Citations and web references are often referred to as “mentions” of your business name or address on other webpages, even if there is no link to your website. They can also exist through a local chamber of commerce or a local business association, where business information can be found. These mentions are a key component of the ranking algorithms used in major search engines. Businesses with a greater number of citations statistically rank higher than businesses with fewer citations.

Citations from well-established and well-indexed portals, Superpages.com for example, also help to increase the degree of certainty that search engines have about your business’ categorization and contact information. Citations serve to validate that a business is part of a community, proving your membership in a chamber of commerce or business index. With proper citation building, you can drastically improve your brand’s local search engine rankings.