We discuss whether building NAP listings on business directory websites still helps to improve local SEO

Author: Ryan Walsh
Read time: 14 Minutes

We get it, building local citations, that’s business directory listings with mentions of business name, address and phone number, well, you may be thinking, does this still impact local search rankings?

That’s because, well, it’s most definitely nothing new. When I started working in digital marketing over 14 years ago, building business citations was super important.

So, fast-forward to today, and you’re probably thinking: Is it still an effective method?

 

Well, we shall explain all in this rather comprehensive article:

• Why is it crucial to have consistent NAP information across the various business directory websites
• How data aggregators can often replicate your business’s NAP information
• Why, when it comes to business directory listings, do you need quality over quantity
• Why you should build NAP information on spammy and low-quality websites, as this can dilute and weaken your business’s SEO.

To recap, a local citation is quite simply just your company name, address and phone number that’s cited on an external website. And, well, that sounds like a piece of cake to do, right?

Well, you would think so; however, many businesses get this wrong. This happens when the information is conflicting, not kept up to date, or when a bunch of spammy websites are chosen instead of those relevant to your business niche with very high domain authority.

To cut to the chase, here and now in 2026, business directory listings do matter if you want to gain more sales via your local SEO. However, as with all things search engine optimisation-related, it’s important to get the process right.

Because, well, quite simply put, if this work is poorly implemented, you’re then handing a big fat advantage to your direct competitors. And if they understand how Google works better, by implementing perhaps fewer NAP listings, but which are more consistent and only on high-quality websites, well, those companies may have the upper hand, so to speak and rank higher on Google than a website with hundreds of spam business directory listings.

Low-quality sites add nothing and can actually dilute your local SEO

So, this is one of the most important points that we can make, it’s a really important one, in regards to your local SEO, it’s all too simple to become a “busy fool”.

Now, by that we mean being extremely busy trying to improve your local search engine optimisation, but not actually making progress.

In fact, you could actually be taking your business in reverse gear.

The reason is simple: when it comes to search engine optimisation, more is most definitely not better. This does apply to NAP signals and, most definitely, to backlink building as well.

The reason is simple: it’s far better to invest in quality work than to have a ton of low-quality work completed that dilutes the effectiveness of what you’re trying to achieve.

The businesses in every town and city in the U.K. that occupy the top spot on Google have something in common.

That is, they have the strongest “ranking factors” in that area, and you most certainly don’t occupy those positions on Google by having spam links and inconsistent NAP listings.

Do citations still matter when it comes to improving local rankings?

Local citations

Okay, when it comes to local organic rankings and appearing on Google’s map listings, a key part of this is having a well-optimised Google Business listing.

However, that’s just one part of the jig-saw, to reinforce that listing, to make it abundantly clear to Google that you’re one of the best businesses in that area, well, you have to build consistent NAP signals. This gives Google confidence that your business is located where you say it is. On top of that, well-maintained directory listings communicate clearly about your business.

For example, if two local hair dressing salons are in proximity, yet one has 25 consistent NAP listings, the other has 25 directory listings stating 4 different addresses the company has been located at, well, this confuses Google.

If Google’s confused where the business actually is now, well, so will the customer.

Therefore, the first hair dressing salon that has all the NAP listing information consistent and kept up to date makes it crystal clear that your business is located there.

Google Business Profile is the main anchor of your local SEO

Your Google Business listing is the most important place to mention your company’s NAP details on your website.

So, the primary place would be your company’s own website; however, off-page, the next most important place would be your business’s Google Business Profile.

Therefore, it goes without saying that the Google Business profile must be kept up to date, and so must the business directory listings.

What does “conflicting NAP signals mean”?

Okay, this is a really important aspect to consider: whether it’s 2026 or, say, over 10 years ago, it’s always been important to keep all the NAP details consistent.

If this does not occur, let’s say there are details which don’t match, well, we marketing consultants call these conflicting NAP signals. Now, this is super important to get right, as it returns to our previous example of being a “busy fool”- in that you could work extremely hard, having say 100 business directory listings.

However, if there are some business directory listings mixed in that don’t match, that say the old business address, well, these can be like a

“fly in your ointment”- meaning, well, they can cause SEO issues.

This is why many businesses manually verify NAP consistency and use marketing tools to do so.

What’s the difference between structured and unstructured business citations?

Structured business citations occur when your business details are the same and match precisely with each other. Often, these are created by the business itself or its appointed marketing agency.

Then, they are often created on websites such as Freeindex or Thomson Local and should be verified. The reason these listings should be verified is simple. Sometimes, occasionally, businesses will copy the details off your company website and create new business citations through a bot doing this work.

The reason you should create business listings manually is quite simple: to verify NAP details and keep business details up to date. This makes it much more difficult for, say, a competitor to change the details, to hamper your SEO efforts!

It also makes it a piece of cake for you to update the details if the NAP information changes. For example, if you have to move down the road to a business unit, well, it should only take a few hours to cross-reference the business citations and keep this information up to date.

What is an unstructured citation?

Unstructured citations are different; they don’t follow the same NAP format.

This means that the business might just get mentioned in, say, a local news article. Because of something called the “semantic web”,

Googlebot will still notice this business mention.

For example, you could be involved in, say, a sponsored run, where your business could be raising funds for a certain charity.

Therefore, a local newspaper might pick up the story, mention your business name and key directors involved, and Googlebot can pick it up.

