Citations in 2026: What Still Matters (and What's a Waste)

A citation is any mention of your Name, Address, and Phone on another site. Google cross-references them to verify you're a real, stable business. Consistency is the signal — not raw count.

Tier 1: Google, Apple Maps, Bing Places, Yelp, Facebook. Tier 2: industry-specific (Avvo for lawyers, Healthgrades for medical, Angi for trades). Tier 3: your city's chamber of commerce and local directories. Beyond ~30-50 quality citations, returns flatten to zero.

Mass-built citations on junk directories create hundreds of listings you can't update when you move or rebrand — a permanent NAP inconsistency problem. Cleanup costs more than the package did.