Search your business name on Google and click through a few directories. There's a good chance you'll find an old phone number, an address from before you moved, or your business name spelled three different ways.
That mess has a name: inconsistent citations. And it quietly costs you calls.
What is a citation?
A citation is any place online that lists your business name, address and phone number, often shortened to NAP. Common places include:
- Google Business Profile
- Apple Business Connect (Apple Maps)
- Bing Places
- Yelp
- Angi, HomeAdvisor and other home-service directories
- the Better Business Bureau
- local chamber of commerce and city directories
Some of these you created. Many were created automatically, copied from other sites or data providers, years ago.
Why mismatched listings hurt
Customers call the wrong number. If a homeowner finds you on a directory with your old number, that call never reaches you. You'll never even know you lost it.
Google trusts you less. Google looks at information about your business across the web. When your name, address and phone match everywhere, it's a simple signal that you're a real, established business at that location. When they conflict, that signal gets muddy.
You look less professional. A listing with an old address or a disconnected number makes a customer wonder if you're still in business.
How to clean up your citations
1. Decide on one exact version of your details
Write down your business name, address and phone exactly as they should appear everywhere. Small things count:
- "Smith Plumbing LLC" or "Smith Plumbing"? Pick one.
- "Suite 200" or "Ste 200"? Pick one.
- Use your main business phone, not a different tracking number on every site.
If you work from home and don't show your address to customers, decide on that consistently too, and set your Google profile as a service-area business.
2. Find where you're listed
Search Google for your business name, your phone number, and your old phone number or old address if you've had one. Note every listing you find and whether it's right.
3. Fix the big ones first
Start with the listings customers actually use: Google, Apple Maps, Bing, Yelp, Facebook, and the main directories for your trade. Claim each listing if you haven't, then correct it.
4. Remove duplicates
Two listings for the same business on one site split your reviews and confuse customers. Most directories have a way to report or merge duplicates. Some don't, and you may have to contact their support.
5. Add the listings you're missing
Once the existing ones are right, add your business to the relevant general and trade-specific directories you're not on yet.
6. Keep a list
Keep a simple spreadsheet: site, link, login, date checked. When you move or change your number, you'll know exactly what to update instead of starting over.
Do citations still matter?
They aren't a magic switch. Adding 500 directory listings won't push you to the top of the map on their own. Think of citations as foundation work: they make sure customers and Google get the same, correct information about you everywhere. Your Google profile, your website and your reviews do the heavy lifting on top of that.
What does hurt is getting the basics wrong: old numbers, old addresses, and duplicates. That's worth fixing.
- A citation is any listing of your name, address and phone.
- Pick one exact version of your details and use it everywhere.
- Fix the biggest listings first, then remove duplicates, then add missing ones.
- Keep a list so you never have to start from scratch.
We do this as part of our $299/month local SEO plan, or on its own at $1 per citation. See the citations service, or get a free audit and we'll check whether your business details match across the main directories.