NAP
Also known as: Name Address Phone, NAP consistency, citation consistency
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone — the three pieces of business information that must be consistent across your website, Google Business Profile, schema markup, and every directory/citation source. Inconsistency (different phone format, slight address variation, abbreviated vs full street name) damages local SEO ranking and weakens entity authority signals for AI search. NAP consistency is the foundation of local SEO and a foundational entity authority signal.
Why consistency matters
Google’s algorithm and entity-graph trust depends on cross-referencing your business across multiple sources. When sources disagree:
- “Resocial” vs “Resocial LLC” vs “Resocial Inc”
- “20 Arkadiou, Alimos 17456” vs “Arkadiou 20, Alimos, GR” vs “20 Arkadiou St, Alimos”
- “+30 213 025 8783” vs “+30 2130258783” vs “(213) 025-8783”
…Google’s trust in your entity drops. AI engines that cite entity authority (ChatGPT, Perplexity) face the same problem — when sources disagree, they cite less confidently or not at all.
Where NAP appears (and must match exactly)
- Your site footer (every page)
- Schema.org Organization / LocalBusiness markup
- Google Business Profile (single source of truth for Google Maps)
- Bing Places
- Apple Maps Business Connect
- Industry directories (Clutch, G2, Crunchbase, Trustpilot, etc.)
- Social profiles (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X)
- Wikipedia / Wikidata entity
- Citations in press / editorial coverage (you can’t always control these)
Canonical NAP rules
Pick the canonical format for each:
- Name: legal entity name (single chosen variant — “Resocial” without LLC suffix is fine if you use it consistently)
- Address: full street, number, building (if applicable), city, postal code, country
- Phone: E.164 international format (
+30 213 025 8783) for canonical use; can display formatted locally
Then enforce across every property. The Resocial canonical for example:
- Name: Resocial
- Address: 20 Arkadiou, Alimos · 17456 Athens, Greece
- Phone: +30 213 025 8783
Auditing for inconsistency
- Search Google for
"your business name"and review the first 30 results - List all NAP variants found
- Flag inconsistencies
- For citations you own (directories, profiles), correct them
- For citations you don’t own (third-party mentions), accept what you can’t change
Tools
Moz Local, BrightLocal, Yext, Whitespark — all offer citation audits and bulk correction tools. For 50+ citations across many sources, manual is impractical.
- Resocial service →
/services/seo/ - Read on the blog →
/blog/schema-organization-vs-localbusiness/