Every time your business appears online — directories, maps, review sites, data aggregators — that's a citation.
Name, address, phone number. Opening hours. Categories. The basic information that tells Google (and customers) that your business exists, where it is, and how to contact it.
Sounds simple. It isn't.
Most businesses have citation chaos. Old addresses from when they moved three years ago. Wrong phone numbers from a system change. Duplicate listings competing with each other. Inconsistencies that confuse Google and cost rankings.
For multi-location businesses, multiply that chaos by every site. It becomes a mess that nobody has time to fix — so it just sits there, quietly hurting visibility.
Google cross-references your business information across the web. When it sees consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) data everywhere, it trusts that information. When it sees conflicts, it gets confused — and confused Google doesn't rank you confidently.
Citations also feed the local algorithm directly. Presence in quality directories, data aggregators, and industry-specific platforms signals legitimacy. The more places that confirm your business exists and operates where you say it does, the more Google believes you.
For local businesses — especially those competing in map pack results — citation health is foundational. Get it wrong, and everything else you do is fighting uphill.
Audit & Cleanup — Finding every existing citation. Identifying inconsistencies, duplicates, and errors. Cleaning up the mess before building anything new.
Core Directory Submissions — Getting listed properly on the directories that matter. Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Yelp, industry-specific platforms. Complete, accurate, optimised listings.
Data Aggregator Distribution — The major data aggregators feed information to hundreds of smaller directories. Getting your data right at the source prevents errors cascading everywhere else.
Industry-Specific Citations — Directories that matter in your sector. Legal directories for solicitors. Healthcare platforms for clinics. Trade associations for service businesses. Relevant citations carry more weight.
Ongoing Monitoring — Citations drift. Directories update. Aggregators refresh. Someone submits a duplicate. Ongoing monitoring catches problems before they compound.
One location's citations are manageable. Ten locations? Twenty? Fifty?
Each location needs its own complete citation profile. Each one can develop its own inconsistencies. Staff changes, phone system updates, minor address variations — small errors multiply across the network.
Most multi-location businesses don't have citation management. They have citation chaos that nobody has audited in years.
We build systems that scale:
New locations launch with proper citation foundations. Existing locations get cleaned up and maintained. Nothing drifts.
Citations and links are different.
A citation is a mention of your business — typically in a structured directory listing. It might not even link to your website. It's about confirming your existence and location data.
A link is an editorial endorsement — someone choosing to reference your site as a resource. It passes authority directly.
Both matter for local SEO. Citations build the foundation of local trust. Links build authority on top of it. You need both, but citations come first.
Citation management isn't exciting. It's not creative. It doesn't make for impressive case studies.
But it's the foundation that everything else sits on. Get citations wrong, and your GBP optimisation is fighting bad data. Your local SEO is undermined by inconsistencies.
Your map pack rankings suffer for reasons you can't see.
This is infrastructure work. Unsexy, essential, and often neglected.
Businesses who rely on local search visibility. Who have been operating for years and never audited their citations. Who have multiple locations and suspect the data is inconsistent. Who want the foundations right before investing in more visible SEO work.
