You know the importance of local business citations and how reputable listing management services help agencies to get clients to rank high in search. However, there is a specific citation that’s often overlooked, and that is mapping apps. These are important because they help patrons get to the right locations and contact the appropriate businesses when they click to call. Clients can rank well, but if their map data is bad it will absolutely cost them business.
Citations come from more than one directory pipeline or Google Business Profile (GBP). Today I’ll be discussing why maps and GPS are forgotten, and how to take control of this data point successfully.
What Counts as a Mapping App Local Citation?
Before we get too far into it, let’s look at what counts as a mapping app citation. As you know, a citation is created when a business’ NAP (name, address, phone number) data shows up online. These citations affect client businesses and must be managed, and it’s similar on maps.
Garmin, Waze, Apple Maps, Bing Maps, GPS & navigational systems, in-vehicle maps, voice assistants (and more!) all pull from multiple data sources to create these mapping app citations. What data populates for your clients on these geographic citations? Map citations are crucial to conversions. They are used when a purchase, site or office visit is imminent. This is one of the reasons to seriously consider if automating citations is the right move for your agency.
What Is the Value of Mapping Apps and Citation Management?
Maps should be a priority, not a backburner project. Managing geographic citations is just as important as the work you do to get businesses to rank and be ready for answer engines and AI search.
Why Mapping App Citations Matter
Mapping apps matter more than many businesses realize. Potential clients, customers and patients make decisions with immediate intent in navigation apps. They need clean, correct data for locations, hours, directions and calls.
Voice and AI assistants and in-vehicle navigation rely heavily on map data. Incorrect information takes people to the wrong address, causes missed appointments, and damages trust with people and algorithms. Managing GPS citations is critical to the success of client businesses.
How Should Map Citations Be Managed?
Having correct mapping citations is critical, so should citations be managed manually or via automation? Well, every platform has its own data gathering networks, and they refresh at different times. Some agencies are choosing to fully automate their citations, as it’s becoming increasingly difficult to perform manual updates.
Newly entered client data can be lost or missed because of inconsistent syncing and system refreshes. Or worse, your client’s new address and phone number may be overwritten by upstream sources. This affects productivity because teams are always chasing updates. And clients are hit hard, unable to reach their intended audiences. But map citations cannot be ignored, nor should they be left to the unthinking machines.
When working with Advice Local, we update citations in real time, so if you make an address update within your partner dashboard, that data is submitted to the appropriate sources almost instantly.
What Are the Risks of Ignoring Mapping Citations?
Trust is everything, and there are too many risks involved in ignoring mapping citations. Answer engine LLMs look for trust signals before using a business’ data. Clean citations on mapping and GPS make it easier to establish trust with directories, search engines and other online mechanisms—and it also removes friction for potential customers.
The right data prevents people from going to businesses at a time or on a day they’re not open, or worse yet, from going to the wrong location. The right data gets them to the proper entrance when arriving at complex commerce centers and confusing buildings. It makes connection – the first part of any conversion – easy.
Listing Management Makes GPS Business Citations Manageable
Listing management software addresses many of these issues without adding burdens to your workload. You can update maps and traditional citations at the same time. Rather than using manual updates that are easily overwritten, or trusting full automation that cannot reason and will miss details, you can have centralized management for all data belonging to your client businesses.
Good listing management software has GPS business listings included in the many directories and data aggregators it feeds to. Mapping is not a separate endeavor, it is key to local SEO. The distribution channels are to reputable sites that sync and refresh on a regular basis, and it’s monitored to ensure that the latest NAP data for businesses is in these systems.
Advice Local Makes Adding Map Citations Easy
Our product is made to help agencies reduce manual efforts and improve visibility into client data online. It makes it easier to address and correct issues in directories, mapping applications, and anywhere incorrect data appears.
Consistency builds trust in search engines, maps and answer engines. Mapping app citation management is designed to go beyond traditional directories to make sure your clients get the foot traffic they need to succeed.
Why #Mapping Apps Are the Overlooked #Citation Layer by @BernieColeman #SEO
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Help Building Mapping Citations for Growing Agencies
Make a move to get your clients’ patrons to the right location every time. Advice Local’s listing management includes top mapping and GPS directories in its services. It’s easy to access and view multiple clients in one easy-to-use dashboard built for local SEO in the AI Age. To get started, request a demo or call us at (214) 310-1356.
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