LINKS · SEO GLOSSARY
Local Citation
Any online mention of a business's name, address, and phone number (NAP) — on directories, review sites, or local publications — used by Google to validate and rank local businesses in map-pack and local search results.
Definition
A local citation is any instance where a business's core contact information — Name, Address, Phone (NAP) — appears on the web. Citations can be structured (a complete business listing on Yelp, Yellow Pages, TripAdvisor, or a local chamber of commerce directory) or unstructured (a mention of the business name and phone number in a local news article or blog post). Google cross-references citation data from hundreds of sources to build confidence in a business's legitimacy, location accuracy, and relevance to local queries. The consistency of this data across sources matters as much as the number of citations — a business listed as "Smith & Co." in some places and "Smith and Company" in others with two different phone numbers weakens the signal.
Why it matters for SEO
Citation volume and consistency are significant local ranking factors — primarily for the Local Pack (the map + three business listings shown for queries with local intent). A business with complete, consistent citations across authoritative local directories is more likely to appear in the Local Pack than a competitor with the same service quality but sparse or inconsistent citations. Key citation sources: Google Business Profile (the most important single citation), Apple Maps, Bing Places, Yelp, Facebook, Yellow Pages, and industry-specific directories (TripAdvisor for hospitality, Healthgrades for medical, Houzz for home services).
How DeepSEOAnalysis checks this
The audit checks for LocalBusiness or specific schema subtypes (Restaurant, MedicalClinic, etc.) with complete NAP structured data, verifies the schema data matches the NAP information visible in the page HTML, and checks whether a Google Business Profile link is referenced in the sameAs array. It does not crawl third-party directories — use a local citation audit tool (BrightLocal, Whitespark) for cross-directory consistency checking.
Useful tools and resources
GLOSSARY
Related terms
onpage
NAP Consistency
Ensuring a business's Name, Address, and Phone number are identical across the website, Google Business Profile, and all online directories — a foundational local SEO signal.
Read definition →onpage
Google Business Profile (GBP)
Google's free local listing platform (formerly Google My Business) that controls how a business appears in Google Maps and local search results — the most important local SEO asset for businesses with a physical location.
Read definition →onpage
Local SEO
SEO optimisation for location-based search queries — ensuring a business appears in Google's local pack and map results for "near me" and city-specific searches.
Read definition →structured data
Schema Markup
A shared vocabulary of types and properties from Schema.org used to annotate web content in machine-readable format — enabling search engines to understand what content means, not just what it says, and to generate rich results.
Read definition →ai visibility
Entity SEO
SEO focused on establishing and reinforcing a brand or person as a recognised entity in Google's Knowledge Graph — influencing AI citations and semantic search results.
Read definition →See how your site scores on Local Citation.
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