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The SEO Citations Study

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BrightLocal’s SEO Citations Study uncovers:

  • How many citations local businesses need to outperform their competitors
  • Which citation sites are most popular among local businesses
  • The correlation between citations and local ranking positions in Google results

These findings are based on 122,125 local businesses found using 18,580 related keywords.

Average Citations
78

have an average of 78 citations

Median Citations
110

The median number of citations for is 110

Positions 1-3

ranked in positions 1-3 have an average of citations

The Correlation Between Citations and Google Local Ranking for

There is a strong correlation between the number of citations a business has, and how high it appears in Google's search results. Local businesses that rank in positions 1-3 have an average of 85 citations.

Top Citation Sites for

While many local businesses are making use of the most popular citation sites, 5% haven't claimed listings on any of the top 10 sites.