1. Who should create local listings?
Businesses with eligible customer-facing locations or direct in-person service should claim relevant profiles. Online-only businesses should focus instead on their website, structured organization information and content. Never use fake locations or virtual offices to game proximity.
2. Google Business Profile
Go to https://business.google.com/ and claim or create your eligible business. Verify using the available method. Add a real business name, the most accurate primary category, contact details, service area or eligible address, hours, photos, services and website. Update holidays and respond to genuine reviews.
3. Apple Business / Maps
Start at https://business.apple.com/ . Claim your location/place card, complete the business details and verification, and add real photos, hours and a relevant website link. Apple Business Connect is now part of Apple Business; Apple Maps visibility is distinct from Google organic rankings.
4. Bing Places
Use https://www.bing.com/forbusiness/ to claim and verify your listing. Check phone, website, business name, category and operating hours. Bing Webmaster Tools is separately useful for monitoring website search traffic.
5. Review and citation hygiene
Check your business details on the website and key trusted directories. Correct genuine inconsistencies. Invite real customers to leave candid reviews without offering incentives in exchange for positive ratings or using fabricated testimonials.
6. Track what works
Link to a relevant location or service page with campaign tags where supported. Track direction requests, qualified calls, bookings and form submissions—not just impressions. Local rankings depend on relevance, distance and prominence, so nobody can guarantee a top map position.
Implementation checklist
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Official documentation: Google local ranking · Apple Business · Bing Places · Google structured data