NAP Consistency: Keep Your Business Contact Details Accurate

NAP stands for name, address, and phone. Keeping those details accurate helps people recognise your business and contact the right place.

An old address or disconnected phone number is a concrete problem. "Street" versus "St" or spaces in the same phone number are different issues. Do not assume those formatting variations cause ranking penalties or make a search engine treat you as several businesses.

Start with the Real Details

Write down your actual public business name, appropriate address information, phone number, website, and any recent changes. Use the name customers know from your business materials, following each platform's requirements.

Keep private information private. In particular, do not publish a home address just to make every directory match if customers are not served there and the platform allows or requires it to be hidden.

A simple working record can use these fields:

• Listing URL and account owner.
• Business name shown.
• Address or service area shown.
• Phone and website destination.
• Error to fix, date requested, and date checked again.

This turns a general concern about consistency into a list of specific corrections.

Check Relevant Places

Start with your own website and an eligible Google Business Profile, then review the professional and local directories your prospective customers might use. Include social profiles and old listings that still appear in searches for your business.

Consider BBB only where relevant in the US or Canada; BBB's coverage is the United States and Canada. Elsewhere, look for an appropriate local or professional directory. You do not need a listing everywhere.

Prioritise Actual Errors

First: Disconnected or wrong phone numbers, addresses where the business no longer operates, links to the wrong website, or a listing for a closed location.

Next: A business name that refers to the wrong entity, outdated service information, or duplicate entries that could mislead customers. Follow the platform's correction process and avoid deleting a legitimate listing without understanding its ownership and purpose.

Then: Cosmetic formatting differences, if standardising them makes maintenance easier. Do not treat these as proof of a ranking problem.

For an illustrative example, a move to a new office should prompt a check of the website, eligible local profile, and relevant directories. A listing still directing visitors to the previous office needs attention; a shortened spelling of the same street may not.

Keep the Record Current

Assign someone to check the important listings after a move, rebrand, phone change, or website change. Record corrections that are awaiting approval so they are not mistaken for completed work.

Google's local ranking guidance describes multiple factors, including relevance, distance, and prominence. It does not establish a numerical hierarchy for NAP consistency or a promised ranking improvement within a fixed number of weeks.

The Full Report is $39 one-time, human-reviewed, and delivered within 24 hours. It covers your website, Google Business Profile, social profiles, and relevant queries in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, and Google AI. It includes two competitor comparisons, website headline and Google description rewrites, prioritised fixes, and a 90-day action plan.