Rebranding

important

If you are a business owner and manage your own data through the Apple Business web portal, please follow the Rebranding procedure in the User Guide instead of the procedure below.

Overview

A brand uniquely identifies a business, product, or service in the minds of customers. Apple Business allows business owners and third-party partners to create brands and add cover photos and logos. This document describes the procedure that partners should follow when their client organization wants to rebrand their business in the Apple ecosystem.

Rebranding in Apple Maps

When a business rebrands, we want customers to find that business using the old and new brand name. Both brands may co-exist in the Apple ecosystem for some time.

When a user searches with the new brand name in Apple Maps, the location is displayed as open in search results. If the user searches using the old brand name, the location appears as closed.

Updating Cover photo and logo

A brand cover photo and logo may be updated anytime without necessarily requiring that you follow the rebranding procedure. For example, resizing a logo is not considered to be rebranding.

Types of Rebranding

Brand Name

If only the brand name changes, refer to Brand Name Only procedure. An example is "Better Bags" changing to "Better Bag."

Logo

If only the logo is changing and the change applies to all locations, refer to Logo Only procedure.

Full Rebrand

If there is a change in ownership or other reasons to change brand name, website, logos, and so on, then refer to Full Rebrand procedure.

For example, "Better Bag" acquires "The Bag Store" and wants to change all "The Bag Store" locations to "Better Bag."

Preparing to Rebrand

Partners are recommended to allocate at least 2-3 weeks to complete a rebrand, even when it's just a few locations.

The rebranding of locations in the Apple ecosystem should coincide with physical signage changes at the affected locations. This helps ensure that changes in Apple Maps are in synch with changes at physical stores.

Reach out to Business API Support if you have any questions on the rebranding process.

Brand Name Only

Use this procedure when only the brand name is changing. If rolling out to locations over time, use Full Rebranding instead.

Update Brand

1. Fetch the brand.
2. Update the brand with the new name (include current etag).

Update Locations

1. For each location, fetch by ID or partner ID, and update the display name.
2. Wait for Apple Business approval.

Logo Only

Upload and Update

1. Upload the new logo image.
2. Update the existing logo brand asset with the new imageId.
3. Wait for Apple Business approval.

note

Repeat these steps for cover photo brand asset if needed.

Full Rebranding

important

Locations not updated with a new brandId remain open referencing the older brand. If these locations should remain independent, no further action is needed.

Step 1: Determine Old Brand Ownership

Contact the old brand owner to understand how it's managed:

• Your organization manages it: You'll close old locations in Step 4
• Client manages via Apple Business: Request Share Access to close locations
• Client hasn't used Apple Business: Email Business API Support

Step 2: Create New Brand and Assets

1. Create the new brand.
2. Upload new logo (and cover photo if needed).
3. Create brand assets using the uploaded media IDs.
4. Wait for Apple Business approval.

Step 3: Create New Locations

For each location to rebrand:

1. Create a new location referencing the new brandId.
2. Wait for state to be PUBLISHED. If REJECTED, fix issues.

Step 4: Close Old Locations

If you have access to the old brand locations:

1. Fetch each old location.
2. Update with status: CLOSED and closedDate (last date known by old brand).
3. Wait for location to be PUBLISHED.