The local citation service your map rankings are built on.

A local citation is any online mention of your business's Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP). Citations appear in directories, apps, maps, review sites, and social platforms. Google uses the consistency and volume of these mentions as trust signals when deciding where to rank you in the Local Pack.

Google cross-references your business information across hundreds of sources. When your NAP is consistent and appears on high-authority platforms, Google gains confidence that your business is legitimate and established — this directly improves your chances of ranking in the top-3 map pack for local searches.

It depends on your market and competitors. On average, local businesses in competitive markets have 80–120 citations. We benchmark your current count against your top 3 local competitors and build toward a number that gives you a structural advantage, not just an arbitrary target.

It varies by market, because the number of real directories does. In the United States we can build from 25 up to 1,000 listings for one business. In the United Kingdom the ceiling is around 300, and in Canada and Australia roughly 250–300. Most other countries support up to about 100, combining the national directories with the international layer. If you order a package above your market's ceiling we will tell you before taking payment and move you to the tier that fits, rather than padding the count with dead directories.

NAP = Name, Address, Phone. Even minor inconsistencies — '123 Main St' vs '123 Main Street', or different phone formats — confuse Google's entity matching algorithm. Inconsistent NAP is one of the most common reasons a well-optimised GBP still underperforms in map rankings.

Everything is submitted manually — including the major data aggregators. A trained analyst fills in each submission by hand; we never use bots, bulk tools or automated software. What IS automatic is what the aggregators do next: it's their function to push your verified record onward to navigation systems, apps and hundreds of downstream directories. So one careful manual submission at the aggregator level multiplies across the web — that's the aggregator working as designed, not automation on our side.

Citation cleanup changes are often indexed within 2–4 weeks. Ranking movement typically begins showing within 30–60 days. Data aggregator changes propagate to downstream directories over 60–90 days. We provide a tracking report so you can see the citations live as they go up.

SABs (Service Area Businesses) have a specific set of directories that accept them — platforms that allow a service area without displaying a street address. We include a curated SAB directory list on your build and handle the address-suppression settings on each platform correctly.

Yes. Citation cleanup is often the first thing we do. We audit your existing listings, claim unclaimed ones, correct errors, remove duplicates, and suppress any that can't be corrected. We then fill gaps with new, accurate submissions.

Always. We either create listings under your own email/login or transfer them to you immediately. We never hold citations in agency-owned accounts — every listing is yours.

The initial build is one-time. But citations drift over time — data aggregators overwrite correct info with outdated records, and new directories appear. We also offer ongoing drift monitoring and periodic refreshes to keep your NAP locked in — just ask.