Citations are still widely considered an important ranking factor in local SEO in 2025. With the rise of large language models like Perplexity and ChatGPT, I personally think citations are becoming even more relevant.
I’m Sean, and I’ve been working in SEO for 10+ years. In my experience, citation building can be incredibly helpful for small businesses or those just starting out online. For larger brands, though, I don’t think citations have quite the same level of impact. I consider Yelp, Apple Maps, Bing Places, Facebook, Yellow Pages, Foursquare, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), your local Chamber of Commerce, and TrustPilot to be the most essential directories/platforms for ensuring your business has a strong online presence.
What are Citations?
Citations are online mentions of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP), across various platforms such as directories, social media profiles, and local websites. These references help search engines verify your business’ legitimacy and relevance in your community or local area.
How Important are Citations?
Years ago, they were considered one of the holy grails in signaling search engines that your business is legitimate and trustworthy, that pulls you to the top of results and rise above your competitors. The process of adding your business details to hundreds of directories on the web has less value today than it did over 10 years ago. Today, it’s more important to be on valuable directories like BBB, Yelp and Bing Places.
How to Choose the Right Citations
Consider the following to maximize your efforts and SEO benefits
Industry Relevance
There are thousands of directories online, and getting listed in all of them is both impossible and unnecessary. You only have to pick the ones that are most relevant to your industry. The most effective online business directories are those that your target audience actively visits. For example, if you own a restaurant, platforms like Yelp and OpenTable are valuable because food enthusiasts frequently use them to discover new dining spots. Other industry-specific directories are Avvo for lawyers, Healthgrades for healthcare professionals, and Houzz for home service providers.
Domain Authority
High-authority platforms like Yelp, and Better Business Bureau (BBB) have strong domain authority, meaning they rank well in search results and are trusted by both users and search engines. Listing your business on these reputable sites helps you with credibility and improves visibility. They can further boost your rankings by associating your business with well-established platforms within your niche.
Competitor Analysis
A great way to identify the best citation sources is by analyzing where your top competitors are listed. You can use SEO tools like Moz Local and BrightLocal to find and replicate their most valuable listings.
How to Optimize Citations
Managing your citations is more than simply listing your business. Here are several key factors to consider to effectively optimize your citations.
NAP consistency
Your business name, address, and phone number should be identical across all listings. However, I don’t consider a ranking factor in 2025. I would consider this a best practice vs an actual ranking factor.
Add Relevant Business Categories
Business categories help search engines understand the type of business you’re running and improve your visibility for specific search queries. Choosing the right categories helps your business show up for the relevant searches customers are making. For instance, a “Mexican Restaurant” should select categories like “Mexican Cuisine” or “Restaurant” on platforms like Google Business Profile or Yelp. The more specific you can be about your business category, the better targeted your listing will be, which increases your chances of appearing in local search results for people looking for your services.
Include Rich Content
Adding rich content to your citations helps differentiate your business from competitors and keeps potential customers engaged. This can include business descriptions which should describe what your business offers. Add images of your products, services, or location that shows your brand and attract attention. You can include website links for easy access to more information. Clear business hours also matter. Rich content not only provides users with valuable information but also improves your business’s credibility and drives engagement, making it more likely for users to take action (e.g., call, visit, or request directions).
Reviews
Positive reviews not only attract new customers but also boost your rankings. Google evaluates review sentiment on third-party sites to assess the quality of businesses.
How to Track and Measure the Value of Citations
When it comes to measuring the value of citation building in local SEO, two tools I highly recommend are LocalFalcon and SEMrush.
Related – How to Choose a Local SEO Tool
LocalFalcon is particularly effective for tracking your business’s visibility in the Google Map Pack. After completing a round of citation building, you can use LocalFalcon to check whether your local rankings have improved in the areas you’re targeting.
On the other hand, SEMrush is helpful for monitoring your local landing page rankings in traditional organic search. If you notice upward movement after citation work, that’s a strong signal your efforts are paying off.
However, if you don’t see any noticeable improvement in either tool, whether it’s in the Map Pack or organic rankings, that could indicate the citations didn’t have much of an impact on your local SEO performance. This kind of analysis can help you assess whether citation building is worth the continued investment for your business. Ideally, you want the directories to index all the pages you’ve created for your business, as this can significantly impact your on-page rankings. When these pages are indexed, they can act as valuable backlinks, boosting your SEO performance.
Conclusion
In my opinion, citation building is helpful for small businesses that are just getting started or have only a few locations across the U.S. For larger businesses with hundreds of locations nationwide, I think Google already has plenty of signals and data points from all the places they’re listed. So, while citations are still useful, they’re far more impactful for smaller businesses trying to build local visibility by getting listed in more directories. For bigger brands, the need for citation building tends to be less critical.
