Are citations relevant in 2026/2027?

[Oliver Keates]

Are citations relevant in 2026/2027 and is domain authority still viable as a measurement metric.

Also as a digital marketing agency what offer/service should a dm company offer as a retainer per month for local and national companies.

It would be worth getting peoples feedback

thanks

 

[fisicx]

Are citations relevant in 2026/2027 and is domain authority still viable as a measurement metric.

Also as a digital marketing agency what offer/service should a dm company offer as a retainer per month for local and national companies.

It would be worth getting peoples feedback

thanks

Relevant for what? Some citations may have value, most don't. It all depends on your business.

Domain Authority has never been an important metric.

 

[keyserholiday]

Only a handful of citations are important. The core citations are Apple Maps, Bing, Facebook, and Yahoo. If you are showing your address on Yelp, which you always should, Yelp pushes out data to Apple Maps, Bing, and Yahoo. The other citations that matter are ones that show up for your industry.

DA has never mattered for SEO, and it will never. It is a made-up metric by Moz (SEOMoz). Googler John Mueller has repeatedly stated that Google doesn't use DA as a ranking factor. Moz created DA to mirror or replicate the old PageRank score Google used to update every few months. Google stopped publicly sharing it because link sellers abused it. The only links that matter are from the pages that A. generate traffic and B. generate a click.

 

[Oliver Keates]

Only a handful of citations are important. The core citations are Apple Maps, Bing, Facebook, and Yahoo. If you are showing your address on Yelp, which you always should, Yelp pushes out data to Apple Maps, Bing, and Yahoo. The other citations that matter are ones that show up for your industry.

DA has never mattered for SEO, and it will never. It is a made-up metric by Moz (SEOMoz). Googler John Mueller has repeatedly stated that Google doesn't use DA as a ranking factor. Moz created DA to mirror or replicate the old PageRank score Google used to update every few months. Google stopped publicly sharing it because link sellers abused it. The only links that matter are from the pages that A. generate traffic and B. generate a click.

Great point, i would be interested in your thoughts on the future of link building?

 

[fisicx]

Great point, i would be interested in your thoughts on the future of link building?

Mostly pointless for local SEO. And not really that important for general SEO.

Google has been lowering the score for inbound links for years - mainly because they have been abused for years. Google places far more importance on content. They are looking for interesting and informative content that adds value. Expertise and authority is helpful. Your site should have good and logical information flows with calls to action, easy to find contact details along with privacy, terms and legal.

The bit that often set a good site apart are the case studies and project reports: show potential clients what you have done and where. If properly categorised you can fly up the ranking.

You don't need to do any link building.

 

[jlfaverio]

Well for the retainer question, I'd build the offer around qualified leads and keeping the website working. Check forms, fix technical issues, improve service pages, and report actual inquiries. Citation cleanup can be a defined project. But something like "we added another 50 directory listings" wouldn't be my monthly selling point.

 

[fisicx]

Also as a digital marketing agency what offer/service should a dm company offer as a retainer per month for local and national companies.

Being retained to do what? For example, are you being paid to improve ranking, generate leads, improve conversions, expand the reach of the business? Each contract will be different, some may be work £1000/month some £10,000/month.

 

[keyserholiday]

Great point, i would be interested in your thoughts on the future of link building?

I don’t see link building changing any.

 

[Oliver Keates]

I don’t see link building changing any.

I think its still going back to Eric Wards Link Moses core fundamentals

 

[fisicx]

I think its still going back to Eric Wards Link Moses core fundamentals

Not really.

You first need to look at the marketing strategy of the business - what are you offering to whom and how are you going to make them aware of your products and services. It may be that a GBP is sufficient. You might do well on TikTok. A billboard on a prominent intersection could work. Email campaigns are still effective. Even cold calling has it's place.

But if you want to rank a site then focus on the site content and internal navigation. Make sure you have a holistic approach so Google is really clear about the offering. Some inbound links can endorse your business but they really aren't necessary these days. I know this is your job for infotex but it's now far less effective than it ever was. I really well built site can often outrank anything that uses link building as a ranking strategy.