Why Cheap Citation Building Won’t Fix Your Local SEO

Local SEO advice often comes with the same checklist. Sort out your Google Business Profile, get local backlinks, and build citations. The problem is too many businesses throw money at third-party providers who promise hundreds of citations, thinking it will boost their rankings. It won’t.

The Citation Spam Trap

Most citation-building services follow the same routine. They blast your business details across as many directories as possible, as quickly as possible. They sell the idea that more is better, but Google does not work that way.

Google ignores low-quality citations because most of them never get indexed. Many of these directory sites are overloaded with thin content, duplicate listings, and broken pages. Search engines know this, and they do not waste resources crawling pages that provide no value.

Why NAP Consistency Still Matters (But Only If Done Right)

Consistency in your Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) is still important, but the quality of where you list your business matters more than the number of citations you have. Instead of paying for mass submissions, focus on a handful of trusted, high-authority directories where real businesses actually list their details.

Image above – lots of those business directories are also present in the UK, Ireland, etc.

What Works Instead?

• Manually build citations where it makes sense. Focus on relevant directories like Google Business Profile (aka GMB), Yelp, industry-specific sites, and your local chamber of commerce listings.
• If you must automate – use a reptuable service like Brightlocal or WhiteSpark, they offer a good way of building citations and NAPs. Stay away from Fiverr.
• Check if your citations are indexed. If Google is not crawling them, they are useless.
• Prioritise structured data. Schema markup on your site provides clear business information directly to Google without relying on third-party directories.
• Fix existing citations instead of spamming new ones. Cleaning up inconsistencies on authoritative sites is more effective than submitting new listings to low-quality directories.
• Keep a record of all citations, including login details, so you can update them when needed. This ensures continuity if a staff member who created the listings leaves.

Local SEO Is About Trust, Not Volume

Citations only help if they build trust and reinforce your local presence. A thousand low-quality listings will never beat a few strong, well-placed ones. Local SEO is not about ticking boxes. It is about making sure Google understands your business, and that starts with real visibility, not spammy shortcuts.

If your business has been relying on citation providers and seeing no impact, it is time to take a different approach. Let’s talk about what actually works for local search.