Business listings and citations: why your name, address and phone must match

In SEO, a citation is any listing of your business name, address and phone number on another site: Apple Maps, Bing, Yelp, Facebook, the chamber of commerce, industry directories, the BBB, data aggregators that feed GPS systems. They matter less than they did ten years ago, but wrong ones still cost you calls.

Find yours

1. Search your old detailsSearch Google for your old phone number and old address in quotes. Every listing that comes up needs fixing.
2. Check the big ones by handApple Maps (through Apple Business Connect), Bing Places, Yelp, Facebook, and the directory that matters most in your industry.
3. Look for duplicatesTwo Yelp pages or two Apple Maps pins for the same business split your reviews and confuse customers.

Fix them

• Claim the listing where you can and correct it there. Claimed listings are less likely to be overwritten.
• Use exactly the same name, address format and number everywhere. “Suite 200” versus “#200” is fine; a different phone number is not.
• Ask the directory to merge or remove duplicates rather than leaving the wrong one up.
• Keep a simple list of where you’re listed and the logins, so the next move or number change takes an afternoon instead of years.