NAP consistency
Also called Name, address, phone, NAP, Business info consistency.
NAP consistency means your business name, address and phone number read the same on your Google Business Profile, your website and every directory that lists you. When they match, customers reach the right place and search engines can tell all those listings are the same business. When they don't, you get wrong numbers, wrong turns and listings that compete with each other.
Doug's Field Guide · Updated
Why does matching information matter?
Google's guidelines ask that your business name match the real name you use on your storefront, website and stationery, and that your address and service area be precise and accurate. That is the rule for your profile. Everywhere else your business appears, the same facts get copied, scraped and passed around.
Search engines and AI assistants piece together a picture of your business from many places. If your website says "Summit HVAC", your Google profile says "Summit Heating & Air", Yelp has the phone number you dropped in 2022 and an old directory still shows the shop you moved out of, you look like three businesses, and one of them is closed.
The cost is plain. A customer calls a dead number, or drives to the old address, or an assistant quotes hours you changed last spring. Those are jobs that go to the next name on the list.
What should match, exactly?
Pick one version of each fact and use it everywhere. Write it down so your office manager and whoever builds your website use the same one.
Small formatting differences like "Street" versus "St." matter far less than real conflicts: two different phone numbers, an old address, or a name you stopped using. Fix the real conflicts first.
If you move, change your number or rebrand, update the Google profile and your website the same day, then work through the directories. Old listings keep circulating for years if nobody corrects them.
- Business name: the one on your sign and invoices, with no added keywords.
- Address: your real location, or no public address if you're a service-area business.
- Phone: one main number you answer. If you use call tracking, keep your main number on the profile.
- Website address and hours: the same on every listing.
Run a quick NAP check
- Write your official name, address, phone number and website on one line, and share it with anyone who lists the business.
- Search your business name plus your old phone number and your old address to find listings that still use them.
- Check your website footer and contact page against your Google profile and fix any mismatch.
- Correct the three biggest directories in your trade, starting with the ones that show on page one when you search your name.
Common mistakes
- Using a different business name on the website than on the Google profile.
- Changing your phone number and updating only the website.
- Spending hours on "St." versus "Street" while a listing with your old address still ranks.
How Doug does it
Doug keeps your business facts consistent across what he drafts and publishes, from website pages to Google profile fixes and directory listings. Every week he checks how you show up on Google, Google Maps and AI assistants, and puts anything that doesn't match in your fix queue.
Keep exploring
- Local citationsMentions of your business on directories and other sites around the web.
- Google Business ProfileYour free listing on Google Search and Maps, and the first thing a local customer sees.
- Schema markupA short block of code that tells search engines your name, address, hours and services.
- How Doug learns your businessYour website, files, and Q&A pairs become the only place his answers come from.
Sources
Written by Doug's team from these sources and our own work with local businesses. Search engines change their rules, so check the source before a big decision.
