Business Listings & Local Search

Before anyone reads your reviews, they have to find you. Your business name, address, phone number and hours appear on Google, Apple Maps, Bing, Yelp and dozens of directories that copy each other. When those listings disagree, customers call old numbers, drive to old addresses, and search engines trust your listing less.

These guides cover setting up each major listing, fixing duplicates and suspensions, and keeping everything consistent when you move, rebrand or open a new location.

Start here

• NAP Consistency: Why Your Name, Address and Phone Must Match EverywhereWhy your business name, address and phone must match across the web, and how to fix mismatches in the right order.
• Business Listings Audit Checklist: Find and Fix Wrong ListingsA step-by-step self-audit to find wrong, duplicate and closed listings, and decide what to fix first.

The major platforms

• How to Set Up a Google Business Profile the Right WayCreate or claim your profile, get verified, and fill in name, categories, hours, photos and services within Google's rules.
• Apple Business Connect, Now Apple Business: How to Claim and Manage Your Apple Maps Place CardBusiness Connect became Apple Business in April 2026. How to claim, verify, and manage your Apple Maps place card.
• Bing Places for Business: How to Claim, Verify, and Sync Your ListingClaim your Bing listing, import from Google, verify it, and avoid the duplicate and moved-address traps.
• Business Data Aggregators: Who Feeds Your Listings and How to Correct ThemThe data providers behind maps and directories, how to correct your record with each, and why errors come back.

Fixing problems

• Google Business Profile Suspended or Disabled: Why It Happens and How to AppealWhat suspended, disabled and restricted mean, the common causes, and how to file one strong appeal.
• Duplicate Business Listings: How to Find, Merge, and Remove ThemHow each major platform merges or removes duplicate listings, and why deleting the wrong one can cost you.
• Moving or Rebranding Your Business Without Losing Your ReviewsWhat Google, Yelp, Bing, Apple and Facebook each do when you move or change your name, and the order to update them.

Special cases

• Practitioner Listings: Google Profiles for Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers and AgentsGoogle's exact wording on practitioner profiles, how to name them, and what to do when a provider leaves the practice.
• Service-Area Businesses: Listing Rules for Google, Bing, Yelp and AppleHow to list a business that goes to its customers: hiding your address, service-area limits and the virtual-office trap.
• Multi-Location Listings: Managing Profiles for Chains, Groups and Dealer NetworksBulk verification, business groups, store codes and naming rules for brands with 10 or more locations.