The Ultimate Guide To Local Citations In 2024

The most comprehensive guide to mastering local citation building in 2024 and increasing your online presence in Google’s local search results.

What Are Local Citations In Local SEO?

In the age we live in, the online presence of your business can determine its success or failure.

But what if I told you that a simple mention of your business name, address, and phone number across the web could significantly boost your local visibility?

Well, these mentions are called local citations- the oldest, yet still effective tactic in the Local SEO game.  

Imagine potential customers searching for services in the area you operate and your business popping up at the top of their results.

Sounds like an illusion, right? Well, mastering local citations is possible for anyone these days.

Whether you’re a small business owner looking to attract more foot traffic or a marketer aiming to flood the local search results with your skills, understanding local citations is your secret weapon in the competitive landscape of local SEO.

In this comprehensive guide, I’ll simplify the local citations concept, explore their crucial role in your local SEO strategy, and reveal how they can be the key to unlocking your business’s online potential.

I promise that I will explain it in the easiest way possible so that you can start creating them right away.

How Important Are Local Citations In Local SEO?

Local citations were the alpha and the omega back in the old days of local SEO.

Google may have somewhat diminished their power in local search over the years with countless algorithm changes, but they still help search engines verify a business’s existence and credibility.

When a business is frequently mentioned on trusted websites, it gains more trust from search engines, increasing overall brand awareness and potentially leading to higher local search rankings.

Types of Local Citations

Understanding the different types of local citations can help you create a more effective local SEO strategy. Here are the main types:

Structured Citations: Found on business listing sites like Yelp, Google My Business, and Yellow Pages. They are usually in a consistent, structured format.

Structured Citation Format Type

Bright Smile Dental Clinic
1234 Maple Avenue
Boston, MA 02108, USA
(617) 555-9876
https://www.brightsmileboston.com
Category: Healthcare – Dental Clinic
Hours: Mon-Fri 9AM-6PM, Sat 10AM-2PM, Closed Sun

Structured citations have two specific subcategories:

Industry-Specific Citations: Found on websites focused on a specific industry, such as Tripadvisor which lists restaurants, or Avvo for attorneys. They bring highly relevant traffic and increase credibility in your field.

Geo-Specific Citations: Found on websites specific to your geographical area, like the local chamber of commerce. They focus on the local aspect of your business.

Unstructured Citations: Found in blog posts, news articles, or social media posts without a specific format. They are similar mentions but in a more natural, contextual way.

Unstructured Citation Format Type

“Bright Smile Dental Clinic has been providing top-notch dental care to Boston residents for over two decades. Conveniently located in the heart of downtown at 1234 Maple Avenue, Boston, MA, Dr. Sarah Johnson and her team offer a wide range of dental services from routine check-ups to advanced cosmetic procedures. The clinic is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM, and Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM. New patients are always welcome and can easily schedule an appointment by calling (617) 555-9876 or visiting their website at www.brightsmileboston.com. With state-of-the-art equipment and a commitment to patient comfort, Bright Smile Dental Clinic is dedicated to keeping Boston smiling brightly.”

Unstructured citations are more important because they provide more than just basic details like NAP; they offer additional context about your business. People value a business’s backstory, especially when it’s highlighted by an influential blogger or a major news site.

How Local Citations Impact Your Local SEO Game

The influence of local citations on SEO is complex and has multiple aspects:

Influence on Search Rankings

Local citations influence search rankings by increasing a business’s credibility. Diversity of citation sources can indicate a well-established business for Google’s algorithmic sensors, which simply translates into this:

The more citations from high-quality, relevant sites you have, the better your search rankings will eventually be.

Role in Local Search Visibility

Consistent citations increase the likelihood of appearing in local search results. Search engines rely on citations to determine which businesses to display in search results.

Consistency and accuracy here will help you show up for “near me”/location-specific searches on map results.

Trust and Credibility Factors

When a business is mentioned on trusted websites, both search engines and potential customers will begin to trust you, as they will validate your business information and current credibility through these third-party platforms.

User Experience Enhancement

That’s the simplest and most powerful reason you need them: Accurate citations ensure potential customers can easily find and contact your business, a privilege you need if you want to reduce confusion and frustration for users.

How to Start Building Local Citations (The Manual Way)

To begin building your local citations manually and effectively, you should follow each task I mention below:

Gather All Business Information

That may sound obvious, but gathering all their important business information up front is an important step that most people often neglect.

It’s easier to have all your information, such as NAP, hours of operation, business category, website link, etc., gathered in one place because you will need it later when creating local citations on different platforms around the web.

So, create an Excel or Google Sheet, and fill in every possible detail you can think of. Later, you can copy and paste this information onto various online directories.

