What Are Local Citations and Why Do They Matter?
A citation is any online mention of your business’s name, address and phone number (NAP) – a Yell listing, a Thomson Local page, a Checkatrade profile, an entry in your trade association’s member directory, or a local chamber of commerce page.
Google uses citations to cross-check the information on your Google Business Profile. If ten sites say you are at 14 High Street and three still show your old unit on the industrial estate with a different phone number, Google is less confident about you – and less confident businesses rank lower.
Citations are no longer the biggest ranking factor they were ten years ago, but wrong citations still hurt, and a clean, consistent footprint is part of every strong local business. It also matters for Apple Maps, Bing Places and AI assistants, which pull business details from these same sources.
Our Local Citation Service
Citation audit
We find every existing listing – including old addresses, old phone numbers and duplicates – and score your NAP consistency.
Clean-up
Wrong and duplicate listings are corrected or removed where the site allows it. This often helps more than new listings.
UK core directories
Manual submission to the UK sites that matter: Yell, Thomson Local, Scoot, Cylex, Hotfrog, FreeIndex, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and more.
Niche directories
Industry sites for your trade or profession, e.g. trade bodies, legal and medical directories, wedding and hospitality guides.
Local sources
Chamber of commerce, council business directories, local news business listings and community sites for your town.
Live report
A spreadsheet with every URL, login and status, so you own the work – even if you leave us.
UK Citation Sources We Typically Use
| Type | Examples | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Core UK directories | Yell, Thomson Local, Scoot, FreeIndex, Cylex UK, Hotfrog | Widely crawled, trusted by Google and data partners |
| Maps & platforms | Apple Business Connect, Bing Places, Facebook, LinkedIn company page | Feed maps, voice assistants and AI answers |
| Trade & review sites | Checkatrade, Rated People, TrustATrader, MyBuilder (trades); Trustpilot | Relevance for your industry plus review visibility |
| Professional bodies | e.g. Law Society Find a Solicitor, GDC register, NFRC, NICEIC | Strong trust signals for regulated businesses |
| Local sources | Chamber of commerce, BID directories, local news business guides | Proof you are rooted in the town you serve |
We only use sites that are real, indexed and relevant. We never sell “500 directory submissions” packages – bulk low-quality listings do nothing and can create a mess of duplicates you will be cleaning up for years.
How Citations Fit Into Local SEO
Citations support your Google Business Profile; they do not replace it. After the profile, the next prominence signals are reviews (see review management) and local links (see local link building). We build all three together so each one strengthens the others.
Moving premises or changing your phone number? Tell us first. A planned NAP update across all listings avoids the ranking drop many businesses suffer after a move.
Local SEO from £299 per month – no setup fee, no long contract. See all plans.
FAQs