Discover local citation opportunities and gain online visibility

A local citation is a listing for your business including key information such as business name, address and phone number (NAP). Local citations appear in online directories such as Yelp, social networks such as Facebook and search platforms such as Google Business Profile.

Local citations boost your business’ visibility online. When local citations are distributed properly, your listings will appear when users in your area search for the products and services you provide. Poor local citation building could lead to your business losing online leads to competitors and ranking lower in search engines.

Local citation management is the process of distributing, monitoring and updating citations across a wide range of platforms. This can be very difficult to do manually, so marketers with several citations to manage turn to local citation software such as Semrush’s Listing Management tool, which can update citations across multiple platforms at once.

Citations are incredibly valuable for local SEO, particularly Google Business Profile and Google Maps, which use the NAP (name, address, phone number) data from citations to verify a business’ information. The consistency of data, number of citations and completeness of the citation all play a part in local SEO.

Local citations can be created on each platform individually by setting up an account and following the instructions for each one. Ambitious marketers might opt to use a local citation tool to distribute listings quickly, edit all their listings at once and keep a close eye out for duplicates.

A local citation finder displays opportunities for local citations that you’re not currently taking advantage of so you don’t miss out on appearing alongside competitors. These tools will often track your own listings so it’s clear which directories you’ve already submitted to and which are pending. In addition to finding local citation opportunities, Semrush’s Listing Management tool can distribute your information for you in a few simple steps.

One of the most impressive features of Semrush’s Listing Management tool is that it allows you to update all of your local citations at once. Without the tool, you might struggle to keep on top of errors and inconsistencies that can lower your local SEO positions.

Semrush’s Listing Management tool can build you local citations in all the major directories and platforms around the world, including Google Business Profile, Amazon Alexa, Apple, Bing and Facebook. Different countries have different top directories, so check Semrush’s complete list of citation websites for the ones relevant to your location.