To help you get started, here’s a useful template that will help you gather all information in one place, as well as add all local citation URL links you have created with that information:

Identify Citation Sources

To build local citations, start by identifying potential citation sources.
Here, the possibilities are endless. These can include:

This is the order I would choose when I first start building citations for my local business.

Personally, I don’t use data aggregators, although if I wanted to go that route, I would first use them, and later, I would check for remaining directories to list a business.

You might be wondering why I chose to go with aggregators. I will explain below.

Social Media Platforms

I would start by focusing on the most popular social media platforms relevant to your business. These platforms have a massive user base, with people spending countless hours scrolling through their feeds every day.

In fact, a study by the Global Web Index revealed that worldwide, users aged 16 to 64 access an average of 6.7 social media platforms regularly every month.

I don’t say that you should create that same number of social business profiles, but you can take inspiration from that study, identify the social platforms on which your ideal customers spend their time, and only then create the appropriate number of social media profiles.

From my experience, Facebook and Instagram are the standard ones, with TikTok becoming a formidable force in the social media platform, grabbing the attention of Generation Z and a large number of Millenials.

Local Directories

Local SEO is all about a business locality, so you shouldn’t miss out on creating citations on online platforms that are specific to your geographical area.

Examples: Google Business Profile, Elocal

The reason is, if you list your business there, you will see improvements in those areas:

Higher rankings in the Map Pack, though the increase is smaller compared to previous years.

Improved visibility in local search results when someone searches for your business type & location.

Relevant Industry Directories

Industry directories are specialized online listings that focus on individual business sectors or professions.

Unlike local directories, where businesses of specific areas/towns/cities can be listed, industry directories cater to particular fields such as healthcare, construction, legal services, or home services.

Examples: Tripadvisor(restaurants), Findacrepair(HVAC)

These directories are quite important and can significantly impact your local SEO efforts in several ways:

You acquire niche-specific backlinks to your website, which search engines value a lot as they come from sources within your field.

Potential customers searching for the type of services your business offers can easily find you in search results.

These citations also include location-based information upon their initial creation, which gives the necessary signals for boosting local search results.

Your credibility and authority in your field will increase when you are listed on those reputable websites.

Some of these directories have a customer review stars system similar to the one Google business profile has on display, which can influence your local seo if the reviews are overall positive and numerous.

The most high-authoritative directories rank for various long-tail keywords relevant to your business, like “TOP 10 BEST Roofing Companies in Chicago, IL”. This presents an opportunity for you to be shown among other businesses for the specific term customers search for.

Major Data Aggregators

Data Aggregators are the collectors and distributors of important business information on the web.

That’s the simplest explanation of how they operate, but let’s shed some light on their exclusive process, which helps businesses like yours get found on the internet.

Here’s a great article, that provides the best visual and information representation of  The US Local Search Ecosystem, and how data aggregators distribute information across the web.

Once you have documented all your business details, add them to these aggregators. Now, what happens next is:

– Your name, address, phone number, website, and sometimes even your business hours or services are organized neatly and standardized.

–   Then, they send this well-organized information about your business to lots of different websites, apps, and online directories.

Instead of manually creating citations one by one, you allow the aggregator to do the work for you.

This way, you automate the whole process and reap its benefits, which are:

Consistency: They make sure your business details are the same everywhere online. This is super important because it helps both people and search engines trust your information.

Visibility: The more places your business appears online, the more likely people are to find you when they’re searching for what you offer.

Accuracy: If you update your information with these aggregators (like if you change your phone number), they can help spread that update across the internet.

Time Management: Data aggregators will save you enough hours so that you can focus on other marketing or business activities that require your time.

On the other hand, there are some drawbacks to this automatic citation-creating system, which are the main reasons I advise you to leave them as the final option, especially if you are a beginner at creating local citations:

Lack of direct control: When you use aggregators, you’re relying on third-party services to distribute your information. This means you don’t have direct control over where your data ends up or how quickly updates are processed.

Potential for errors: If an aggregator has incorrect information about your business, this misinformation can spread widely. Correcting these errors can be time-consuming and challenging.

Cost: Many data aggregators charge fees for their services, especially for faster updates or more detailed listings. This can be an ongoing expense for your business.

Dependency: Relying heavily on aggregators might lead to neglecting direct management of your most important business listings.

So, the reason I manually create each citation is to avoid a large number of duplicate or incorrect listings. This will save me a lot of time that would otherwise be spent correcting them once they are created with aggregators.

Start Creating Consistent Listings

Ensure that your business information is consistent across all platforms.

Depending on the platform, there may be extra information to include, so we will divide them into three categories: important information, extra (often overlooked) information, and useful additional information.

If you’re new to local SEO, you can access my free lists of local citations for different countries worldwide, which can assist you in your citation-building efforts.

