Why Citations Ain’t What They Used to Be
Citations and NAP consistency have dramatically declined in their ranking influence, since 2014 when they were widely considered to be the number one local ranking factor.
In the past, citations from directories were crucial for local businesses, especially those without a significant inbound link footprint or a website. So much so, that in 2014 citations/NAP consistency was considered to be the number one local ranking factor by some local SEOs.