Drawing on insights from industry leaders and recent studies, we explore whether citations still hold any weight for businesses aiming to enhance their local online presence, especially for established brands with multiple locations.
Should You Really Pay for an Annual Citation Subscription?
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/should-you-really-pay-annual-citation-subscription-joy-hawkins-uzpuf/
"Before renewing an annual subscription for citation services, business owners should evaluate the effectiveness of these services. A surprising case study we did revealed that only 3% of citations managed by a paid service were indexed by Google, suggesting that the majority of such services may not provide the expected SEO benefits."
Why Local Citations Don’t Work
https://www.nearmedia.co/why-local-citations-dont-work-ai-dilemma-rip-smart-speakers/“The explanation for the decline of long-tail listings' SEO influence has always been a version of the following: Google built up its local graph and GBP data and doesn't need need to look to third party citation consistency anymore. But the search leak documents suggest that Google uses clickstream data to discount links on low-traffic pages and reward those on high-traffic pages. Much of the long-tail directory syndication goes to sites that have little or no traffic now. While this is logical and may be self-evident in hindsight, it was the missing piece in the citations story. We've always argued you should focus on sites that consumers actually use. But this new revelation appears to be a causal explanation for citations' decline.”
Does Long-Tail Syndication Still Work?
https://www.meetsoci.com/resources/insights/brands-franchises/long-tail-syndication-still-work-local-search/
“In our analysis, we looked at the key metric where citations once had an important impact: local search ranking. The current consensus of local SEO professionals, according to the long-running industry survey Local Search Ranking Factors, is that citation building has a 7% influence on local ranking, down massively from prior years, with all other factors amounting to 93%. Would our data support this assumption? In fact, we found no measurable difference in local search ranking between locations syndicated to long-tail directories and non-syndicated locations.”
Local Rankings - Non Search Engine Citations are #44
https://whitespark.ca/local-search-ranking-factors/
“Some of the biggest decreases occurred with link factors. This echoes the trend we’re seeing this year with a decrease in the link factor groups at the top of this page. On page & content signals are up, link signals are down."
This list represents a compilation of local search ranking factors as compiled by a business that sells citation management, but citations first appear as #44 on the list. Importantly, the list of experts voting to compile the lists lean heavily into small business local rank optimization. The ranking would be even lower for established multi-location brands."
Limited to No Value
https://streetfightmag.com/2019/07/22/the-history-and-value-of-citations-or-citations-are-dead-long-live-the-citation
“But as I said at Local U Advanced four years ago, I fear that the primary reason agencies are still selling NAP consistency is that it’s relatively easy to fulfill. NAP consistency as an SEO tactic makes great sense for the agency (or software company) but no longer for the average local business or even enterprise brand.”
Do local citations matter anymore?
https://searchengineland.com/do-local-citations-matter-anymore-five-local-seos-sound-off-320015
“If a business has their data correct on their website and can get their data straightened away at Google, Facebook and maybe Yelp, there is no need for a citation campaign and certainly no need for a recurring cost to do so. Then what function or role do citations continue to play? In terms of discovery and keyword searches, their value is very limited if not quite zero but in terms of recovery searches (i.e., someone looking your address), given the fragmentation there, they continue to play a role.“
No Impact on Rankings
https://whitespark.ca/blog/from-zero-to-local-ranking-hero-mozcon-2019/
“Did the citations impact rankings? A small boost, but nothing dramatic. Citations are more of a foundational factor than a rankings booster. You’ll have a hard time ranking without them, but other tactics in local search will be more likely to move the needle.”
All Calls From Directory Listings are Solicitations
https://www.slideshare.net/darrenshaw1/darren-shaw-mozcon-2019-from-zero-to-local-ranking-hero
“100% of the calls a SMB got from 3rd party directories using a call tracking number in @DarrenShaw_ 's case study were sales calls, not clients.”
The Yext Challenge
https://twitter.com/DarrenShaw_/status/1154828085973278720
(No test was conducted, threads demonstrate some strong opinions on the matter)“Hypothesis: cancelling Yext would have no negative impact on rankings whatsoever. Any multi-location brands out there want to run a test with me? I’ll setup all the tracking and do the analysis. You just need to cancel a few locations.”
Citations are (almost) dead
https://www.pinmeto.com/blog/citations-are-almost-dead
“So, we’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, as a company you must - in order to be ranked higher than your competitors - respond to all reviews, be active with pictures and have a high frequency in your work in GMB.”
Do Directory Backlinks Hurt Your SEO?
https://juliangoldie.com/directory-backlinks/
“If you didn’t realize this already, no one really uses business directories anymore, because they’re out of fashion. Between 1990 and 2005 people were using business directories online because they were a great way to find other businesses. But these days, most people use social media, and they’re using Google Maps. If you’re expecting any sort of referral traffic from a business directory, chances are that you’re going to be disappointed.”
Are Web Directories Still Relevant for SEO in 2022?
https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/21291/web-directories-seo/
“Web Directories have been the norm for the world wide web and for search engine optimization for a long time. But are they still relevant in this age of advanced AI Google Updates? According to Google's John Mueller said, ‘in general, no’.”
The once-critical role of citations in local SEO strategies has diminished significantly. As the digital marketing landscape continues to evolve, so too must the approaches to optimizing local search discovery and rankings. The priority should now be on engaging directly with customers through responding to review, answering questions, and sharing posts, while taking advantage of all opportunities to share your offering through additional categories, services, and products.