If you are a business owner operating in one of the countries listed below, you can find free citation sites and directories to add your business to:

How to Start Building Local Citations With Automated Software Tools

If you’re tired of reading instructions on how to manually build local citations, you’ll be surprised to learn that automated software tools are available.

These tools can save you time by listing your business in many important directories worldwide.

Here’s how these software marvels typically work:

1) Data input: You provide your business details only once.

2) Platform analysis: The tool scans popular citation sites and directories.

3) Intelligent submission: It automatically submits your info in the correct format for each platform.

4) Consistency check: The software ensures your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) data remains uniform across listings.

5) Ongoing management: Many tools offer continuous monitoring and updating capabilities.

6) Remove duplicate listings: We don’t want duplicate listings that will negatively impact your local seo efforts, and these tools can cleanse every single duplicate on the web.

Let’s look at five popular automated citation-building tools:

BrightLocal: A comprehensive local SEO suite with citation building and tracking features.

Yext: Offers real-time listing management across numerous platforms.

Moz Local: Distributes and updates your business info across major data aggregators.

Whitespark: Provides citation finding and building tools with a focus on local search.

Synup: Combines citation management with reputation monitoring and analytics.

How To Manage Local Citations

Your work hasn’t finished yet.

It’s easy to assume that creating all the required local citations is a one-time task. However, just like a car needs regular maintenance to function properly, local citations—especially the crucial ones—require regular upkeep and improvements to maintain a professional online reputation.

Here’s what you have to implement at least on a monthly basis:

Keeping Information Up to Date

If the initial information you added to these directories has changed, you should edit it on each platform. This could include your business name, phone number, address, or maybe different hours of operation.

Accuracy is crucial in this entire process, and relying on outdated information will not benefit you in the long term.

The same rule applies to newly added content, such as new services/products, more certifications, or perhaps some recently created social media profile links.

Handling Duplicate Listings

Identify and merge or delete duplicate listings to avoid confusion for both customers and search engines.

Maybe you manually created a listing on a directory, only to find later that one of the aggregators you used did the exact same thing, resulting in a duplicate profile that needs immediate cleansing.

Responding to Reviews

Review management across all platforms is the key to maintaining your brand recognition because online reviews influence a customer’s decision to choose your business over your competitors these days.

Engage with customer reviews by thanking them for positive feedback, and addressing issues in negative reviews, demonstrating customer care.

Add Photos & Videos

A visual representation of your business is worth everything, and people often want to see how your storefront looks on the inside and outside, as well as the plethora of products you sell, the person behind the business, or maybe some extra smiles from your hard-working staff.

Some ideas to throw here are:

Interior and Exterior Photos.

The business owner in action.

The amazing team behind the exceptional customer service.

Different photos of your products from various angles.

Short videos often seen on TikTok, YouTube shorts, and Instagram Reels.

Service Vehicles with business logo on them.

Top-of-the-notch equipment.

Successful Projects.

Google Business Profile & Local Citations

The Google Business Profile (GBP), a free tool provided by Google to manage your business’s online presence, is the most important citation you can create.

GBP and local citations complement each other to improve your local search rankings and attract more customers.

The reasons those two components work together in a successful local seo campaign are listed below:

a) Verification: Google uses local citations to verify the information provided in your Google Business Profile, ensuring its accuracy, which ultimately prevents potential suspensions or reverifications of your GBP.

b) Authority: A high number of quality local citations can increase your business’s authority, positively impacting your Google Business Profile’s ranking.

c) Reviews: Google Business Profile showcases customer reviews, while some citation sources also feature reviews, reinforcing your online reputation.

d) Backlinks: Some local citation sources provide valuable backlinks to your website, potentially boosting the authority of your Google Business Profile.

e) Safe GBP Changes: Google will suspend your profile more often than usual when you make sudden changes to your Google listing, like editing the address, phone number, or website link.

Here, you can harness the power of local citations, especially the most authoritative ones, by updating the information on each of them first, waiting at least a week, and then safely editing GBP.

No one can guarantee that this will work 100%, but the chances of preventing suspension are significantly reduced.

Conclusion: Is Local Citation Building Worth The Effort?

Various local seo experts have concluded that creating local citations as part of local search engine optimization is still worth your time and a standard step for a successful local seo campaign.

Although their power has significantly reduced over the years, they still play their part in building your brand from scratch, laying the foundation for potential clients to find your business on the internet and contribute to the local search rankings by boosting your Google Business Profile both on Google Maps and Google’s search results.

I don’t know what the future (and Google) holds for local citations or how AI will play its part in building them more easily than what I explain in this guide, but for the time being, it is a necessary mechanism that paves the way for businesses to reach their customers more efficiently.