diff --git a/query/autocomplete.js b/query/autocomplete.js
index 47aeb87fd..eb8e79fe6 100644
--- a/query/autocomplete.js
+++ b/query/autocomplete.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ var views = {
   boost_exact_matches:        require('./view/boost_exact_matches'),
   max_character_count_layer_filter:   require('./view/max_character_count_layer_filter'),
   focus_point_filter:         require('./view/focus_point_distance_filter'),
-  focus_country:              require('./view/focus_country')
+  focus_multi_match:          require('./view/focus_multi_match')
 };
 
 // add abbrevations for the fields pelias/parser is able to detect.
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ query.score( views.admin_multi_match_last( adminFields ), 'must');
 query.score( peliasQuery.view.focus( peliasQuery.view.leaf.match_all ) );
 query.score( peliasQuery.view.popularity( peliasQuery.view.leaf.match_all ) );
 query.score( peliasQuery.view.population( peliasQuery.view.leaf.match_all ) );
-query.score( views.focus_country );
+query.score( views.focus_multi_match('focus_country') );
+query.score( views.focus_multi_match('focus_gid') );
 query.score( views.custom_boosts( config.get('api.customBoosts') ) );
 
 // non-scoring hard filters
@@ -101,6 +102,13 @@ function generateQuery( clean ){
     });
   }
 
+  // focus gid
+  if( _.isString(clean['focus.gid']) && !_.isEmpty(clean['focus.gid']) ){
+    vs.set({
+      'multi_match:focus_gid:input': clean['focus.gid']
+    });
+  }
+
   // pass the input tokens to the views so they can choose which tokens
   // are relevant for their specific function.
   if( _.isArray( clean.tokens ) ){
diff --git a/query/autocomplete_defaults.js b/query/autocomplete_defaults.js
index 0d7f8027c..7df8b8ddc 100644
--- a/query/autocomplete_defaults.js
+++ b/query/autocomplete_defaults.js
@@ -81,6 +81,11 @@ module.exports = _.merge({}, peliasQuery.defaults, {
   'multi_match:focus_country:fields': ['parent.country_a', 'parent.dependency_a'],
   'multi_match:focus_country:boost': 1.5,
 
+  // these options affect the `focus.gid` hard filter
+  'multi_match:focus_gid:analyzer': 'standard',
+  'multi_match:focus_gid:fields': ['parent.*_id'],
+  'multi_match:focus_gid:boost': 1.5,
+
   'admin:country:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
   'admin:country:field': 'parent.country.ngram',
   'admin:country:boost': 1,
diff --git a/query/view/focus_country.js b/query/view/focus_multi_match.js
similarity index 81%
rename from query/view/focus_country.js
rename to query/view/focus_multi_match.js
index 463673b4c..cceb4a0c0 100644
--- a/query/view/focus_country.js
+++ b/query/view/focus_multi_match.js
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 const peliasQuery = require('pelias-query');
 
-module.exports = function (vs) {
-  const view_name = 'focus_country';
-
+module.exports = (view_name) => (vs) => {
   const input = vs.var(`multi_match:${view_name}:input`).get();
 
   if (!input || input.length < 1) {
diff --git a/sanitizer/_countries.js b/sanitizer/_countries.js
index 4c6a12744..60583bdf0 100644
--- a/sanitizer/_countries.js
+++ b/sanitizer/_countries.js
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@ const _ = require('lodash');
 const nonEmptyString = (v) => _.isString(v) && !_.isEmpty(v);
 const iso3166 = require('../helper/iso3166');
 
-const _sanitize = (key) => 
-    (raw, clean) => {
+const _sanitize = (key) => (raw, clean) => {
   // error & warning messages
   const messages = { errors: [], warnings: [] };
 
diff --git a/sanitizer/_boundary_gid.js b/sanitizer/_gids.js
similarity index 64%
rename from sanitizer/_boundary_gid.js
rename to sanitizer/_gids.js
index 4ab914c5b..f921f9a62 100644
--- a/sanitizer/_boundary_gid.js
+++ b/sanitizer/_gids.js
@@ -1,18 +1,18 @@
 const _ = require('lodash');
 
-function _sanitize(raw, clean) {
+const _sanitize = (key) => (raw, clean) => {
   // error & warning messages
   var messages = { errors: [], warnings: [] };
 
