Joshua Franklin Wiedeman

Local Citations & Reviews

A citation is any online listing of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP): directories, review sites, social profiles, map apps. Reviews are customer ratings on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and industry sites. Search engines and customers use both to judge whether a local business is real and trustworthy.

How it works

Citations confirm where your business is and give customers more places to find you. Consistency is what matters. If one site says “123 Main St, Suite 200” and another says “123 Main Street #200,” search engines are less sure your data is right. Reviews are local social proof. Many buyers read them before choosing a local business.

How to do it

  1. Audit your current listings with a citation tool. Note every directory and every mismatch in name, address, phone, category, or description.
  2. Pick one exact NAP format (abbreviations, suite number, phone format) and correct every listing to match it.
  3. Submit your business to the main data providers that feed other directories, and claim Apple Business Connect and Bing Places.
  4. Add listings on the directories that matter most for your industry and city.
  5. Ask for reviews in post-service emails with a direct link, and train staff to ask when customers are happiest. Reply to every review within a day or two.

What to measure

  • NAP consistency: share of listings that exactly match your official name, address, and phone.
  • Review volume and pace: total reviews and new reviews per month on each major platform.
  • Average rating by platform: rating on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and industry sites, tracked separately.

Best practices

  • Favor accuracy over volume. A smaller set of correct listings beats many inconsistent ones.
  • Collect reviews on more than one platform.
  • Keep reply templates for positive, negative, and neutral reviews, and personalize each reply.

Common pitfalls

  • Using services that push your details to hundreds of low-quality directories, which are hard to update later.
  • Ignoring negative reviews or replying defensively.
  • Leaving old listings in place after a move, rename, or new phone number.