The Real Reason NAP Matters for Local SEO (And Why Most Businesses Still Get It Wrong)
Most businesses don’t lose local rankings because their competitors are better.
They lose them because Google can’t trust who they are, where they are, or how to contact them.
That’s the entire point of NAP: Name, Address, Phone Number.
Simple on the surface. Dramatic in its impact.
Why NAP Still Matters in 2025
NAP consistency plays a major role in how Google understands and verifies a business’s identity. When your NAP is clean, Google sees you as a legitimate, real-world business it can confidently show to customers. When it’s messy, scattered, or outdated, the algorithm gets nervous.
And when Google gets nervous, rankings fall.
NAP isn’t glamorous. It isn’t trendy. You won’t see anyone on LinkedIn bragging about correcting a rogue address on Yell.
But it’s one of the most powerful foundations of local SEO.
Why Most Businesses Mess It Up
From experience, here are the biggest problems that kill local rankings:
1. They change phone numbers without updating directories
A business gets a new phone, switches call-forwarding, or signs up for a VoIP provider. They update Google Business Profile and forget everything else.
2. They move locations once… and leave 47 old listings behind
Nothing confuses Google faster than two addresses floating around the internet.
3. They create new profiles instead of fixing old ones
Duplicate listings dilute authority. Half your ranking power goes to waste.
4. Agencies “fix citations” once and never monitor them again
NAP isn’t a one-time job. It drifts. It decays. Tools change. Platforms merge. Scrapers scrape.
Without ongoing checks, NAP eventually breaks again.
What Happens When NAP Is Wrong
I’ve seen businesses completely disappear from the map pack for weeks because of:
- One mismatched suite number
- A missing digit in a phone number
- A duplicate listing created by a third-party directory
- A competitor suggesting “edits” that stuck
- A business moving address and leaving trails of outdated citations
Google’s local algorithm is hypersensitive to identity signals. If two different versions of your NAP exist, it’s not going to guess which one is correct.
It simply lowers trust.
And trust is everything in local SEO.
What Happens When You Fix It
The turnaround can be surprisingly quick.
It’s not unusual to see:
- Google Maps rankings climb within weeks
- More “near me” visibility
- An increase in direction requests
- Higher consistency across data aggregators
- Fewer customer complaints about calling the wrong number
I’ve had clients who went from invisible to top 3 in Maps entirely by cleaning up citations, removing duplicates, and tightening their NAP architecture.
How I Approach NAP in a Real Audit
Even though you didn’t provide your personal process, here’s a streamlined approach used by real SEO practitioners:
Step 1: Benchmark Everything
Start with:
- Google Business Profile
- Website NAP
- Major directories (Yell, Yelp, Bing, Apple Maps, Cylex, etc)
- Industry-specific citations
- Social profiles
- Data aggregators
Establish the “master version” of your NAP.
Step 2: Hunt Down Inconsistencies
Look for:
- Alternate spellings
- Old numbers
- Old addresses
- Variations caused by schema plugins
- Duplicates created automatically
Step 3: Correct from the Top Down
Fix Google Business Profile first, then manual directories, then lesser-known sites, then aggregators.
Step 4: Remove Duplicate Listings
These can quietly destroy authority if left untouched.
Step 5: Add Structured Data
Schema helps Google interpret your NAP with zero guesswork.
Step 6: Monitor It Monthly
NAP decays naturally as data scrapers redistribute old info.
A business with stable NAP maintains stable rankings.
The Real Value of NAP: It Makes You “Reliable”
Google’s Local Search algorithm has one job:
Send people to real businesses they can genuinely contact.
When your Name, Address, and Phone Number are clean, consistent and present across the web, Google sees you as:
- Verifiable
- Legitimate
- Low-risk
- Worth ranking
NAP is less about optimisation and more about identity verification at scale.
Why Most Agencies Get NAP Wrong
Because they treat it like a checklist.
In reality, it’s an ongoing trust signal.
You don’t “fix NAP”.
You maintain NAP.
And the businesses who do that quietly dominate local results year after year.
Final Thoughts
NAP won’t win awards.
It won’t impress your board.
It won’t make for a sexy case study.
But if you ignore it, your Maps visibility will suffer no matter how good your content, reviews, or backlinks are.
NAP is the foundation.
Get it right, and everything else becomes easier.
If you’re not sure whether your NAP is helping or hurting your rankings, now’s the time to audit it.
Start with your Google Business Profile, then trace your business details across the web.
Or if you want it handled properly, get in touch and I’ll complete the full audit for you.