The NAP Master Sheet

Inconsistent business information creates avoidable confusion. When your name, address, and phone differ across the web, customers and the platforms displaying those details have to decide which version is current.

This worksheet fixes the cause. Fill it in once with the single, exact version of your details, then copy from it every time you create or update a listing. Never type your business information from memory again. Copy the fields below into a document you keep handy, fill in your real answers, and treat it as the source of truth.

01Core identity

• Legal business name: your registered name, exactly.
• Display name (the one you use publicly): exactly as it should appear everywhere, with no keywords or location stuffed in. This is the name that goes on Google and every directory.
• Doing-business-as (if any): only if you genuinely operate under one.

02Address

• Street address: the exact format you will use everywhere, including suite or unit.
• City, state, ZIP: exactly.
• Do you serve customers at this address? Yes means a storefront listing with a visible address. No means a service area business that hides the address and shows service areas instead. Decide this once and apply it consistently.
• Service areas (if a service area business): the real towns or counties you serve, listed the same way each time.

03Phone and contact

• Primary phone number: one number, formatted the same way everywhere. If you use call tracking, this is your real, consistent number, not a swapped-in tracking number on public listings.
• Public email: the address customers use.
• Website URL: the exact, canonical version (with or without www, but always the same one).

04Hours

• Regular hours: each day, exactly.
• Emergency or after-hours availability: only claim 24/7 if someone actually answers.
• A note to self: update special hours for holidays and storm closures whenever they come up.

05Details that should also match

• Primary category: the most specific true category for your Google Business Profile.
• Services list: your real services, named consistently.
• Year established: the real founding year.
• Licenses and credentials: as they appear officially.

06Where to apply it

Once your master sheet is filled in, these are the places that must match it exactly. Work through them, and check each against the sheet rather than your memory.

• Your Google Business Profile
• Your website (footer, contact page, and any location pages)
• Apple Maps, Bing Places
• Facebook, Yelp, the Better Business Bureau
• Your trade and local directories
• Your invoices, email signature, and any printed material

07The rule that makes it work

Search engines forgive tiny format differences, like "Dr" versus "Drive," but real inconsistencies, a different phone number or an old address, are what create doubt. So the discipline is simple: this sheet is the only place your details live, and everything else copies from it. When something changes, update the sheet first, then update every listing to match.

For the full reasoning behind this, read NAP consistency: one version of the truth. To understand why these mentions matter across the web, see what are local citations, and when you're ready to build out your listings, use building citations manually.