Local SEO

Quick answer NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone number. Keeping these details identical wherever your business appears online helps Google, Bing and AI assistants confirm that you are real and where you operate, which supports local rankings and reduces the risk of customers finding wrong information. Last updated: October 2026 Imagine a customer searching for your phone number and finding three different ones, or an old address from before you moved. Search engines face the same problem at scale. When details conflict across your website, Google Business Profile and directories, they have to guess which is correct. That doubt rarely causes a dramatic penalty, but it can quietly hold back local visibility, send customers to the wrong place and waste call tracking and marketing effort. This guide explains what NAP consistency is, why it still matters in the age of AI search, how to audit your listings, how to fix problems efficiently, and how to handle awkward cases such as call tracking, service-area businesses and rebrands. In this guide What NAP actually means Why consistency still matters Common causes of inconsistency How to audit your listings step by step Fixing inconsistencies efficiently Special cases: tracking numbers, service areas and rebrands How to keep your details consistent over time The bottom line FAQs What NAP actually means NAP is the business name, full address and main phone number exactly as you use them. Many businesses extend the same discipline to their website URL, opening hours and primary email, sometimes called NAPW or NAP plus. The point is not to write them identically for the sake of it. It is to give search engines and AI systems a single, confident answer to the question “who is this business and where is it?”. The more independent places that agree, the more trust they place in your details. Why consistency still matters Local SEO has changed, and citation volume matters far less than it once did. But consistency is still a trust signal, and inconsistency still causes harm. Google builds its understanding of a business from many sources, including your website, your profile, directories, data aggregators and mentions elsewhere. When these disagree, the data can be merged incorrectly, duplicate profiles can appear, or Google can show out-of-date details. A duplicate or outdated listing can split reviews and links across two entities, weakening both. AI assistants make accuracy more important. ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity draw business details from the web and third-party sources. If those sources conflict, an assistant may quote the wrong phone number or recommend a competitor whose details are clearer. Common causes of inconsistency Moving premises and updating only some listings. Using a tracking phone number on some directories and the main number on others. Writing the business name differently, for example with or without “Ltd”, “&” versus “and”, or a keyword added. Abbreviating address elements differently, such as “Rd” versus “Road” or “Unit 4” versus “4”. Old pages or social accounts from a previous brand or owner that still rank. Data aggregators and scraped directories repeating outdated information. Individually these look trivial. Across dozens of listings they create the doubt that holds trust back. How to audit your listings step by step Start with a master record: the exact name, address, phone, website and hours you want used everywhere. Put them in one document and treat it as the single source of truth. Search Google for your phone number in quotes and for any previous addresses or names to find forgotten listings. List your key listings: Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yell and relevant industry or local directories. Check your own website footer, contact page, schema markup and email signatures. Compare each against the master record in a spreadsheet, noting differences and who controls each listing. Prioritise fixes by visibility: your Google Business Profile and website first, then high-authority directories, then the long tail. Fixing inconsistencies efficiently Claim and edit listings directly wherever you can, since that is faster and more reliable than waiting for aggregators. For listings you cannot access, use the directory’s correction or removal process, and keep a note of requests and dates. If duplicates exist, aim to merge or remove them rather than leaving both live. Where a listing is for an old address, mark the business as moved or closed at that location, depending on the platform. Always keep the main profile accurate first, because that is what customers see most. Update the website last but do not forget it. Your contact page, footer, header, privacy page, invoices and LocalBusiness schema should all match. Schema is the machine-readable version of your NAP and is one of the clearest signals you can give. Special cases: tracking numbers, service areas and rebrands Call tracking is fine if done properly. Use your real, local number as the primary number on Google Business Profile and add the tracking number as a secondary number. On your website, dynamic number insertion should not change the number that appears in your schema or on your core listings. Service-area businesses that do not serve customers at their premises can hide their address in Google Business Profile, but should keep the same name and service area description everywhere, and use a consistent address on Companies House and invoices. If you rebrand, plan the change: update the website and profiles at once, redirect old URLs, and contact the most visible directories. Leave the old name as a clear “formerly known as” mention for a time so customers and search engines can connect the two. How to keep your details consistent over time Consistency decays. People move, change numbers, add new directories and let old profiles lapse. Build a small routine: review your key listings every six months, check them again after any move, rebrand or phone change, and ask whoever builds your website to use a shared source for contact details. Our website SEO audit includes a check of your core business details across the web, so you can

