What a local citation is
A local citation is any mention of your business’s name, address and phone number, known together as NAP, on a site other than your own. Most are directory listings, such as a Yelp page or a Bing Places profile. Others are mentions in a local news story, a chamber of commerce member list or a sponsor page.
Citations come in two kinds. Structured citations sit in a directory’s own fields for name, address, phone and hours, which makes them easy to check. Unstructured citations are mentions in running text; they are harder to find and fix, and they add up over time.
Why citations matter
Citations do two jobs. First, they put you where people search outside Google. Apple Maps, Bing, Yelp and the directories for your industry each have their own audience, and a complete listing on each lets those people find you.
Second, they help search engines confirm who you are. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence, and that prominence draws on information such as how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. A directory listing that links to your website is one of those links. When every listing carries the same name, address and phone, it is easy to tell they all describe one business, which feeds the Local Pack.
When details drift, such as an old suite number on one directory or a previous phone number on another, customers get the wrong details and the listings are harder to match to you.
Where to start
Start with the big general directories and the ones your customers use. For a US business, a sensible base is Yelp, Yellow Pages, Apple Maps, Bing Places, the Better Business Bureau, Foursquare, Manta and MapQuest. Then add the directories for your industry, such as a medical or legal directory, and local ones such as your chamber of commerce.
Use one master record for every listing: the exact name, address, phone, website and hours on your Google Business Profile. Google’s guidelines ask you to represent your business as it is known in the real world, on your signage and stationery, so use that name everywhere.
Keeping listings consistent
Building citations is a one time job. Keeping them consistent is ongoing: businesses move, change phone numbers and rename, and listings can go out of date without anyone noticing.
A practical routine: check the main directories against your master record a few times a year and after any change to your details, and fix each difference at the source, on the directory itself. Name matches can allow for small additions such as a branch name; the phone number, website and address should match exactly.
How Rank.ai checks your citations
Every week, Rank.ai looks for each location linked to a Google Business Profile on Yelp, Yellow Pages, Bing Places, BBB, Foursquare, Manta and MapQuest, and compares the name, phone, website and address it finds with the profile. Accounts with two or more locations see the results on the multi location overview: citation coverage for the account, and for each location the listings found, missing and inconsistent.
Rank.ai does not create or edit directory listings. You add and correct them on each directory.