   // target input param
-  var boundary_gid = raw['boundary.gid'];
+  var boundary_gid = raw[`${key}.gid`];
 
-  // param 'boundary.gid' is optional and should not
+  // param `${key}.gid` is optional and should not
   // error when simply not set by the user
   // must be valid string
   if (!_.isNil(boundary_gid)) {
     if (!_.isString(boundary_gid) || _.isEmpty(boundary_gid)) {
-      messages.errors.push('boundary.gid is not a string');
+      messages.errors.push(`${key}.gid is not a string`);
     }
     else {
       // boundary gid should take the form of source:layer:id,
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ function _sanitize(raw, clean) {
           return x !== '';
       });
       if ( _.inRange(fields.length, 3, 5) ) {
-         clean['boundary.gid'] = fields.slice(2).join(':');
+         clean[`${key}.gid`] = fields.slice(2).join(':');
       }
       else {
         messages.errors.push(boundary_gid + ' does not follow source:layer:id format');
@@ -31,13 +31,13 @@ function _sanitize(raw, clean) {
   }
 
   return messages;
-}
+};
 
-function _expected(){
-  return [{ name: 'boundary.gid' }];
+function _expected(key) {
+  return () => [{ name: `${key}.gid` }];
 }
 
-module.exports = () => ({
-  sanitize: _sanitize,
-  expected: _expected
+module.exports = (key = 'boundary') => ({
+  sanitize: _sanitize(key),
+  expected: _expected(key)
 });
diff --git a/sanitizer/autocomplete.js b/sanitizer/autocomplete.js
index cce8f9290..1d3ff4596 100644
--- a/sanitizer/autocomplete.js
+++ b/sanitizer/autocomplete.js
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ const paramGroups = [
   ['boundary.circle.lon', 'boundary.circle.lat'],
   ['boundary.circle.radius'],
   ['boundary.country'],
-  ['boundary.gid']
+  ['boundary.gid'],
+  ['focus.country'],
+  ['focus.gid']
 ];
 
 // middleware
@@ -45,7 +47,8 @@ module.exports.middleware = (_api_pelias_config) => {
       focus_country: require('../sanitizer/_countries')('focus'),
       categories: require('../sanitizer/_categories')(),
       request_language: require('../sanitizer/_request_language')(),
-      boundary_gid: require('../sanitizer/_boundary_gid')()
+      boundary_gid: require('../sanitizer/_gids')('boundary'),
+      focus_gid: require('../sanitizer/_gids')('focus')
     };
 
   return ( req, res, next ) => {
diff --git a/sanitizer/reverse.js b/sanitizer/reverse.js
index 59ed27a29..45705a625 100644
--- a/sanitizer/reverse.js
+++ b/sanitizer/reverse.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ module.exports.middleware = (_api_pelias_config) => {
     geo_reverse: require('../sanitizer/_geo_reverse')(),
     boundary_country: require('../sanitizer/_countries')('boundary'),
     request_language: require('../sanitizer/_request_language')(),
-    boundary_gid: require('../sanitizer/_boundary_gid')()
+    boundary_gid: require('../sanitizer/_gids')('boundary')
   };
 
   // middleware
diff --git a/sanitizer/search.js b/sanitizer/search.js
index 6e4cc409b..f5c3eefbe 100644
--- a/sanitizer/search.js
+++ b/sanitizer/search.js
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ module.exports.middleware = (_api_pelias_config) => {
         // this can go away once geonames has been abrogated
         geonames_warnings: require('../sanitizer/_geonames_warnings')(),
         request_language: require('../sanitizer/_request_language')(),
-        boundary_gid: require('../sanitizer/_boundary_gid')()
+        boundary_gid: require('../sanitizer/_gids')('boundary')
       };
 
   return ( req, res, next ) => {
diff --git a/sanitizer/structured_geocoding.js b/sanitizer/structured_geocoding.js
index 6ed606c5e..9b1ade590 100644
--- a/sanitizer/structured_geocoding.js
+++ b/sanitizer/structured_geocoding.js
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ module.exports.middleware = (_api_pelias_config) => {
         boundary_country: require('../sanitizer/_countries')('boundary'),
         categories: require('../sanitizer/_categories')(),
         request_language: require('../sanitizer/_request_language')(),
-        boundary_gid: require('../sanitizer/_boundary_gid')()
+        boundary_gid: require('../sanitizer/_gids')('boundary')
       };
 
