NAP: the three facts that have to match
Name, address, phone. Written the same way everywhere. Not "MRG Marketing Agency" on one directory and "MRG Marketing" on another. Not "9 Laverton St" here and "Unit 1, 9 Laverton Street" there. Not a mobile on the website and a landline on the profile. Each small difference is a chance for Google or a model to treat two listings as two businesses, or to doubt both.
The fix starts with deciding the canonical version of each fact, writing it down, and then making every listing match it exactly, including punctuation.
The directories that matter in Australia
There are hundreds of directories and most are worthless. The ones that matter are the ones Google and the assistants actually read, and the ones your industry uses. For a Gold Coast local business, the list is shorter than agencies pretend.
- Google Business Profile (the master record), Bing Places and Apple Business Connect
- Yellow Pages, True Local, Hotfrog, Yelp Australia, Localsearch
- Industry bodies and licence registers: Master Plumbers, Master Electricians, QBCC licence lookup, where they apply
- Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn company pages, with the same NAP in the About section
- Local sources: Gold Coast council business directories, chambers of commerce, sponsor pages of clubs you support
- Supplier and brand stockist pages that list you by name
| Error | What happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Old phone number on three directories | Missed calls; Google doubts which number is right | Update or request correction; keep the old number forwarding |
| Previous suburb still listed | Profile and citations disagree on location | Correct every listing; redirect any old location page |
| Two names for one business | Split identity; AI assistants name neither | Pick one name; merge duplicates; update everywhere |
| Duplicate Google profile | Reviews split; one profile may be suspended | Claim and merge through Business Profile support |
How a citation audit works
- Search every variation of the business name, old names included, with the phone number and the suburb, and list every page that mentions the business.
- Mark each one: correct, wrong, duplicate, or dead.
- Fix the ones you control, claim the ones you can, request corrections on the rest, and get duplicates merged or removed.
- Add the missing listings that matter for your industry and area.
- Record the canonical NAP and the list of listings, so the next change of phone or address takes an hour, not a year.
Why this matters more for AI search
Google Maps mostly cares that citations do not contradict the profile. AI assistants treat them as evidence. A business described the same way on its site, its profile, Bing Places, two industry directories and a local council page is a business a model can name with confidence. One with three different phone numbers scattered across the web is one it will skip. The citation clean-up is the cheapest part of the AI search work, and it is where I start.
Moved, rebranded, or changed numbers? Read this
The commonest citation mess on the Gold Coast is a business that moved from Southport to Ormeau, or from a trading name to a company name, and left a trail. Old listings keep ranking, customers ring dead numbers, and Google sees two businesses. The fix is methodical: update what you can, request changes on what you cannot, redirect old web pages to new ones, and keep the old number live and forwarding for a year while the record catches up.
Checklist
The thirty-minute citation check
- Google your phone number in quotes. Does every result show the current business name and suburb?
- Google your old business name or old suburb. What still ranks?
- Open Bing and search the business. Is there a Bing Places listing, and is it right?
- Check the About section on Facebook and LinkedIn against the profile.
- Search Apple Maps for the business. Is it there, with the right pin?
A finished ranking grid: a Gold Coast plumber in the top 3 at 46 of 49 scan points, 1 October 2026. Every engagement starts and is measured with a scan like this.