main site content copied in localized subdomains / does it work ?

got a couple of questions about duplicate content in multiple localized subsites.

let's imagine there is a retail brand with hundreds of store locations and several products, the products are the same everywhere.

the main site goes like :

retail-brand.com/product
retail-brand.com/store-locations

then there is
los-angeles.retail-brand.com/product
los-angeles.retail-brand.com/store-locations

new-york.retail-brand.com/product
new-york.retail-brand.com/store-locations

boston.retail-brand.com/product
boston.retail-brand.com/store-locations

...
each subdomain has its own sitemap, google business profile, facebook page, etc, etc. including structured data defining the area it serves.
the "product" pages have the same core content as the main site, but will also have some special titles and content, alt tags, etc. related to the location

1- so the first question is, will the local pages rank well at their locations ?

2- the second question is, will these pages rank better than if not using subdomains, with the content organized such as :

retail-brand.com/los-angeles/product
retail-brand.com/los-angeles/store-locations

retail-brand.com/new-york/product
retail-brand.com/new-york/store-locations

retail-brand.com/boston/product
retail-brand.com/boston/store-locations

thanks for insights, especially if you can provide actual experience

tgwm said:

got a couple of questions about duplicate content in multiple localized subsites.

let's imagine there is a retail brand with hundreds of store locations and several products, the products are the same everywhere.

the main site goes like :

retail-brand.com/product
retail-brand.com/store-locations

then there is
los-angeles.retail-brand.com/product
los-angeles.retail-brand.com/store-locations

new-york.retail-brand.com/product
new-york.retail-brand.com/store-locations

boston.retail-brand.com/product
boston.retail-brand.com/store-locations

...
each subdomain has its own sitemap, google business profile, facebook page, etc, etc. including structured data defining the area it serves.
the "product" pages have the same core content as the main site, but will also have some special titles and content, alt tags, etc. related to the location

1- so the first question is, will the local pages rank well at their locations ?

2- the second question is, will these pages rank better than if not using subdomains, with the content organized such as :

retail-brand.com/los-angeles/product
retail-brand.com/los-angeles/store-locations

retail-brand.com/new-york/product
retail-brand.com/new-york/store-locations

retail-brand.com/boston/product
retail-brand.com/boston/store-locations

Click to expand...

1. Local pages may rank well if the content is unique and specially made for local audience and if the Local SEO and GMB is maintained well.

2. Using subdomains may not impact your ranking factors. but organizing it may help in clear site structure.

tgwm said:

multiple localized subsites.

Click to expand...

There's a good argument for it's usage but it looks so spammy.

SEO Sparton said:

1. Local pages may rank well if the content is unique and specially made for local audience and if the Local SEO and GMB is maintained well.

2. Using subdomains may not impact your ranking factors. but organizing it may help in clear site structure.

Click to expand...

thank you for your answers.

yes, that is the theory, I read that in Google docs.

the content of the product pages is obviously not unique, as the product is the same everywhere. there is no localized version of the products.
the general template of the pages will also be the same.

so if the product pages were on the same domain, google would probably just rank one page for each product because of duplicate content ? or would it, if using the second URL structure ?

is it different if using subdomains with their own sitemap ?

I'm interested in what people who have actually tried these methods can tell about it.