Want to Rank Locally? Fix Your Citations

Citations quietly play a big role in whether or not your business shows up when people search locally. 
We see them as one of the strongest signals you can send to Google that your business is real, relevant, and worth ranking, on Maps, in organic results, and even in AI-driven search.

What Is a Citation in Local SEO?

It’s when your business name, address, and phone number (or NAP) show up on other websites. These mentions help let Google know that your business exists, serves a local area, and is active. 

There are 2 types of citations:

Structured
These show up on sites like Yelp, Bing, Apple Maps, and Yellow Pages where your NAP is displayed in a consistent format. They’re easily crawlable and carry strong local trust signals.

Unstructured
These are informal mentions, like blog posts, press coverage, or community websites. They don’t follow a formal structure, but Google still reads them as supporting context about your business.

Unstructured
These are informal mentions, like blog posts, press coverage, or community websites. They don’t follow a formal structure, but Google still reads them as supporting context about your business.

How Local Howl Classifies Citations (Beyond the Basics)

While the SEO industry uses structured/unstructured to define format, we go further by grouping structured citations into three strategic categories based on how Google interprets them:

  • Local Citations: High-trust global directories like Google, Yelp, and Apple Maps

  • Geo-Based Citations: Regional or city-specific directories like local chambers or neighborhood business networks

  • Industry Citations: Trade-specific directories like Houzz (home services), Avvo (legal), or Healthgrades (medical)

This layered classification helps us prioritize the citations that matter most, based on your industry, your geography, and your competitive landscape.

Why Citations Still Matter in 2025

There’s a myth floating around that citations are outdated in the age of AI search and automated listings. The truth? Google still leans heavily on off-site validation signals when deciding whether to trust, and rank, your business.

That includes your presence across third-party directories.


Nearly 31% of top organic results in local searches point to business directories
 (BrightLocal)

Translation: if you’re not showing up in those directories, or worse, if your listing is inconsistent or broken, you’re likely missing out on a third of your potential visibility.

Citations directly influence three of Google’s core local ranking factors:

Relevance: Are you clearly aligned with what the searcher is looking for?

Distance: Do you serve the area the searcher is in?

Prominence: Is your business visible and mentioned often across trusted websites?

Local Howl’s Smarter Approach to Citations

We don’t take the lazy route. Dumping your business info into hundreds of random directories might feel productive, but it rarely works.

Instead, we focus on strategy: building high-impact, trustworthy citations that actually help you show up, and stay there.


Step 1: We’ll Audit Your Existing Citations

We start by scanning over 60 top directories, including Google, Bing, Apple Maps, and Yelp, to uncover:

  • Outdated or inconsistent NAP data

  • Duplicated listings across platforms

  • Unclaimed or missing profiles

  • Listings with incorrect categories or website URLs

We also evaluate your current citation authority based on where you appear, how complete your listings are, and how they compare to competitors.


Step 2: Competitive Citation Mapping

Next, we analyze the businesses ranking above you for your top keywords. We extract every citation they have, cross-reference them against yours, and identify:

  • Where your competitors are gaining ground

  • Which directories are most common among top performers

  • What citation opportunities you’ve missed

This step helps us level the playing field before going deeper.


Step 3: Build Citations That Actually Move You Up

Once we’ve identified your gaps, we go to work:

  • Fixing inaccuracies across all core directories

  • Submitting or claiming your listings on missing high-value platforms

  • Manually submitting to regional or industry-specific directories that AI tools miss

  • Suppressing duplicate or junk listings that are hurting your NAP consistency

  • Enhancing listings with photos, keywords, and full business descriptions when allowed


This is where Local Howl steps in with real strategy, not just a list of tasks. It’s not about flooding the internet with listings. It’s about putting the right ones in the right places. 


Step 4: Monitor, Refresh, and Expand

Citations aren’t one-and-done. Business info changes. Directories decay. Competitors evolve.

We offer ongoing citation management that includes:

  • Quarterly citation refreshes

  • Monitoring for new duplicates or inconsistencies

  • UTM tagging to track citation-driven clicks

Expansion into new niche directories as your service areas or offerings evolve

Where Most Businesses Get It Wrong

A lot of businesses, and even some agencies, hurt their own rankings without realizing it, just by overlooking basic citation details.

❌ Submitting to low-quality or irrelevant directories

❌ Using different tracking numbers across platforms without consistency

❌ Leaving old addresses live on forgotten profiles

❌ Ignoring unstructured opportunities like community blogs or niche press

❌ Failing to monitor listings after the initial submission

Even one wrong phone number or duplicate listing can introduce doubt, and doubt costs rankings.

What Makes Local Howl Different?

Most agencies treat citations like a one-time software task. We treat them like a strategic ranking lever that ties into your bigger visibility plan.

That means:

  • Every submission is mapped to your SEO goals

  • Every fix is tracked in a live document you can view any time

  • Every competitor citation is logged and reverse-engineered

  • Every new directory is evaluated for authority and trust value

We also offer optional upgrades like:

  • Manual placement in niche or paid directories

  • Tracking setup using UTM tags and call monitoring

  • Link-building from directories with high domain authority

This is local SEO done deliberately, built to last, and built to rank.

Small Signals, Big Results

Citations may not seem like a big deal, but to Google, they’re a foundational trust signal. And trust is what drives discovery in local search.

If you’re not listed where your customers are looking, or worse, if your info is inconsistent, your competitors will keep showing up while you get left behind.

At Local Howl, we fix that. Strategically. Transparently. And with a plan.

 Want to know which listings are helping or hurting your business?