Business listing
A public record containing identity and operational information for a business or location on a search engine, map, directory, app, or platform.
Local Listings ManagementReference desk
Glossary
Reader’s desk
Plain-language definitions for the systems, records, and workflows behind local visibility.
Browse the full journalBusiness listing management
The ongoing process of owning, distributing, monitoring, and correcting a business's public information across search engines, maps, directories, navigation services, and other discovery platforms.
Citation
A web reference to a business that commonly includes some combination of its name, address, phone number, or website.
Data aggregator
A company that collects, standardises, and distributes business information to other publishers or data users.
Duplicate listing
An additional public profile that represents the same entity or location and may compete with or confuse the intended record.
Entity
A distinct person, place, organisation, product, or concept that a platform attempts to identify and understand.
Google Business Profile
Google's system for eligible businesses to manage key information and interactions across relevant Google surfaces.
Knowledge graph
A structured representation of entities and the relationships between them used to organise and retrieve information.
Local pack
A set of map-oriented local results that may appear for searches with local intent.
Local listings management
Business listing management applied to location-level profiles, with controls for accurate data, ownership, bulk changes, duplicates, publisher exceptions, and verification of the live result.
NAP
An abbreviation for name, address, and phone number, commonly used when discussing business information consistency.
Ownership
The verified account-level control that allows an organisation or authorised user to manage a public profile.
Primary category
The main classification selected for a business profile, used by platforms to understand its core activity.
Publisher
A platform, directory, map, app, or service that displays or uses business location information.
Service-area business
A business that serves customers at their locations rather than primarily receiving them at a public storefront.
Source of truth
The approved internal record from which public location information should be governed and distributed.
Suppression
A process intended to prevent an unwanted duplicate or conflicting listing from appearing or being redistributed.
Verification
A platform process used to confirm that a person or organisation is authorised to manage a business profile.