The Citation Tracker

Building citations by hand works, but only if you track them. Without a record, you forget which sites you claimed, lose the logins, and never notice when a listing drifts out of date. This worksheet keeps the whole effort organized. Copy the structure below into a spreadsheet or document, and fill in a row for every listing.

01What to track for each listing

For every site you list on, record these:

• Site name: where the listing lives (Google, Yelp, your chamber, and so on).
• URL: the direct link to your listing there.
• Login or email used: which account controls it, so you can find it later.
• Date claimed or created: when you set it up.
• Status: claimed, pending verification, needs fixing, or done.
• Consistent? yes or no, checked against your NAP master sheet.
• Notes: anything specific, like a category to fix or a verification still pending.

02The core listings to start with

Create a row for each of these first, since they carry the most weight:

• Google Business Profile
• Apple Maps
• Bing Places
• Facebook
• Yelp
• Better Business Bureau
• Foursquare
• Yellow Pages

03Then your trade and local listings

Add rows as you claim them:

• The trade directories that fit you (for example Angi, Houzz, Thumbtack, Porch)
• Your chamber of commerce
• Local business directories for your city or county
• Supplier or manufacturer "find a pro" pages

04How to use it

• Work at a steady pace, a few listings a week, rather than a burst.
• Check every listing's details against your NAP master sheet before you mark it consistent.
• Revisit the tracker a couple of times a year, and whenever your business information changes, to keep everything accurate.

The full method for building citations by hand is in building citations manually. For which sites are actually worth your time, see the citation short list for home services, and pair this with the NAP master sheet so every row checks against one source of truth. The reasoning behind consistency is in NAP consistency.