Quick answer Ask every happy customer for a review at the moment they are most pleased, give them a direct review link so it takes one tap, and send a single polite reminder. Never offer incentives, hide unhappy customers or buy reviews, as these break Google policy and UK consumer protection rules. Last updated: October 2026 Reviews influence two things at once: how high you appear in local results, and whether a searcher chooses you or the business next to you. Most customers are perfectly willing to leave one, but they rarely do it unprompted. The challenge is doing it consistently and within the rules. Google, and in the UK the Competition and Markets Authority, are increasingly strict about fake and incentivised reviews, so shortcuts can do more harm than good. This guide gives you a practical, compliant system for collecting more genuine Google reviews: how to build a direct link, when and how to ask, how to automate the process, what to say in replies, and what never to do. In this guide Why reviews matter for local SEO and conversions Create a direct review link Ask at the right moment and in the right way Automate requests with SMS and email Reply to every review What you must not do Make review collection part of your routine Turn reviews into extra visibility FAQs Why reviews matter for local SEO and conversions Google has said that review quantity, quality and recency contribute to local prominence, which is one of the three main local ranking factors alongside relevance and distance. Beyond rankings, reviews work as social proof. A profile with a steady stream of recent, detailed reviews looks active and trustworthy. Reviews also feed AI search. Assistants and AI Overviews draw on review content when recommending local businesses, and detailed reviews that mention specific services and locations give those systems more to work with. Descriptive reviews are therefore worth more than a bare star rating. Finally, reviews improve click-through and conversion. When two similar businesses appear side by side, most people choose the one with more and better reviews, even if it is slightly further away. Create a direct review link Every extra click between your customer and the review box loses reviews. In your Google Business Profile you can copy a short review link that opens the star rating and text box straight away. Use it everywhere a customer might see it. Good places include follow-up emails, text messages, QR codes on receipts or at the counter, invoices, email signatures and the thank-you page after a booking. A QR code printed on a card handed over at the end of a job can work particularly well for tradespeople and in-person services. Copy your link from the Share review form option in your profile. Shorten it with a branded or neutral short link. Create a QR code and place it where customers finish their experience. Test it on a phone to make sure it opens the review box directly. Ask at the right moment and in the right way Timing is everything. The best moment is straight after something goes well: a job completed, a diagnosis explained, a delivery arrived, a problem solved. At that point satisfaction is highest and the experience is fresh, so reviews are more specific. A personal request outperforms a generic one. Compare “Please leave us a review” with “Thanks for choosing us today, Sarah. If you were happy with the boiler service, would you mind sharing a quick review? It really helps local customers find us.” The second is short, polite and gives a reason. Ask for specifics gently. A line such as “It helps if you mention what we did and your area” nudges customers to write descriptive reviews, which helps both people and search systems, without scripting what they say. Automate requests with SMS and email Doing this by hand works for a handful of customers but falls apart as you grow. A simple automation sends the request shortly after each completed job, then one reminder a few days later if no review has appeared, and stops once the customer has reviewed. Most CRMs and marketing platforms can do this. Our SMS and email campaign automation can send personalised requests, include your direct link and track who has responded. Make sure every message identifies you, is sent only to customers you have dealt with, and includes a simple way to opt out, in line with UK marketing rules. Reply to every review Responding to reviews shows future customers that you are engaged, and Google has suggested that responding is a sign of an active business. Thank people by name, mention the service they used, and keep a warm, natural tone instead of copying the same sentence every time. For negative reviews, stay calm and factual. Acknowledge the problem, apologise where appropriate, offer to put it right offline, and never argue publicly. Future customers judge you more by how you handle criticism than by the criticism itself. Do not include personal details about the customer in a reply. What you must not do Do not offer discounts, gifts, entries into prize draws or any reward in exchange for reviews. Google prohibits incentivised reviews. Do not review gate by only asking happy customers or filtering out unhappy ones before they reach Google. Do not write, buy or commission fake reviews. The CMA treats fake reviews as an unfair commercial practice, and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act gives it strong enforcement powers. Do not post reviews for your own business from staff, friends or family. Do not use a single device or office Wi-Fi to collect large numbers of reviews, as this can trigger Google filters. If Google removes a genuine review, you can flag it through your profile, but do not rely on it coming back. The best protection is a steady flow of real feedback. Make review collection part of your routine The businesses with the best review profiles treat requests

