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First off, chicago.yoursite.com is going to be seen differently from atlanta.yoursite.com, unless they are substantially similar (i.e. they are carbon copies). Remember that this means that each subdomain will have its own SEO. yoursite.com/chicago is going to be viewed as the same site as yoursite.com/atlanta because they share the same TLD. Unless you're going to build a ton of content around each, I would suggest one site with a subdirectory. It's less work for you. Then make each localized page unique. Take pictures, discuss the features of each location, etc. Add the address and maybe a map widget.

Thanks, Joel. So it looks like the solution is I need to use the same email address in Moz that is associated with our new GA accounts....in order to deliver the correct GA accounts through GA's API. Can I just change my email associated with my Moz account in the Login Settings to allow the correct GA accounts to feed into Moz? Or do I have to shut down this account and reinstate my Moz account with the universal email address that has our new GA accounts? What's the best next step here? Thanks for your guidance.

Samuel's three questions are really good and are exactly what you should be thinking about. I am not so sure that you're directly asking for trouble by getting this link in "followed" format, although a Google rep would say that those links should be nofollowed. Definitely only do this if you believe you should be getting this link regardless of whether it passes authority. I say this due to it being a link on a directory - they're notoriously iffy for SEO, but obviously there are directories where you SHOULD be listed for marketing's sake. Because this is visibly paid and followed, beware of any alternate intent Google might assign to listed businesses.

Hi SearchParty, I definitely vote in favor of the latter - a single website with landing pages for each of the physical locations. With this method, the marketing you engage in will go toward building the authority of all locations. Mini sites with exact match domains tend to be candidates for thin and duplicate content, so I'm not a fan. Beyond this, I think they overly-complicate the scenario, when a single domain with strong content for each location keeps things simple for human visitors and the bots.

Hi SearchParty, If these are all real physical locations to which customers come to do business or from which staff goes to serve clients, then my rule of them is to include up to eight of them in the footer, properly marked up using Schema. There should also be a unique page on the website for each location.