Local citations: what they are and which UK ones count

A local citation is any page on another website that shows your business name, address and phone number, such as Yell, Checkatrade, Facebook or a trade body's register.

Google says prominence, one of the things it ranks local results on, is partly based on how many websites link to your business. The citations worth having are accurate ones on sites your customers use.

Before you start tidying listings, it helps to know where you stand on the map today. A free Google Maps rank check shows where you rank from 25 spots around your business for one search, with no sign-up.

Further down is a reading of seven real Portsmouth searches from 28 October 2026, showing which UK directories Google actually put on the page.

What is a local citation?

A local citation is a mention of your business's name, address and phone number, often shortened to NAP, on a website you don't own. Most come from directories and listing sites, but a citation can be anywhere that names your business with its details.

There are two kinds:

Your website and your Google Business Profile are where the details start, and every citation should copy them exactly. Our guide to NAP consistency covers how to find and fix the ones that don't match.

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Do local citations still help you rank on Google Maps?

They can help, but Google doesn't say by how much. Its help page Tips to improve your local ranking on Google says "Local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity." Under prominence, it says this is "also based on info like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have."

So links from other websites count towards prominence. Google doesn't put a number on citations, and many directory listings don't link to your website at all. Treat them as one part of being well known, next to reviews and your own site, rather than a lever with a fixed reward.

Two more practical reasons make them worth doing:

1. Customers use them. Someone choosing a roofer may never reach your website. They pick from the Checkatrade or Yell page Google showed them first.
2. Wrong details cost calls. A directory still showing an old number sends the caller nowhere, and you never hear about it.

For the other things that move the map, see how to rank higher on Google Maps.

Which UK directories Google showed for seven real searches

We read seven Google searches on 28 October 2026 to see which directories a customer actually meets. Each was a trade plus the town, such as "plumber portsmouth", collected through DataForSEO's SERP API for the United Kingdom, on desktop, at about 09:50 UTC.

For each page we noted Google's "Find results on" row, a strip of five sites at the very top, and counted the directory-type pages among the ten web results under the map.

"Directory-type" means a third-party page that lists businesses: a directory, a trade platform, a review site or a professional register. The businesses' own websites, Facebook, Instagram and Reddit weren't counted.

Google search · 28 Oct 2026Real data

What the reading shows:

1. Google puts directories above the map. All seven pages opened with the "Find results on" row before the local pack. That is 35 slots, shared between 19 different sites.
2. Yell turned up most. Yell appeared in more rows than any other site, 5 of the 7, including every search outside the trades. TrustATrader came next with 4, then Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Three Best Rated with 3 each.
3. Trades meet trade platforms. For plumber, electrician, roofer and locksmith, 12 of the 20 row slots went to Checkatrade, MyBuilder, TrustATrader and Rated People. Two of the three electricians in the map pack also had a Checkatrade booking link on their Google listing.
4. Other sectors meet registers. The dentist results held the NHS website twice and the accountant results held ICAEW's register twice. You get onto those by being registered, then keeping the entry right.
5. Directories took about a third of the web results. 24 of the 70 web results were directory-type pages. Most of the rest were the businesses' own websites.

This is one town on one morning, on desktop. A phone, another town or another day can show different sites, so run your own search before you decide where to list.

Which local citations to get first

Start with the listings customers and maps rely on, then the sites Google shows for your trade:

1. Your Google Business Profile. It's the source every other listing should copy. If yours isn't finished, start with our Google Business Profile optimisation guide.
2. The other maps. Bing Places and Apple Business Connect feed Bing and Apple Maps. Apple's own page says "Claim your location on Maps so millions of customers can connect with your business."
3. The sites Google shows for your trade and town. Search "[your trade] [your town]" and note the "Find results on" row and the directory pages in the results. For the trades in our reading, that meant Checkatrade, MyBuilder, TrustATrader and Rated People. Our guide to local SEO for trades covers those platforms.
4. Your register or trade body. If you're on the NHS website, ICAEW's directory, the Master Locksmiths Association's list or a similar register, check your entry. Registers showed up for the dentist, accountant and locksmith searches.
5. Yell and the general directories. Yell was in the row for five of the seven searches, and Thomson Local, Cylex and 192.com appeared too.
6. Facebook. A business page with the same name, address and phone counts, and Facebook took a slot in two of the rows.

How to build local citations without making a mess

1. Write your details down once. Your name as it appears on your shopfront and website, the full address with any unit number and postcode, and one local phone number. Google's guidelines for representing your business ask for a name "as used consistently on your shopfront, website, stationery" and a phone number "under the direct control of the business".
2. Search before you sign up. Many directories already have a page for you, copied from somewhere else. Claim that page rather than creating a second one, because two pages leave customers guessing which is right.
3. Copy the details exactly. Same spelling, same phone, same postcode. Keep call-tracking numbers off directories: old ones can stay listed long after you stop paying for them.
4. Pick the right category. A listing in the right category shows up when people search that directory for your trade.
5. Keep a list. Note each site, the login email and the date you checked it. When you move or change number, that list becomes your to-do list.

How to check your citations

Search Google for your business name and town, then for your phone number in quotes. For each directory that matters to your trade, run a site search such as site:checkatrade.com "Harbour Plumbing", swapping in your own name. Look for old addresses, old numbers and duplicate pages.

Kerbrank's UK directory check runs these searches for you on the platforms that matter for your sector, and lists each one on your dashboard's Citations page as Listed, Details differ, Not found in our search or Check yourself. Our guide to what each directory status means explains them. It checks your listings; it doesn't create them.

Dashboard · CitationsExample

You can try it with a 14-day free trial.

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