   return ( req, res, next ) => {
diff --git a/test/unit/run.js b/test/unit/run.js
index 3856cd9df..45dfb350a 100644
--- a/test/unit/run.js
+++ b/test/unit/run.js
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ var tests = [
   require('./sanitizer/_text_pelias_parser'),
   require('./sanitizer/_tokenizer'),
   require('./sanitizer/_categories'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_boundary_gid'),
+  require('./sanitizer/_gids'),
   require('./sanitizer/nearby'),
   require('./sanitizer/autocomplete'),
   require('./sanitizer/structured_geocoding'),
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitizer/_boundary_gid.js b/test/unit/sanitizer/_gids.js
similarity index 93%
rename from test/unit/sanitizer/_boundary_gid.js
rename to test/unit/sanitizer/_gids.js
index a53779783..939f5f983 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitizer/_boundary_gid.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitizer/_gids.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-var sanitizer = require('../../../sanitizer/_boundary_gid')();
+const gids = require('../../../sanitizer/_gids');
+const sanitizer = gids();
 
 module.exports.tests = {};
 
@@ -96,6 +97,13 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_boundary_gid = function(test, common) {
     t.end();
   });
 
+  test('return an array of expected custom parameters in object form for validation', (t) => {
+    const expected = [{ name: 'custom-name.gid' }];
+    const validParameters = gids('custom-name').expected();
+    t.deepEquals(validParameters, expected);
+    t.end();
+  });
+
 };
 
 module.exports.all = function (tape, common) {
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitizer/autocomplete.js b/test/unit/sanitizer/autocomplete.js
index e8c9b30eb..d496f3980 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitizer/autocomplete.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitizer/autocomplete.js
@@ -136,10 +136,10 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitizers = function(test, common) {
           }
         };
       },
-      '../sanitizer/_boundary_gid': () => {
+      '../sanitizer/_gids': (key) => {
         return {
           sanitize: () => {
-            called_sanitizers.push('_boundary_gid');
+            called_sanitizers.push(`_${key}_gid`);
             return { errors: [], warnings: [] };
           }
         };
@@ -163,7 +163,8 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitizers = function(test, common) {
       '_focus_country',
       '_categories',
       '_request_language',
-      '_boundary_gid'
+      '_boundary_gid',
+      '_focus_gid'
     ];
 
     const req = {};
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitizer/reverse.js b/test/unit/sanitizer/reverse.js
index 6ef86fe38..92f8e6e94 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitizer/reverse.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitizer/reverse.js
@@ -102,10 +102,10 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize = function(test, common) {
           }
         };
       },
-      '../sanitizer/_boundary_gid': () => {
+      '../sanitizer/_gids': (key) => {
         return {
           sanitize: () => {
-            called_sanitizers.push('_boundary_gid');
+            called_sanitizers.push(`_${key}_gid`);
             return { errors: [], warnings: [] };
           }
         };
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitizer/search.js b/test/unit/sanitizer/search.js
index ec092776c..f2506320b 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitizer/search.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitizer/search.js
@@ -134,10 +134,10 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize = (test, common) => {
           }
         };
       },
-      '../sanitizer/_boundary_gid': () => {
+      '../sanitizer/_gids': (key) => {
         return {
           sanitize: () => {
-            called_sanitizers.push('_boundary_gid');
+            called_sanitizers.push(`_${key}_gid`);
             return { errors: [], warnings: [] };
           }
         };
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitizer/structured_geocoding.js b/test/unit/sanitizer/structured_geocoding.js
index 87894c03d..487015e1a 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitizer/structured_geocoding.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitizer/structured_geocoding.js
@@ -138,10 +138,10 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize = function(test, common) {
           }
         };
       },
-      '../sanitizer/_boundary_gid': () => {
+      '../sanitizer/_gids': (key) => {
         return {
           sanitize: () => {
-            called_sanitizers.push('_boundary_gid');
+            called_sanitizers.push(`_${key}_gid`);
             return { errors: [], warnings: [] };
           }
         };