Quick answer Choose the one primary category that best describes the service customers pay you for most, then add only secondary categories for services you genuinely offer. Your primary category is the strongest relevance signal you control inside Google Business Profile, so be specific, check what ranking competitors use, and review your choices every few months. Last updated: October 2026 When someone searches for “dentist near me” or “emergency plumber Leeds”, Google has to decide which businesses are relevant before it even considers distance or reviews. Your Google Business Profile categories are the simplest way to tell it what you are. Yet many UK businesses pick a vague category on the day they set up their profile and never look at it again. Others tick a dozen loosely related options in the hope of covering every search. Both approaches cost visibility. This guide explains how categories work, how to choose the right primary and secondary ones, how to research what competitors are doing, and the mistakes that quietly hold local businesses back. It is written for owners and marketers who want a clear, practical process rather than theory. In this guide What Google Business Profile categories actually do How to choose your primary category Choosing secondary categories wisely How to see which categories competitors use Align your website with your categories Common category mistakes to avoid A simple five-step checklist FAQs What Google Business Profile categories actually do A category is a label from a fixed list maintained by Google, such as “Solicitor”, “Electrician” or “Italian restaurant”. Google uses it to understand what your business is and to match you to searches. You cannot invent your own, which is why choosing carefully from the available list matters. Categories do three jobs. First, they act as a relevance signal for local ranking. Second, they decide which features your profile can use: a restaurant category unlocks menus, a hotel category unlocks booking and rating features, and many service categories unlock service lists. Third, they influence which attributes you can add, such as wheelchair access or online appointments. Because they sit at the centre of how Google classifies you, a poor category choice can make every other local SEO effort less effective. You can polish your website and collect reviews, but if Google thinks you are a different type of business, you will struggle to appear for the searches you want. How to choose your primary category Your primary category is the single most important one. Ask yourself one question: what is the main thing customers pay us for? That, and not the broadest description of your company, is your primary category. Be as specific as the list allows. A firm that mainly handles divorce work should look for “Divorce lawyer” before settling for “Law firm”. A heating engineer who mostly installs boilers should consider “Boiler supplier” or “Heating contractor” depending on what customers actually search for and what the list offers. Avoid choosing a category because it sounds impressive or has more search interest. Google matches intent, and a mismatch between your profile, your website and your real services tends to hurt, not help. If your most profitable service changes over time, revisit your primary category and update it deliberately, then watch performance for a few weeks. Pick the category that matches your main revenue-generating service. Prefer the more specific option over the generic one when both are accurate. Make sure your website has a clear page for the service your primary category describes. Do not change it repeatedly. Make a considered change, then measure. Choosing secondary categories wisely Secondary categories describe additional services that you genuinely provide. They help you appear for related searches, but they carry less weight than the primary and should support it, not compete with it. A good rule is to add a secondary category only if you offer the service today, you want more of that work, and you ideally have a page on your site that explains it. Most businesses do well with between two and five. Adding ten categories rarely helps and can dilute the picture Google has of what you do. For example, a dental practice might choose “Dentist” as primary and add “Cosmetic dentist”, “Emergency dental service” and “Teeth whitening service” if all of these are real, advertised offerings. A restaurant might add “Takeaway” or “Caterer” only if it actually offers those services consistently. Remember that categories and services are separate fields. Once your categories are set, list your actual services in the services section of the profile, using plain language customers would recognise. How to see which categories competitors use Search your main keyword in Google Maps, such as “accountant in Leeds”, and look at the top three or four businesses. The category is displayed under each business name. Browser extensions that reveal the full list of categories, including secondary ones, can make this faster. You are looking for patterns. If the businesses outranking you all use a primary category you have not considered, ask whether it genuinely describes you. If it does, test it. If it does not, do not copy it. Misrepresenting your business can lead to profile suspension, which is far costlier than a slightly lower ranking. Compare their secondary categories too. They may reveal services you offer but have not mentioned, or demand you had overlooked. Treat this as research, then decide for yourself based on your real business. Align your website with your categories Google cross-checks your profile against your website. If your profile says you are a “Commercial electrician” but your site talks mostly about domestic rewiring, the signals conflict. Make sure every category you choose is supported by a clear page, heading and description on your site. This is where on-page work and local SEO meet. Service pages should use the language customers use, mention the areas you cover, and link to each other logically. Adding LocalBusiness and Service schema reinforces the match. Our local SEO service covers profile setup, category research and