What are the 12 Core Citations Every Business Needs in 2019?

[Travis Van Slooten]

I'm kind of in a citation obsession right now as I'm doing citation work for a couple new clients so I've been watching various webinars from some of the rockstar local SEO folks in here and reading various blogs posts, etc. and the general consensus seems to be that there are really only about 12 (give or take) "core citations" that really matter in 2019. Or put another way, if you don't build any other citations, here are the 12 you absolutely need to be sure you have. I say 12 because the stuff I'm consuming says 8, others say "a dozen or so" so I'm just going with 12. If it's only 8 even better

The list probably starts with Google, Bing, Facebook, Yelp, YellowPages - and then what?

Travis

P.S. I know the list could vary slightly depending on industry, but there has to be a definitive list of the "core" general citations that every business should have. That's what I'm trying to nail down.

 

[Rich Owings]

I consider most of the ones you listed (except YP) to be major listings. I'd add Apple Maps to that list.

Depending upon the industry and city, Trip Advisor might make the list too.

All of the above can drive significant traffic.

 

[HoosierBuff]

The other one I would add is Foursquare - they sell their data to others, and fixing Foursquare helps other things.

 

[whitespark]

Hey Travis,

We obsess about this too, and have designed our citation packages to be based on what we consider the most important sites:

Citation Building & Listing Cleanup that Sparks Joy

Get effective & affordable citation building and cleanup services form the industry-leader.

whitespark.ca

Our Essentials+ package probably best represents the core sites that are of the most importance:

1. Google
2. Apple Maps
3. Facebook
4. Foursqaure
5. Bing
6. Yelp
7. TomTom (need to get into in-car nav systems)
8. Yellowpages
9. InfoGroup (aggregator)
10. Localeze (aggregator)
11. Factual (aggregator)
12. Dunn & Bradstreet (aggregator)

 

[Rich Owings]

Good point adding TomTom. I've started checking them, HERE Maps and Uber.

 

[whitespark]

HERE has been a pain in butt to do manually, so we dropped it. Uber's location data is powered by Foursquare.

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

HERE has been a pain in butt to do manually, so we dropped it. Uber's location data is powered by Foursquare.

Darren - it's been a while. I hope all is well! Thanks for the info. Quick follow up - what about home service businesses - i.e. plumbers, electricians, etc.? They can't submit to Apple Maps directly (though you can sneak in through Yelp), but what about Tom Tom? I'm assuming that would be a no-go as well. And do the "core citations" change slightly for home service contractors? For example, maybe Manta.com would be on the list (and maybe Angie's List and Home Advisor)?

Travis

 

[Digitaldar]

I should come up with another list for Canada

 

[tedchan]

Don't forget your vertical specific citations!

 

[Justin Mosebach]

OpenStreetMap.org (at least partially) feeds the maps on Facebook and Instagram.

BBB.org (especially if client is a member).

 

[lancemoore22]

What's the best way to update data on TomTom?

 

[Rich Owings]

Map Share™ Reporter

 

[Justin Mosebach]

Map Share™ Reporter

@lancemoore22 I've found it easiest to use the "Classic" version. To do so (once you log in), click on this button in the top right-hand corner:

 

[lancemoore22]

@lancemoore22 I've found it easiest to use the "Classic" version. To do so (once you log in), click on this button in the top right-hand corner:

Thanks for the tip!

 

[j_holtslander]

Whitespark has a nice list for Canada that I bookmarked.

 

[Blake Denman]

Don't forget your vertical specific citations!

Besides what's already been said, we also defer to what citation sources are already ranking for our client's keywords. Good old fashioned barnacle SEO can work really well if you invest in building up a profile and earning reviews to the listing.

 

[Monica Simpson]

This is so brilliant! I had a bunch of these on my list but I totally forgot about car nav systems. Living the the land of old school minivans. Thank you so much for posting.