How business listings spread, and paid listing services
Map apps and directories fill listings from several sources: owners, users, their own observations and licensed data from companies that collect business details, often called data aggregators. That's why an old phone number can reappear after you fix it. Correct the core platforms yourself first; a paid listings service is optional, and its updates stop when you cancel.
The short version
- Listings are built from four kinds of source: owners, users, the platform’s own data, and licensed third-party data.
- Companies that collect and resell business details are often called data aggregators.
- Fix the platforms you can log in to first. That’s where most people look.
- Some aggregators let you update your record for free.
- A paid service can save time for many locations, but its updates stop when you stop paying.
Where do listings get their information?
Google is one of the few platforms that spells this out. Its page on how it sources Business Profile information names four sources:
- “Publicly-available information,” such as your own website.
- “Licensed data from third parties.”
- Users, including owners who claim profiles and customers who suggest edits.
- Google’s own interactions with the place.
Other platforms work in similar ways, though most don’t publish details. Nextdoor’s business page guide, for example, says business information on its site comes from public data or from members.
What is a data aggregator?
It’s a company that gathers business details and supplies them to other sites. Data Axle’s local listings page says it sends listing data to search engines, online directories, in-car and mobile navigation, and virtual assistants. It doesn’t name who receives it.
We could not verify a current, official list of which aggregators supply Apple Maps, Bing or Google. Articles online that name them are mostly old news coverage. So treat any “this aggregator feeds that map” claim with care, including from sellers.
How do I update data aggregators myself?
You can update some of them directly, for free:
- Data Axle. Its local listings page says a free tier covers 1 to 10 listings, with updates as often as needed. It says existing listings update in real time and new ones are reviewed before they’re sent out.
- Foursquare. Search for your business in the Foursquare Business portal and select Claim, then confirm your identity and role, per its claiming guide.
Do this after you’ve fixed the core platforms, not before. If an old detail keeps coming back on several small directories, that’s the sign an upstream source still has it.
Should I pay for a listings service?
Services such as Yext push your details to many sites from one dashboard. Whether that’s worth it depends on scale.
| Situation | Usually best |
|---|---|
| One location, details rarely change | Claim the core platforms yourself |
| A move or rebrand with lots of old data | A one-off cleanup, then claim yourself |
| Many locations, frequent changes | A paid service may save real time |
Read the cancellation terms before you sign. Yext’s own help article on what happens when a listings subscription is cancelled says the listing “will still remain live on the publisher site,” but Yext stops sending updates, the publisher removes its “Owner Verified” badge, and the data “may change over time” as the publisher leans on other sources such as aggregators and user content. In other words, a service holds your listings steady only while you pay. Your claims on Google, Apple, Bing, Yelp and Facebook should stay in your own accounts either way.
Why does this matter?
It explains the most frustrating thing about listings: you fix a phone number, and months later it’s back. The old number still sits in a source that other sites copy from. Knowing that, you fix in the right order and recheck later, instead of correcting the same small directory again and again.
What are the common mistakes and edge cases?
- Fixing the copies before the source. Start with your website, Google, Apple, Bing, Yelp and Facebook.
- Letting a service own your logins. Keep the main platform accounts in your own name.
- Believing a seller’s map of who feeds whom. Ask for the platform’s own documentation.
- Paying for a service, then cancelling without checking each core listing is claimed in your own account.
- Ignoring call tracking numbers. If a service publishes a tracking number, it spreads like any other detail.
What if this didn’t work?
- The old detail keeps coming back. Check your website first, including the footer and schema markup. Then update the aggregators you can, and recheck in two or three months.
- You can’t tell where a wrong listing got its data. Fix it where it appears, and note it in your spreadsheet to recheck.
- A service won’t hand over control after you cancel. Claim each listing directly with that platform’s ownership process.
How much does it cost, and how long does it take?
Data Axle’s local listings page says its plan for 1 to 10 listings is free. Foursquare’s claiming guide doesn’t mention a fee, but check its current terms when you claim. Paid listing services charge a subscription; get a written quote and the cancellation terms. Changes to aggregator data can take weeks or months to flow out to other sites.
How does E-3 handle this?
Google names your own website as one of its sources, so it has to be right. Our SEO and AI search service keeps your website and Google profile matched and adds schema markup that states your details clearly.
Related questions
Sources
- Understand how Google sources & uses info in Business Profiles & local search results (Google Business Profile Help)
- Local Listings (Data Axle)
- Claiming a listing (Foursquare Support)
- What happens when a Listings subscription is cancelled (Yext Help Center)
- Create a Free Business Page on Nextdoor (Nextdoor for Business)
Next step
- Next: Audit your business citations in an afternoonThe next guide in Listings and citations.
- Free website checkPublic checks on your own site, then an action plan of what to fix first.
Still stuck? Ask E-3 for an answer from our help guides.
Rather we handled listings and citations for you?
It’s part of what we do every week for small businesses, as part of seo and ai search. Start with a free check of your site and profile, or call and ask.