As an agency partner or local marketer, you already know the importance of visibility in search, and that listings management services play a big role in making that happen. With AI searches increasing exponentially among consumers, these services (alongside AI tools) help your clients stand out from their competition, surfacing their data and content in ChatGPT, Gemini, CoPilot and the like. However, inconsistent or missing local citations can absolutely hinder visibility and cost them business.
Consistent Local Citations Still Matter in the AI Age
Rapid developments in generative AI mean there must be major adjustments in marketing and strategy development. And this leads many to question if listings management services are even relevant in the AI Age? The short answer is a resounding YES. While AI optimization (AIO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) are all the rage (and what some organizations are pivoting towards), a strong search foundation still rests upon clean, consistent, updated citations. But what does this mean in practice?
When a business’ name, address, phone number (NAP) and website data match across multiple sites, this makes it easier to be recognized by people, robots, and AI large language models (LLM). In fact, something as simple as a physical address being listed as “Park Avenue” on one site versus “Park Ave.” on another is flagged as an inconsistency. It is estimated that NAP consistency can improve local search rankings up to 16%, according to SEO strategist Wesley Young.
Consider a business phone number and its associated secondary numbers. Are they entered correctly and in the same format on the website, across review sites, social media profiles, map or GPS applications, data aggregators, and in every single relevant directory? A citation is a small thing that makes a massive impact. Truly, a business’ online success hinges on its consistency.
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