Local citations are online mentions of your business name, address and phone number. They appear on directories, map apps, review sites and social platforms.

For a Perth business, they do two jobs. They help customers find you, and they help Google confirm that your business is real and located where you say it is.

Citations are not the biggest local ranking factor on their own. Your Google Business Profile, your reviews, your website and how relevant you are to the search all carry more weight. Even so, wrong or messy listings can hold you back, and the right listings send real customers your way. This guide covers what to focus on.

What counts as a local citation

A local citation is any place online that lists your business details. The core details are often called NAP: name, address and phone number. Many listings also include your website, opening hours, categories, photos and a short description.

Common places include:

Google Business Profile, which feeds Google Search and Google Maps
Apple Business Connect, which feeds Apple Maps
Bing Places for Business
general directories such as Yellow Pages
trade and service platforms such as hipages
Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn business pages
industry association and chamber of commerce member lists

Directories come and go, so check that any site is still active and genuinely used before you spend time on it.

Why consistency matters

Google compares what it finds about your business across the web. When the details match, it can be more confident they are correct. When they don’t, it may show the wrong phone number or address, or treat two listings as two different businesses.

Small differences add up. “Smith Plumbing” in one place and “Smith Plumbing Services Pty Ltd” in another. “Unit 4/12 Murray St” here and “12 Murray Street, Suite 4” there. An old mobile number on a directory you forgot about years ago.

Choose one exact version of your business name, address and main phone number, and use it everywhere. Write it down and give it to anyone who sets up listings for you. Use the trading name your customers know, unless it is the same as your legal entity name.

If you use call tracking numbers, check Google’s current guidance on how to list them, so your main number still appears on your profile.

Businesses that visit customers rather than having a shopfront can hide their address in Google Business Profile and set a service area instead. Do the same on other platforms where that option exists.

Start with Google Business Profile

If you only work on one listing, make it this one. It controls how you appear in Google Maps and in the map results near the top of local searches.

Get the basics right:

the right primary category, plus any genuinely relevant secondary ones
accurate opening hours, including public holiday hours
a clear description of what you do and the areas you serve
real photos of your work, team or premises
your services listed with plain descriptions

Then keep it active. Reply to reviews, answer questions and post an update now and then.

Choose relevance over volume

Submitting your details to every directory you can find wastes time. It also creates listings that are hard to track down and update later. Some low-quality directories get almost no real visitors and add little value.

A better approach starts with a little research:

Search for your main service plus “Perth” and note which directories appear on the first page.
Check where your strongest local competitors are listed.
Find the platforms customers in your industry actually use to compare and book.
Include your industry association, if you belong to one.

A tradie will usually get more from home services platforms than from a general business directory. A café is more likely to benefit from food and dining sites, while a physio or dentist will look at health directories.

A note for health businesses

Dental, medical, allied health, cosmetic and other regulated health services must follow Ahpra’s advertising rules. These ban testimonials in advertising and restrict incentives, gifts and before-and-after images.

Reviews that patients leave on independent sites are generally outside your control. Don’t copy them into your listing descriptions, website or ads, and keep descriptions factual. If you are unsure, check Ahpra’s current advertising guidance before publishing.

Make each listing worth clicking

A listing is often the first thing a customer sees about you, so treat it as a small advert.

Write a plain description that says what you do, where you work and why someone should choose you. Be specific. “Emergency plumbing across Perth’s northern suburbs” says far more than “quality plumbing services”. Only claim what is true.

Add your own photos and keep your hours current. Where the platform allows it, link to the most relevant page on your website rather than always the home page.

Avoid stuffing keywords into your business name or description. Adding “Best Perth Plumber” to your name on Google Business Profile breaks Google’s guidelines and can get the profile suspended.

Clean up duplicates and old details

Most established businesses have some old listings floating around. A previous address. A disconnected number. A duplicate created by a staff member years ago.

Search for your business name, old addresses and old phone numbers to find them. Claim each listing and correct it where you can. Where a platform allows it, merge or remove duplicates so each location has one accurate listing.

If you move premises or change your number, update Google Business Profile first, then your website, then work through every other listing.

Keep a simple record

Citations need occasional maintenance. A check every six months is enough for most small businesses, plus a reminder to update holiday hours before Christmas and Easter.

Keep a spreadsheet with each platform, the listing address, who holds the login and the date it was last checked. It makes updates much faster and stops listings being lost when staff leave. Logins should be held in the business’s name, not a former employee’s or contractor’s.

Businesses with more than one location

Each physical location should have its own listing, with its own address and phone number, and its own page on your website. Don’t create listings for suburbs where you have no premises. Google’s guidelines don’t allow it, and fake locations can lead to suspension.

If you serve a wide area from one base, set a service area and use your website to explain the suburbs you cover.

Measuring what citations bring in

Add UTM tags to the website links in your main listings so Google Analytics can show visits and enquiries from each one. Google Business Profile also has its own performance reports, covering calls, website clicks and direction requests.

Many people who find you through a directory will call rather than click. Keep an eye on phone enquiries too, and ask new customers how they found you.

Don’t expect overnight change. Citation work tends to support rankings gradually, alongside your reviews, website content and Google Business Profile.

Mistakes to avoid

Buying bulk citation packages. Cheap services often create hundreds of listings on low-quality sites that you cannot later update or remove.
Keyword stuffing. It looks spammy to customers and can breach platform rules.
Letting someone else own your listings. If a contractor holds the login, you may struggle to make changes later.
Setting and forgetting. Old details lead to missed calls, wasted trips and lost trust.

SLINKY is a Perth digital agency founded in 1998, and local search is part of our SEO services. If you would like help tidying up your listings or working out which ones are worth your time, get in touch. You will deal directly with senior people, with no account managers.