SOCi vs Yext: Why Multi-location Businesses Choose SOCi Over Yext

Effectively managing the complexities of local search across multiple locations and franchises demands a sophisticated, agile platform tailored specifically for scale and precision. While Yext offers broad-based directory management, SOCi goes further—leveraging advanced technology to address the fragmented and rapidly evolving landscape of local discovery. With its robust AI-driven capabilities, SOCi is uniquely positioned to help multi-location enterprises optimize their visibility across essential digital touchpoints, delivering clear advantages over solutions like Yext.

Why SOCi is Preferred by Large Brands and Multi-location Enterprises

At SOCi, we understand the unique challenges that multi-location businesses face. SOCi Genius and our suite of Genius Agents use applied AI to cut through today’s fragmented search and social environment. Unlike platforms that rely on outdated approaches or disconnected point solutions, SOCi doesn’t just use AI—it redefines how AI is applied to local marketing by aggregating and synthesizing data across listings, reviews, social media, and more. The result: smarter, hyper-local content that boosts visibility and performance at every location.

As discussed in our 2025 Consumer Behavior Index, traditional search traffic declined 10% year-over-year, while social discovery surged—with 73% of consumers now finding brands via social platforms. Gen Z alone engages across an average of 3.6 platforms before making purchasing decisions. This seismic shift in consumer behavior makes it clear: businesses can no longer rely solely on traditional search. To stay competitive, they must adopt a strategy that meets consumers where they are—across every channel they search, scroll, or ask. The SOCi platform is unified and empowers multi-location brands to overcome this fragmentation by ensuring credible, consistent visibility at every discovery touchpoint.

Multi-location Results That Speak for Themselves

Sport Clips, for instance, achieved remarkable results with SOCi Genius Reviews. By automating review management, the brand boosted sales by 18% in just four months. SOCi enabled Sport Clips to efficiently respond to customer feedback, strengthen its reputation, and directly impact revenue growth.

• Customer Story: Sport Clips Boosts Sales 18% In Four Months With Genius Reviews

Kumon also leveraged SOCi’s AI-driven platform to streamline local social media engagement. By improving workflow and responsiveness, the team increased their social response rate from 29% to 57%, deepening customer connections across thousands of learning centers.

• Customer Story: Kumon’s AI Strategy for Local Engagement

Anchor Pacifica, a California-based property management company, transformed its localized marketing with the help of SOCi Genius Agents. With SOCi Genius Reviews Agent, the team saw a 110% year-over-year increase in review responses and reduced average response time by two weeks—boosting engagement and driving more leasing opportunities. SOCi Genius Search Agent also helped Anchor Pacifica achieve a 23% year-over-year increase in map impressions, improving discoverability across their portfolio of residential and mini-storage properties.

• Customer Story: Anchor Pacifica — From Fragmented to Focused

Integrated Tools That Scale With You

SOCi’s all-in-one platform simplifies the operational burden of managing hundreds or thousands of locations. With built-in compliance tools, bulk review response capabilities, robust social management, and centralized local advertising features, SOCi reduces complexity and workload—while enabling enterprise teams to maintain consistent brand voice with authentic local relevance.

Yext’s Capabilities: Built for Broad Visibility—Not Strategic Impact

Yext takes a publish-everywhere approach to directory management, pushing business information to a wide array of listing sites. At first glance, this appears comprehensive—like you’re showing up in all the right places. But in reality, this activity often creates a false sense of progress. With over 90% of local search traffic flowing through just four key platforms—Google, Apple, Facebook, and Bing—publishing to dozens of lesser-known directories contributes minimal incremental value. For smaller businesses with basic needs, this model may offer baseline visibility. But for complex, multi-location enterprises, it lacks the precision and performance focus required to succeed at scale.

Limitations of Yext for Complex Multi-location Enterprises

While Yext does serve enterprise clients, its model presents structural limitations. The platform emphasizes data publishing and schema management, but often leaves execution to fragmented tools or third-party partners. Its recent pivot toward branded search experiences and AI—centered around its proprietary Knowledge Graph—narrows the focus to on-site solutions. Meanwhile, SOCi addresses the full spectrum of how consumers discover businesses today: from Google to TikTok, ChatGPT, online reviews, and social feeds.

Yext’s siloed approach can’t match the integration and insight required by today’s distributed marketing teams. In contrast, SOCi unifies listings, reviews, and social in a single platform where each channel strengthens the others. Powered by applied AI, SOCi turns disparate local data into coordinated strategies that drive visibility, engagement, and real results across the customer journey.

Conclusion: SOCi Is the Clear Choice for Multi-location Enterprises

While Yext offers tools for enterprise organizations, its fragmented approach and narrow focus limit its effectiveness in a multi-channel, behavior-driven world. SOCi is purpose-built for multi-location enterprises that demand scale, agility, and automation. By integrating search, social, reviews, and advertising into a single AI-powered platform, SOCi empowers brands to maintain consistent visibility and drive performance across every local touchpoint.

The results speak for themselves. Brands like Kumon (with over 2,000 U.S. locations and a global presence in more than 50 countries), Sport Clips (with 1,800+ locations across the U.S. and Canada), and Dick’s Sporting Goods (operating more than 850 stores nationwide) trust SOCi to streamline operations, enhance discoverability, and deliver measurable business outcomes at scale.