The Benefits of Citations for Local SEO

Local citations (sometimes referred to as your name, address, and phone number or NAP data) are a known component of any successful local SEO strategy. Especially when you take into account the impact they’ve been found to have on AI and LLMs.

While some question the role of local citations in the modern search game, recent studies have found that local citations are still seen as a significant trust signal in the eyes of search algorithms. They are a key part of AI search and LLM information sourcing, offering businesses a leg up when climbing the ranks. 

Plus, BrightLocal research showed that business directories make up 37% of organic search results for informational local-intent search terms. 

Considering the role they play in the algorithm, as well as the even more direct ways that they put your business in front of customers, building citations, whether that’s with a local citation building service or by yourself, remains a key part of the local SEO world.

What is a local listing citation? 

Before we jump into how they benefit your SEO, let’s define what a local citation is. A local citation is a mention of your business information on a third-party website. At a minimum, this should include your business name, current address, and phone number.

Additional information, such as your website URL, social media handles, opening hours, service details, and email address, may also appear.

For an even more in-depth breakdown of citations, including a look at the difference between structured and unstructured citations, check out “What Are Local Citations?”.

How do local citations benefit local SEO?

Citations are an essential building block for local SEO success. Research shows that they’re the sixth most significant ranking factor for local pack visibility and tied as the fourth most important signal for local organic search results.

A good spread of NAP data across the web also provides several indirect SEO benefits.

Directory and Review Sites Rank Highly in Google Search

Many of the places where you’d look to build a citation are places like directory listings and review sites. 

These are helpful and popular resources for local consumers and often rank near the top of the search results when a local search is performed. In fact, according to the BrightLocal Business Listing Visibility Study business directories make up almost a third of local-intent organic search results overall (31%).

As a local business owner, you can benefit from this search visibility simply by creating a listing or claiming your profile on popular directory sites and review platforms. Doing so allows you to grow your presence in the search engine results pages (SERPs) without directly competing with powerhouse names such as Yelp or Tripadvisor.

Considering the high volume of traffic that directories like Yelp receive each month, merely ensuring that your business is accurately listed on it could result in a significant uplift in local visibility.

Increase Likelihood of Being Picked Up by AI and LLMs

Recent research has found that directories are key sources of information for AI and LLMs. In particular, Foursquare (which has a deal with ChatGPT) and Yelp seem to be at the forefront of LLM information gathering. In fact, Yelp was found to be used as a source in a third of all searches, and often multiple times in one search.

When the information found on these sites isn’t sufficient, the LLMs move to further directories to crawl for information. Google Business Profile, social media, businesses’ own websites, and even industry niche directories were found to be a regular source of information.

These findings provide an incredibly strong added benefit to local citations: being referenced directly by AI search, one of the fastest-growing search methods.

Become Easier to Find

As a local business, the easier you are to find online, the more likely you are to succeed. Each citation you build provides a direct pathway to your company for anyone interested in connecting with you. 

Assuming that your citations are properly tracked and maintained, they help ensure that the customer has immediate access to vital information such as your opening hours and phone number. After all, 85% of consumers consider the presence of contact information and opening hours an important factor when researching local businesses.

Directory listings also make your business easier to find by those who aren’t searching for a specific company but are looking for a local product or service, such as a plumber or barber. That’s because many consumers naturally turn to directory and review sites to find a local business that can meet their needs. 

Having your information readily available in the right places puts you in front of anyone actively searching for a business like yours. For example, a presence on Angi would be beneficial for service businesses. Yelp is appropriate for a wide variety of local businesses, and Tripadvisor is recommended for travel businesses.

Grow Your Link Profile 

Building links still remains an important factor in SEO success, but it can be difficult and will take time to do well. The good news for local businesses is that many places where you’d naturally look to create a citation also provide the opportunity to link back to your website.

Some sites still allow dofollow links to be created, including Bing and a whole host of industry-specific sites. You can use our complete list of local citation sites offering dofollow and nofollow links to discover new opportunities. 

While local citation building shouldn’t be done purely for links, it’s a great added benefit. There are olenty of other ways to do local link building that can help with your local visibility.

Help to Establish Prominence

Directory sites and other citation sources will often allow users to review local businesses. If you’re keen to improve your local search presence, then this is great news for you. 

This is because it offers you a chance to build a wider pool of positive mentions across the web. The more of these mentions you can obtain, the more prominent and popular your business appears. As ever, reviews are a key part of how consumers view your business.

A secondary advantage is that the reviews themselves are also a ranking factor, giving you double the benefit when it comes to improving your local visibility.

How many citations are good for SEO?

Citations have numerous SEO benefits, so it’s helpful to build as many as possible. Your industry will play a role in how many citations you’ll need to accrue to get an SEO advantage, with some sectors more likely to have a higher number of citations than others. 

Two important things to remember are that not all citations are created equal (so shoot for those on more relevant sites) and that the more popular sites you’re listed on, the more chances you have to get in front of the right eyes…

So when deciding how many citations to aim for, try to balance quality over quantity while still shooting for as many quality opportunities as you can.

Tools like BrightLocal’s Citation Tracker let you see what citations your competitors have. This can help you work out whether it’s a numbers gain in your area, or whether there are any specific sites you need to get listed on.

How do I get my local citations indexed?

It’s not enough to create directory listings and online mentions featuring your NAP data. You also need those pages to be indexed to unlock any SEO benefit.

There are a few ways to encourage indexing, including using a pinging service or creating a page on your site that includes a link to all your citations. You can find more information about how to index citations here.

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Benefits of Local Citations

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