What’s Hurting Your SEO More Than Your Competitors? (Spoiler: Bad citations)

You’re doing everything right—or at least, it seems like you are.

You’ve got:

• A fast, mobile-friendly website
• Google reviews coming in
• A solid service offering
• A Google Business Profile (GBP) that’s live

And yet… you’re still not showing up above your competitors in local searches.

It’s frustrating, we know.

But here’s the truth most business owners don’t realize:

It’s not always your competitors who are beating you, sometimes, it’s your own bad citations. So, below is a complete guide to how you can avoid such problems.

What Are Citations?

In local SEO, a citation is any mention of your business’s:

• Name
• Address
• Phone number (also known as your NAP)

These typically appear on:

• Business directories (Yelp, Angi, HomeAdvisor, etc.)
• Social media profiles
• Review sites
• Local chamber or association sites
• GPS & navigation databases (Apple Maps, Bing Places, etc.)

Google uses these citations to verify that your business is legit and trustworthy.

If you have accurate, consistent citations across the internet, you’re seen as reliable.
If you don’t? Google gets confused. And when Google’s confused, your visibility drops.

What Are “Bad Citations”?

“Bad” citations refer to listings that are:

• Outdated (old phone numbers or addresses)
• Inconsistent (different versions of your name or street address)
• Duplicated (same business listed multiple times on one directory)
• Unclaimed (no owner managing the listing)
• Spammy (auto-generated junk listings)

Here’s what this looks like in real life:

Each variation weakens your credibility in Google’s eyes.

How Bad Citations Hurt Your SEO (Even More Than Your Competitors)

Google Can’t Verify Who You Are

Google’s local algorithm is built around trust and consistency.

When your NAP data is inconsistent across 10+ directories, Google doesn’t know which version of your business is correct. So, it may:

• Avoid showing your listing
• Lower your Google Business Profile rank
• Drop your site from local search results

Your competitor with fewer reviews but cleaner citations may rank higher than you.

Duplicate Listings Split Your SEO Power

Let’s say you have two different listings for your HVAC company on Yelp:

• One with your old number and no reviews
• One with your new number and 5 stars

Google might index the wrong one—or worse, split your reviews between them.
This dilutes your authority, wastes ranking potential, and confuses searchers.

Your competitor with one strong, accurate listing pulls ahead while you get buried.

Poor User Experience = Lower Conversions

Inconsistent citations don’t just affect Google, they affect customers.

Imagine a potential client finds your business on a directory, calls the number, and hears, “This number is no longer in service.”

They won’t search harder. They’ll move onto your competitor.

One outdated listing could cost you dozens of leads per month.

Google Uses Citations to Confirm Your Location

Local SEO is all about location. If your citations list different cities, zip codes, or service areas, Google may:

• Think your business is somewhere else
• Show you in the wrong local pack
• Not show you at all for your actual service area

📍 Example:
You’re a plumber in Shirley, but one of your citations lists you in Hauppauge.
Now Google doesn’t know which town to associate you with—hurting your maps ranking.

How Your Competitors Use Citations to Win

Smart local businesses (or the agencies they hire) clean and optimize their citations regularly.

This tells Google:

• “We are who we say we are”
• “Our info is 100% reliable across the web”
• “We serve the areas we claim to serve”

So even if your competitor has:

• Fewer services
• Slightly worse reviews
• A simpler website

…they can outrank you just because their citations are clean.

It’s that powerful.

How to Find & Fix Bad Citations

Step 1: Run a Citation Audit

Use tools like:

• Moz Local
• Bright Local Citation Tracker

• Yext
• Or let Oastreck run one for free.

We scan 50+ directories and platforms to identify:

• Inconsistent listings
• Missing listings
• Duplicate or outdated ones

Step 2: Create a Master NAP Format

Decide on one exact way your name, address, and phone will appear.
Use that identical version everywhere—down to abbreviations and punctuation.

📌 Example:

• Business Name: Empire Heating & Cooling
• Address: 101 E. Merrick Blvd, Queens, NY 11434
• Phone: (718) 555-2025

Don’t change it, even slightly, across platforms.

Step 3: Claim & Correct Listings

Go to every site with a listing of your business and:

• Claim it
• Update the NAP info
• Add categories, hours, photos
• Delete duplicates
• Request merges for conflicting entries

Yes, it’s tedious. But it works.

Oastreck’s Citation Cleanup & Local Boost

For busy business owners, this process can take 20–30 hours minimum. That’s why many companies trust Oastreck to do it all for them.

Here’s what you get:

We’ve helped:

• A Long Island roofer goes from 7th to 2nd on Google Maps
• A Brooklyn HVAC pro double calls in 60 days
• A Shirley plumbing company got reinstated on Google after a suspension

All from fixing their citations. Apart from this, you can check:

• Pay-Per-Click Management Services (Google Ads)
• Professional Seo Services
• Google Guaranteed

For more services, visit our page and you can get an idea of how we make businesses visible.

Bonus: How Often Should You Check Your Citations?

At least twice a year—or:

• Whenever you change locations or phone numbers
• After rebranding
• If you add new service areas
• If you notice a drop in search rankings

Google is always evolving, and directories auto-update info that may not be accurate. Keeping control is key.

It’s Not Always Them—Sometimes It’s You

It’s easy to blame competitors when you’re not ranking. But what if the real problem isn’t them… it’s your broken digital foundation?

Bad citations aren’t just embarrassing, they’re damaging. They signal unreliability to Google. They confuse customers. They hold you back silently, even when everything else looks right.

Let Oastreck fix it once and for all.

📞 Get Your Free Citation Audit Now
🌐 Learn more at Oastreck.com

We’ll help you rise above not just your competitors—but your own past mistakes.