Publishers of atlases and gazettes have been doing this for a long time. They insert one fictitious town in the middle of nowhere. The image of people arriving at a town that doesn’t exist is kind of funny, but they have to do it. A lot of work goes into those publications.
I asked the Thomas rep if this had ever cause a problem. Once he advised:
It seems a contractor used the Thomas guide, copied the page and drew directions to a jobsite. The street they directed everyone down was shown as going through. In reality it was a residential cul de sac. Lots of trucks and heavy equipment was routed incorrectly as a result.