 2,000 or fewer locations, go back up to 14 months, and up to five can run at once.
Should I add all locations at once?
Apple offers both options: create everything at once, or add one location, let Apple approve its content, review its insights, then add the rest. Starting with one is a cheap way to catch mistakes before they repeat across hundreds of rows.
Sources
- Add multiple locations (support.apple.com)
- Edit or remove multiple locations (support.apple.com)
- Use Insights location reports for multiple locations (support.apple.com)
- About locations (support.apple.com)
Checked 13 Nov 2026. When the platform changes its process we update this page and log it in What changed.