You changed your phone number two years ago. A customer found your old one on a directory site last week, called it, and hired someone else. Wrong listings rarely announce themselves; they just cost you the call.
A citation audit finds every place your business details appear online and fixes the ones that are wrong. Here is the order to work in and a tracker to keep it organized.
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Let the Buzz BeginQuick answer: what is a local citation audit? A local citation audit checks every place your business name, address, phone number, and website appear online, and fixes what is wrong. Start with your Google Business Profile, then the other major maps and directories, then industry and local sites. Fix details through each platform’s own claim or edit process, close listings for old locations, and log every change.
What is a citation?
A citation is any online mention of your business details: name, address or service area, phone number, and usually website and hours. They live on map apps, directories, review sites, industry associations, chambers of commerce, and local news sites.
Google’s representation guidelines say it decides how to display your business address using your profile information and information from other sources. Keeping your details consistent everywhere means those sources agree with each other.
Which listings should you check first?
Work from the listings customers are most likely to see, down:
- Google Business Profile. Decide this is your source of truth, and make sure it matches your website exactly.
- Other major maps: your Apple Maps place card and Bing Places listing. Both let business owners claim and edit their listings.
- Major review and social profiles your customers use, such as Facebook and Yelp.
- Industry and local listings: trade associations, manufacturer dealer locators, your chamber of commerce, local directories.
- Everything else a search for your business name and old phone number turns up.
Search for your business name, your current phone number, and any old phone numbers or addresses. Old details often surface listings you did not know existed.
What should the audit tracker include?
Citation audit tracker (one row per listing)
| Column | What to record |
|---|---|
| Platform and URL | Where the listing lives |
| Claimed? | Yes, no, or claimed by someone else |
| Name | Exactly as shown |
| Address or service area | Exactly as shown, or hidden |
| Phone | Exactly as shown |
| Website | Exactly as shown |
| Hours and category | As shown |
| Issue | What is wrong |
| Fix requested (date) | When you submitted the correction |
| Status | Pending, fixed, or rejected |
| Verified (date) | When you confirmed the fix is live |
How do you handle home-based and service-area businesses?
If you work from home and serve customers at their locations, Google’s guidelines let you list service areas and hide your address on your profile. Other platforms have their own rules about addresses, so read each one before you publish, and never list an address you do not want public or one that is not real.
How do you fix duplicates, moves, and old listings?
- Duplicates: Google’s guidelines allow one profile per business location. Find duplicates by searching your name and phone number, then use each platform’s process to merge or remove the extra one.
- Moves: update the address at the source platform rather than creating a new listing, and check that the old address disappears from directories.
- Closed locations: mark them closed on the platform instead of leaving them active with wrong details.
- Name changes: Google’s guidelines describe when a rebrand is treated as an update and when it counts as a new business, so read them before you change your profile name.
Listing problems are not just typos. CBS News reported that Google uncovered more than 10,000 fake or hijacked business listings on Google Maps in 2025 and sued the network behind them, and Apple’s Business Connect guidelines ask that a listed address be the one officially shown on your website.
How do you track corrections over time?
Submit fixes through each platform’s own claim or edit tool, record the date, and check back in a month. Some platforms update quickly, others slowly, and some changes are rejected and need a second request with proof. Re-run the search for your old phone number every quarter to catch listings that reappear.
Related guides cover choosing your Google Business Profile categories and service area pages versus city pages.
The full local system is covered in our guide to local SEO for contractors, and profile setup without a storefront is in our service-area business guide. Through our Local Visibility service, business listings and directory cleanup is a one-time setup project, quoted on your call.
Frequently asked questions about local citation audits
Do more citations mean better rankings?
No one outside Google can say how much each listing counts. Accuracy is the goal: wrong details send customers to the wrong place regardless of rankings.
Should I pay for a listings service?
It can save time across many platforms. Ask what happens to your listings if you cancel, and keep your own record of every listing.
What if I cannot claim a listing?
Use the platform’s report or support process, and record the request in your tracker.
Final thoughts on your local citation audit
Pick your source of truth, check the listings customers see first, fix details where they live, and keep a dated record. It is unglamorous work that keeps customers from calling the wrong number. For help with the cleanup, book a call with one of our hive specialists today.