150+ Stores, One Verified Network: EyeCare Groep’s Fast Track to Google Maps

A Premium Eye and Hearing Care Group Built on Local Names

EyeCare Groep is a leading group in premium eye and hearing care in the Netherlands and Belgium. Its network spans 180+ locations across two areas of expertise: optical care (EyeCare Opticiens) and hearing care (EyeCare Audiciens). Some locations offer both areas of expertise under one roof, providing customers with comprehensive eye and hearing care in a single location. Customers come in for eye tests, glasses, contact lenses, and hearing solutions, and they expect personal service from qualified specialists.

EyeCare Groep brings together established local optical and hearing care businesses, many of which have built strong reputations and trusted customer relationships over generations. Each store maintains its own local identity and familiar name, reflecting its heritage and strong connection to the community.

At the same time, EyeCare Groep provides centralized expertise, technology, marketing, and operational support across the network, combining the strength of trusted local businesses with the advantages of a larger organization.

This combination of strong local identities and the support of a larger group is one of EyeCare’s key strengths. While customers recognize and trust their local store, maintaining that same visibility and consistency online requires a tailored approach. Every location needs its own accurate, verified, and consistently managed Google Business Profile, ensuring customers can easily find the right store and access reliable, up-to-date information.

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From Separate Profiles to One Verified Network on Google

Bringing a growing network onto one platform is rarely simple. With 153 stores across two brands, each Google profile has its own history. Some had never been claimed, some appeared twice, and others were still managed by former staff or agencies. Before EyeCare could manage any of them centrally, it first had to prove it owned them. Claiming and verifying each profile is the step that usually slows a rollout down, because Google asks for proof of ownership location by location.

EyeCare onboarded both brands onto Uberall in June 2026. Uberall's Google experts took on the claiming and verification work, going through the network store by store so EyeCare’s team didn’t have to chase each profile themselves. Instead of 153 separate verification requests landing on store managers and head office, one specialist team handled the process from start to finish. That kept the rollout moving and gave EyeCare’s people their time back for what matters most: looking after customers.

With ownership in place, EyeCare used Uberall’s listings management tool to publish consistent store information to Google and other directories, and its location data management tool to keep hours, addresses, and contact details accurate from one place. One source of truth now feeds every store profile, whichever brand it sits under.

That source of truth does more than keep Google Maps tidy. AI platforms build their answers from listings and directories, so the data EyeCare publishes is also what an AI assistant repeats when someone asks for an optician or hearing test nearby. Wrong opening hours or an outdated address can mean a store is left out of the answer, or a customer turns up to a closed door. Getting the data right at the source is the first step in generative engine optimization (GEO): making sure a brand shows up correctly in AI search.

The rollout moved quickly. Within three months of onboarding, 132 of 153 locations had a fully complete Google profile, and average profile completeness reached 95%. Listing health across the network now stands at 77%.

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Found on Mobile, in the Moment Customers Decide

Between Q1 (pre-Uberall) and Q3 2026, Google impressions across the network grew by 72%. Almost all of that growth came from phones: Mobile Maps impressions rose by 241% and Mobile Search impressions by 51%. In Q3, nearly 9 in 10 impressions came from mobile, up from around 8 in 10 in Q1.

That shift says a lot about how people choose an optician or hearing specialist. A lot of these searches happen on the move: broken glasses before work, a lost contact lens, a hearing aid that needs adjusting. Customers compare what’s nearby, check opening hours and decide in minutes. There’s no second chance if the hours are wrong or the store doesn’t appear at all.

Direction requests rose by 3% over the same period. The search data also shows what people type in. Category terms like “opticien” (optician) and “zonnebril” (sunglasses) drive more searches than the EyeCare name itself. Most people don’t search for a brand. They search for what they need, right the moment, and Google shows the stores with complete, verified profiles.

For a network built on local names, that’s the real win. Every store now has a verified, complete profile that can show up in the moment a customer is ready to choose, on Google today and in AI answers that draw on the same data.

Takeaways for Multi-Location Eye and Hearing Care Networks

Optical and hearing care groups often grow by bringing local stores together. These are the lessons from EyeCare’s rollout that other networks can apply.

• Treat claiming and verification as the first milestone. Nothing else works until you own every profile, so get expert help with verification before you start optimising.
• Aim for complete profiles, not just live ones. Hours, contact details, and categories are what Google uses to decide which store to show, so fill in everything.
• Design for the mobile, in-the-moment search. Most customers search on their phone for “optician” or “hearing test”, not a brand name, and decide on the spot. Accurate hours and locations are what win that moment.
• Treat location data as source material for AI. AI tools recommend stores based on the data they can find. Correct, consistent listings are the starting point for showing up in AI search.
• Keep local names, centralize the data. Local brands carry trust. Managing their data from one platform keeps that trust intact while making the network easier to run.

With every location verified and profiles close to complete, EyeCare Groep has the base in place for Location Performance Optimization. The work doesn’t stop there. The team is still updating and completing profiles, adding new stores as the network grows, and using more of what Uberall offers. Next up is review management on Google, so every store can respond to customers and build on its local reputation. EyeCare is also exploring Uberall’s store locator, to help customers find their nearest optician or hearing specialist straight from EyeCare’s own website. Each location would get a dedicated local page to showcase its own information and offerings.

The goal stays the same: turn more real-time mobile searches into store visits, and make sure the same accurate data carries through to the AI platforms where more customers now start their search.

* Q3 2026 versus Q1 2026