A Practical Guide to Listing Your Local Business the Right Way
If you run a local business, your online listings are quietly doing more work than you might realize. They're often the first, and sometimes only, impression a nearby customer gets before deciding whether to visit, call, or scroll past. Platforms like Locato have become a common place for customers to discover and compare local businesses.
Let's look at what makes a listing effective, where most businesses go wrong, and what's changing as AI tools become part of local search.
Why Accuracy and Consistency Matter
According to Google's local search data, most people who search for something nearby on their phone visit a related business within 24 hours. That's a strong signal of intent, not idle browsing.
A well-built listing serves three purposes simultaneously: it confirms to search engines that your business is real and active, it gives potential customers what they need to choose you, and it supplies the structured data that AI assistants increasingly rely on when answering local queries directly.
Building a Listing That Works
The foundation is consistency. Your business name, address, and phone number should appear identically across every platform. Small discrepancies, like one directory abbreviating a street name while another spells it out, can confuse search engines and AI systems alike.
Choose specific categories rather than broad ones. Precision helps algorithms match you to the right customer search.
Write descriptions in natural language, describing what you do and who you serve the way an actual person would explain it.
Prioritize real, current photography over stock imagery, since genuine photos build trust with both customers and algorithms.
Actively encourage reviews and respond to each one promptly, regardless of tone.
Update your listing immediately whenever hours, services, or contact information changes.
Link to specific, relevant pages rather than defaulting to your homepage.
Claim and verify every profile associated with your business so you retain control over what's displayed.
Common Pitfalls
Inconsistent information across platforms remains the most damaging and frequent error. Many business owners also overlook smaller, niche-specific directories, missing out on traffic that's often closer to a purchasing decision.
Other recurring issues include incomplete profiles, outdated details left unaddressed for long stretches, duplicate listings that dilute your ranking signals, and generic descriptions copied across multiple platforms.
Preparing for AI-Driven Search
Local search is evolving quickly. AI overviews and voice assistants now frequently answer local queries directly, without requiring a click-through to any website. Adapting to this shift involves maintaining clean, structured data, writing in natural conversational language, and ensuring information stays current.
Final Thoughts
Maintaining accurate local listings isn't complicated, but it does require ongoing attention. Start with the fundamentals, consistent business details, complete profiles, authentic photography, and regular updates. Expand to the directories most relevant to your industry and location.