A citation is any listing of your business name, address and phone (NAP) on another site: Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, industry directories, the chamber of commerce. The fix is to make every important listing match your website and Google Business Profile exactly, starting with the data sources and the listings buyers actually use.
Search engines compare your business details across the web. When your old address, an old phone number and a misspelled name all exist in different places, it's harder for them, and for buyers, to trust any of them.
For industrial businesses, the listings that matter most are the major maps and data platforms, plus the trade directories buyers in your industry really use. A hundred low-quality directory submissions add little.
What does the work include?
| A NAP standard | One written version of your name, address and phone, including suite numbers and abbreviations. |
|---|---|
| Core platforms | Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, and the main data aggregators. |
| Industry directories | The trade associations and directories buyers in your field use. |
| Cleanup of old listings | Duplicates, old addresses, closed locations and old phone numbers. |
| Website match | The NAP in your footer and LocalBusiness markup match the standard exactly. |
How is it done, step by step?
- 1
Write the standard
Decide the exact name, address and phone. Use your main line, not a tracking number.
- 2
Fix your own properties
Website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect.
- 3
Find the rest
Search your name, old addresses and old phone numbers to find stale listings.
- 4
Correct or remove
Claim and edit where you can, request removal of duplicates, and keep a log.
What should you have at the end?
Whoever does this work, you yourself or someone you hire, these are the things you should be able to hold in your hand afterwards:
- Your NAP standard, written down
- A list of listings found, with what's wrong on each
- Corrections made or submitted, with logins kept by you
- A short list of industry directories worth being on
What won't we do?
These shortcuts break search engines' rules, mislead buyers, or both. If anyone offers them to you, say no.
- Mass submission to hundreds of directories
- Listings under accounts we own instead of yours
- Different tracking numbers per directory
- Paid link schemes dressed up as citations
Can I do this myself?
Yes. Start here:
- Search your old phone number in quotes; every result is a listing to fix.
- Claim Bing Places and Apple Business Connect if you haven't.
- Keep every login in a shared company account, not a personal one.
Want it done for you? A human-reviewed audit service is planned but not open yet. Join the waitlist and we'll contact you when it opens.
Questions
What is NAP consistency?
Your business name, address and phone written the same everywhere they appear: website, profiles and directories.
Do citations still matter?
Accurate listings on the platforms buyers use still matter, because they confirm your details and send real visitors. Volume for its own sake matters much less.
Can we use call-tracking numbers?
Use your main number as the primary on listings. If you must track, use the tracking number as an additional number where the platform allows it, and keep the main number primary.