If you’re running a local business, you already know that showing up in Google’s local search results can make or break your business. Whether you’re a restaurant owner, a law firm, a wellness spa, or a plumber, your ability to get in front of customers when they search “near me” is everything.
One of the most underrated levers for ranking in local search? Citations.
What Are Citations in Local SEO?
Citations are simply mentions of your business’s Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) across the web. Think of them as digital breadcrumbs that help Google (and other search engines) confirm that your business is real, legitimate, and consistent.
And that consistency is everything. If your NAP isn’t exactly the same everywhere—same phone number, same formatting of your address, same business name—you’re sending mixed signals to Google. That confusion can hurt your rankings.
Not All Citations Are Created Equal
Here’s the deal:
- Top-tier citations are the ones you already know—Yelp, Google Business Profile, Facebook, Apple Maps, TripAdvisor, etc. These carry more authority and should be rock-solid before you do anything else.
- Low-tier citations are the hundreds of smaller business directories and local listing sites. Individually, they’re not as powerful. But when stacked together, they can still move the needle.
If you’re just getting started, lock down the top-tier sites. Once you’ve nailed those, move on to the long tail of directories.
The Indexing Problem (and Why It Matters)
Here’s where a lot of business owners drop the ball: most citations never get indexed by Google.
If a citation isn’t indexed, it’s basically invisible. It doesn’t matter that you created it—it’s worthless unless Google actually knows it exists.
The fix? Use an indexing service. They cost just a few cents per URL and can make a world of difference. What we often see is that once citations get indexed, rankings jump quickly.
The De-Indexing Cycle
But here’s the catch: citations don’t always stay indexed forever. Typically, after 4 to 8 weeks, a chunk of your citations will fall out of the index. That’s when you see rankings dip again.
The solution is simple:
- Re-index your citations regularly. Do this at least once every month or two.
- Or build a “Find Us On The Web” page on your own website.
That page can start by linking to your best mentions—press articles, Yelp, Facebook, Instagram—and then simply list out every citation you’ve got. Keep it plain, keep it clean, and most importantly, make sure each citation is an actual hyperlink. Googlebot will follow those links, crawl the directories, and keep them indexed.
The Bottom Line
Local SEO isn’t just about reviews, backlinks, or having a slick website. Citations are foundational. Get your NAP consistent, prioritize the top-tier sites, and then don’t sleep on the long tail.
But don’t forget: citations only matter if Google knows about them. Index them, re-index them, or create your own “Find Us On The Web” hub.
That’s how you stay visible, outrank your competitors, and keep showing up when your customers are ready to buy.