A podcast host said local SEO is just about citations and it made me pause

I was listening to a marketing podcast on my drive home yesterday. The host, who runs a big agency, said that for local businesses, SEO is 90% about getting your name, address, and phone number listed on as many sites as possible. He called it 'citation blasting' and said to just use a tool to submit to hundreds of directories. That felt off to me. My own small clients in my town see way better results when I focus on a few key directories, get good reviews, and write helpful content about the area. It's more work, but it actually builds trust. Has anyone else found that a slower, more careful approach beats just blasting out your info everywhere?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessica33110d ago

That podcast host is so wrong it hurts. Citation blasting is lazy and can actually mess up your NAP consistency if those directories are junk. I had a client whose info was wrong on fifty random sites from a service like that. Took forever to clean up. Real local SEO is about Google Business Profile, a handful of legit directories like Yelp, and actual reviews from real people. You build trust, not just a list.

the_ben10d ago

Totally agree about the "build trust, not just a list" part. I read a case study where a business got penalized for bad citations, and it took ages to fix, just like @jennybailey said. It really seems like a slower, clean approach is the only safe way to go.

jennybailey10d ago

Yeah I had that exact same thing happen. I mean we used one of those cheap services years ago and the cleanup was a nightmare, like months of work. Now I just stick to the big ones like you said, and I make sure the info is perfect on those before anything else. It's slower but you don't end up with a mess that hurts you later.