If you’re not sure what local citations are, don’t worry - you’ve probably come across them while looking for a new service-provider, brand, or company. For example, a few weeks ago, my sister came to town and wanted to take me out to dinner. She’s unfamiliar with the area’s local spots, so my sister took to Yelp to find a restaurant we’d both love. After scrolling through Yelp, she found a Black-owned restaurant called 7th + Grove that had rave reviews. Yelp showed 7th + Grove’s address, so we knew it was in a busy part of town and could be packed the night we wanted to visit. Fortunately, the restaurant’s phone number was listed, so my sister called and made a reservation. In this Cork Ladies Bicycles Zone scenario, the restaurant’s listed address and phone number were their local citations - and made our visit easy and organized. → What are local citations? Local citations are any online mentions of a business's name, address, and phone number (NAP). These citations can be found on business directories, websites, and apps like Yelp or Yellow Pages. In addition to helping people find local businesses online, citations for local SEO can also boost local search engine rankings. Citations can help with local SEO because they allow search engines to verify the legitimacy of your business. If the same name, address, and contact information for your brand are easily accessible throughout the web, search engines can trust that your business exists and is truthful about the service it provides. Benefits of Local Citations Local online searches have proven to be integral to a business ’success. According to BrightLocal’s 2022 Consumer Review survey, 99% of consumers used online searches to find local businesses in the last year. In that same survey, 78% of consumers said they searched for local businesses online more than once a week.