The Plan · Get Found Online · Step 10 of 30
Get Your Listings Consistent
Google decides where you rank partly by cross-checking your business name, address, and phone number against every other place they appear online. That trio is called your NAP. When your Yelp listing says "Suite B," your BBB page says "Ste B," and an old directory still lists a phone number you dropped two years ago, Google can't be sure those listings are all the same company. That uncertainty quietly holds down your map ranking.
Nobody hands you a report that says "you lost the #3 spot because of a comma." It just happens. Fixing your citations is unglamorous cleanup work, but it's some of the cheapest ranking you'll ever buy.
Lock down one exact NAP
Before you touch a single listing, write down the one true version of your name, address, and phone. Then copy it character for character everywhere. Same abbreviations, same spacing, same phone format.
Name: Rapid Drain & Jetting
Address: 1420 Industrial Way, Ste B, Tucson, AZ 85714
Phone: (520) 555-0142
Use that exact string on Google, Yelp, Angi, BBB, and every directory. No "and" on one
and "&" on another.
Audit what's already out there
Search your phone number in quotes on Google: "(520) 555-0142". Every page
that comes back is a citation. Then search your business name plus your city. You'll
usually find old listings with a dead phone number, a previous address, or your business
name spelled two different ways. Make a spreadsheet: listing URL, what's wrong, fixed yet.
A tracked list: "Yelp — address missing suite — FIXED. Angi — old cell number — FIXED. YellowPages — company listed as 'Rapid Drain LLC' — claim & correct."
"I think I updated Yelp once." Untracked means unfinished. Duplicates and typos you never found keep bleeding ranking.
Fix the big ones first
You don't need 200 citations. You need the ones that carry weight to be perfect. Claim and correct Google Business Profile, Yelp, Angi, BBB, Facebook, and Apple Maps first. Those move the needle far more than a random directory nobody visits.
Kill duplicates
Two listings for the same business split your signals and confuse customers. On Yelp and Google, report duplicates and ask for a merge. Keep the claimed, complete one; remove the ghost.
BrightLocal's guide to NAP consistency lays out exactly why one mismatched address or old phone number across Yelp, Angi, and BBB confuses Google and drags your local ranking. It's the plain-English version of what to clean up first.
Do this: write your one exact NAP today, search your phone number in quotes, and fix every listing that doesn't match it word for word.
Don't want to do this yourself?
We'll set it up and run it for you — this step and the rest of the plan — so you can stay on the truck. Built for jetting and drain-line companies only.
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