Your Google Business Profile is the most important listing you have. But it isn’t the only place people look for a local business. iPhone users ask Siri and open Apple Maps. Plenty of people search with Bing without thinking about it. Neighbors ask for recommendations on Nextdoor and Facebook.
Every one of those places can show your business, with or without your help. If you don’t claim your listing, it may show old hours, a wrong phone number or nothing at all. Here’s which ones to claim, in order, and why.
1. Apple Maps (Apple Business Connect)
Why it matters: Apple Maps is the default map on every iPhone. When someone asks Siri for “a plumber nearby” or taps an address in a text, Apple Maps answers.
How to claim it: go to Apple Business Connect, sign in with an Apple Account, search for your business and claim it, or add it if it’s missing. Apple verifies that you own it, often with a phone call or documents. It’s free.
Worth adding: your logo, a cover photo, hours, your website and a short description. Apple also lets you add “showcases” for offers and news.
2. Bing Places
Why it matters: Bing powers search in Microsoft Edge and on many Windows computers, and its business data feeds other services too. It’s a smaller audience than Google, but it’s real, and few of your competitors bother.
How to claim it: Bing Places for Business is free and can import your details straight from your Google Business Profile, which makes it the quickest listing on this page. Check the imported details carefully before you publish.
3. Facebook Page
Why it matters: for many people, Facebook is where they check whether a business is real and still open. Locals also recommend businesses in Facebook groups, and a Page gives them something to tag.
How to set it up: create a Page (not a personal profile) for your business, with the right category, hours, phone, website and service area. Post now and then, even just a photo of a finished job. A Page whose last post is from three years ago makes people wonder whether you’re still around.
4. Yelp
Why it matters: Yelp shows up high in search results for lots of local services, and Apple Maps has long shown Yelp reviews. Many people check it before they call, especially for restaurants, home services and personal care.
How to claim it: claim your page through Yelp for Business. Claiming is free. You’ll be offered paid ads, which you don’t need to buy to have a listing.
One rule to know: unlike Google, Yelp asks businesses not to request reviews at all. Don’t send customers a “review us on Yelp” link. Let your Yelp page fill up on its own, and focus your review requests on Google. Our guide to getting more Google reviews explains how.
5. Nextdoor
Why it matters: Nextdoor is built around neighborhoods, and “Can anyone recommend a good…?” is one of its most common posts. When a neighbor recommends you, a claimed business page makes it easy for others to find and contact you.
How to claim it: create a free business page on Nextdoor, add your service area and details, and ask happy local customers to recommend you there if they use it.
The rule that matters most: make them all match
Your business name, address, phone number, website and hours should read exactly the same on every listing and on your website. Search engines compare these details across the web. When they match, search engines are more confident they’re showing the right business. When they don’t, customers end up calling a disconnected number.
A simple way to stay on top of it:
- Write your details down once, in a note or document: exact business name, address (or service area), phone, website, hours and a two-sentence description.
- Copy and paste from that note every time you fill in a listing, so nothing drifts.
- Update everything together when something changes, like new hours, a move or a new phone number. Then check each listing a week later to make sure the change stuck.
- Set a reminder twice a year to look over each listing. Anyone can suggest edits to some listings, and wrong details can creep in.
Which to do first
If you only have an hour, do Google first, then Apple Maps and Bing (Bing is quick because it imports from Google). Next, a Facebook Page. Then Yelp and Nextdoor if your customers use them. Most local service businesses benefit from all six over time.
Your website should match too, and it ties everything together. Our guide to showing up in “near me” searches covers the website side.
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