This means that this can work with your business’s NAP details to give Google a better understanding of your business.

Yes, but you said that business NAP listings must all match?

This is true: Google’s algorithm does need quality business citations, or “structured citations,” to determine where your business is.

Think of these as “confirmation signals,” all confirming that your business is located at that address and that the rest of the NAP information matches the website.

However, Google’s algorithm also uses something called “Google’s Knowledge Graph,” which draws on key sources, such as Wikipedia, to understand your business better. For example, if you get mentions in a new newspaper or on a solicitor’s Law Society website, these mentions help Google better understand the business.

For example, a business that is regularly mentioned in positive newspaper headlines for business awards, charitable work, or simply being innovative with a new product will get crawled and indexed by Googlebot. All of these mentions help Google understand the business, and Google adds this knowledge, such as a business winning important awards, to its Knowledge Graph.

How and where should we be building business citations?

Step 1: Make sure that you get the NAP format correct

Okay, so we may sound a bit like a broken record: the NAP information must be consistent.

So, whether you’re working for an agency or perhaps doing this work in-house, write the company’s NAP details into, say, a Microsoft Notepad or Word document.

This way, you have a place to copy and paste the NAP details across. You don’t need to, for example, freehand-type the information each time you complete a business directory listing.

This minimises the chance of creating mismatched citations. For example, if you copy and paste “Road,” you minimise your chances of one employee writing “Rd” and another writing “Road,” as this can cause conflicting business citations.

Then there’s the telephone number; if it’s copied and pasted, it should match precisely, rather than having one person write the main reception number, and perhaps the marketing agency using a direct phone number to indicate a sales team, which is completely different.

Again, copying and pasting directly from one source minimises the chances of making mistakes or creating conflicting business citations.

Step 2: Complete an initial audit and set a date when this will be carried out again

Okay, so remember earlier we mentioned that sometimes websites will “scrape” the NAP details off your website to auto-generate NAP business listings. Well, sometimes those robots don’t get the details right.

Or perhaps they scrape the details, then never update the page. This is one of the major causes of having conflicting business citations. This means that a business or a marketing agency can follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and white-hat SEO methods to the letter; however, bots or robots can sometimes hamper local SEO efforts.

Therefore, it’s important to run a manual audit of your business’s NAP details. This doesn’t take long, well, the duration of the audit does depend on how many citations exist. Therefore, what you can do is search for your company’s name on Google, then search for variations of your company name, plus addresses where your business has been located and where it’s located now.

If you do find conflicting business citations, often you can just claim the listing. Then it’s just a matter of populating the fields with the correct information and keeping the listing up to date in the future.

Step 3: Build quality business citations

Okay, so what would we actually deem as a quality business citation that’s going to really help to improve your local SEO?

We would say that the citation should tick the following boxes:

– Be relevant to your business niche
– Be listed on a website with a very high DA (domain authority) score
– Be listed on websites that allow you to manage the listing, just in case you change your address in the future
– Allow you to add a bit of a blurb about your business
– Are there listings where your strongest competitors are mentioned

Let’s examine some of those points in some more detail

Business niche

Okay, so if you search for “solicitor,” there are websites such as Chambers.com that are relevant only to lawyers and solicitors.

The website has an extremely high DA score; therefore, this would be advantageous for any local solicitors’ practice to get their businesses’

NAP details mentioned on there.

Therefore, seek out what marketing agencies refer to as “tier 1” or “high DA score” and relevant business directories first. The reason is that Google’s algorithm knows that not just any website can be mentioned on these. Instead, there’s normally a barrier to entry, for example, you must be an accredited solicitor, dentist or architect.

Therefore, if the business directory is harder to get a business mention and NAP listing from, this is a good thing. The reason is that a few competitors will be mentioned there, plus a NAP citation from a website with a very high DA score is far better than mentions on business directories with low DA scores.

 

Business blurb

It’s Google’s job to scour the web for facts about your business constantly.

So, you may feel it’s clear as day from the NAP listing that your business is a dental practice.

However, it’s the business description or short blurb you have written about your business that makes this abundantly clear.

Therefore, seek out quality business directories where you can leave a blurb or short business description.

Now, this may sound like a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Write a bespoke business description for every business listing. The reason is that Google’s algorithm hates duplication. Therefore, quite often, if you go the extra mile and write a bespoke business description for each quality business NAP listing you create, this can make all the difference.

This is especially true in highly competitive business niches where there’s little that separates the local SEO of top-performing companies.

Therefore, having many bespoke, well-written business descriptions listed on the right business directory websites can make all the difference.

 

Make sure you verify all business citations.

Okay, so this is important. We have seen in our own business experience that competitors have gone in and changed key business information to hamper our clients’ SEO.

For example, trying to change business hours to permanently closed when that is most certainly not the case.

We are on top of this; however, some businesses are not. Therefore, don’t let a competitor or a bot write the business NAP and other key information, such as company opening hours, incorrectly. The reason is that this will create conflicting citations and incorrect information, which can damage sales.

Google Business details

When we talk about keeping your business citations up to date, that’s key. However, the Google Business profile is top of the tree, the most important, the central pillar of your local SEO, so the details mentioned there must be kept up to date.

Does building business directory listings still help to improve local SEO (A 2026 Guide)
Our SEO company answers whether building NAP citations still helps to improve a business’s local SEO.