A large part of keeping your agency clients happy comes down to them showing up in maps, search results and generative AI answers, and good listing management services are instrumental in making that happen. But without these services, you could update local business citations one month, then see your hard work undone the next—all thanks to large-scale directories, mapping/GPS apps and LLMs pulling old information from upstream sources, resyncing the data.
This results in missed calls and wrong directions – and a loss of brand trust. Inconsistent local citations damage online visibility in both traditional and AI search, so to keep these errors from recurring, today we’re discussing how to stop this cold.
The Top 5 Business Citation Errors That Keep Coming Back
Before we dig into the solution—which is easy, we promise—let’s identify the top 5 offenders when it comes to citation errors. This provides a heads-up on what to look out for to keep clients’ business listings clean and consistent across multiple platforms.
Out-of-Date NAP Data – After a name change, a move to a new location, a switch to a new phone number (or an update to unify data), your out-of-date NAP data will show up in search results. Keep in mind that when it comes to addresses, Google normalizes data points such as Suite, Street, and similar fields. But for listing management, it’s best to use addresses in the format provided by the USPS, as Google trusts this data more.
Duplicate Listings – Repeated local listings split visibility and reviews for a business, which can affect consumer trust and algorithm/AI trust.
Conflicting Hours – Correct business hours are important for multiple reasons, including the effect on a business’ ability to show up in searches with immediate intent, as discussed in the 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors. Conflicting hours across sites, especially on holidays or for special occasions, leads to confused customers.
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