Short answer: A local citation is any mention of your business’s name, address and phone number, known as NAP, on another site: a map app, a directory, a review site or a social profile. Google asks for your real-world name, a precise address and a phone number under your control, and it uses other sources to decide how to show your address. So list your business on the sites that matter and keep the same details on every one of them.
Citations, NAP and why they disagree
We call a citation any place outside your website that names your business with its address and phone. Most come from you: your Google Business Profile, Bing, Apple Maps, Facebook and the directories of your trade. Others appear on their own, copied from older sites, and they keep the details you had then.
The trouble starts when you move, change your number or rename the business. Each site keeps whatever it last knew, and customers find an old phone or an office that no longer exists.
What Google says about them
Google keeps the details of its ranking algorithm confidential, and it doesn’t list citations as a factor. It says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity. It describes that third factor, prominence, as how well-known a business is, based also on info like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have.
Its rules for Business Profiles go further on the details. Your name should be your real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website and stationery. Google also decides how to show your address from your business information and information from other sources.
From Google Business Profile Help, “Tips to improve your local ranking on Google” and “Guidelines for representing your business on Google”, read November 2, 2026.
How to clean up your citations
- Write your name, address, phone and website once, exactly as they appear on your storefront and your site.
- Fix your Google Business Profile first.
- Claim and fix the other big ones: Bing Places, Apple Maps and your Facebook page.
- Add the directories of your trade and your city, such as your chamber of commerce or professional association.
- Search Google for your old phone numbers and old addresses to find the listings nobody updated.
- Correct each wrong listing, by claiming it or by writing to the site.
- Keep a list of every listing, with its login and the date you last checked it.
Our guides cover Google Maps, Bing Places, Apple Maps and Facebook pages step by step.
What to check on each listing
| Field | What to check on every listing |
|---|---|
| Name | Your real-world name, as on your storefront, website and stationery. No city or service added |
| Address | The same street address, with the suite in the second line. A service-area business hides it on Google |
| Phone | One local number under your direct control, the same everywhere, not a call center line |
| Website | The same address of your site, ideally the page for that location |
| Hours and category | The same hours, holiday hours included, and the closest category the site offers |
Google’s rules behind the table: use a precise, accurate address and put a suite number in the second address line. Use a local phone number instead of a central call center number whenever possible, and the number must be under the business’s direct control. A business that serves customers at their location hides its address on Google.
From Google Business Profile Help, “Guidelines for representing your business on Google”.
What we found fixing our own listings
In late 2026 we checked our own listings, and they were a good example of how citations drift. One review site showed 101 Google reviews of a rehearsal studio in Dublin under our name. An agency directory still listed our Madrid office, years after we moved to Miami, and another had the wrong phone.
On a fourth site, the correction we sent ended up word for word in our description. A fifth would only change anything after we claimed the listing. Most fixed it within a day of an email with the exact text. Check the reviews and the description, not only the NAP.
Before you call it done
- Your name, address, phone and website are written once, in one exact version.
- Your Google Business Profile matches that version.
- Bing Places, Apple Maps and Facebook match it too.
- A search for your old phone and old address finds no listing with them.
- Each listing shows your own reviews and description, not someone else’s.
- You keep a list of listings with the date you last checked each one.
RememberPick one exact version of your name, address, phone and website. Fix Google before the other big listings. Search your old details to find the ones nobody updated, and write to each site with the exact text you want.
If you want us to find and fix your listings, see our local SEO service.
Quick answers about local citations
What does NAP mean?
NAP stands for name, address and phone number, the three details a directory, map or review site shows about your business. Local SEO work usually adds the website and the hours, and the goal is that every site shows the same version.
Do local citations still matter for Google?
Google keeps its ranking details confidential and doesn’t list citations as a factor. It says local results depend on relevance, distance and popularity. Its prominence factor also uses info like how many websites link to a business and how many reviews it has. Google also uses other sources to decide how to show your address.
How do I find my business listings?
Search Google for your business name, your phone number and any old address, one at a time, and note every site that lists you. Old phone numbers and old addresses find the listings that are most likely wrong.
What do I do when a directory shows wrong information?
Claim the listing if the site lets you, and fix it yourself. If not, write to the site with the exact text you want and nothing else. In our case, most sites fixed it within a day of an email.
Should my business name include my city or a keyword?
Not unless that is your real name. Google asks for the name customers know, as used on your storefront, website and stationery. Adding a city or a service breaks that rule, and Google says unnecessary information in the name can get your Business Profile suspended.
Sources
All read on November 2, 2026, in Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google and Tips to improve your local ranking on Google. Our own case: the listings we corrected on November 1 and 2, 2026.