RankLens Citations - The 21 Sources That Matter, Verified

RankLens citations checklist - the five data aggregators first, NAP chips on every built listing, and a 0-100 citation score

☝ The score row counts found, not found, NAP verified and NAP errors - and a red chip expands to show exactly which field is wrong, next to what it should be.

The honest limit: RankLens does not scan 300 directories, and we will never sell you citation submissions. The checklist is exactly 21 sources, the scan only verifies listings you've marked built, and discovery is manual on purpose - automated discovery kept surfacing other businesses' listings, so we stopped doing it. If you want a scary number to watch every month, this is the wrong tool. If you want the map, it isn't.

The checklist

The 21 that matter. Aggregators first.

Five data aggregators and networks sit at the top - Data Axle, Neustar Localeze, YP Network, Foursquare, and the HERE/TomTom GPS networks - because they feed hundreds of directories and navigation systems downstream. Build those five and most of the long tail fills itself in. Below them: 16 directories, six flagged high value (Bing Places, Apple Maps, Yelp, Nextdoor, BBB, your local chamber) that you build by hand, never through auto-submit engines.

Unbuilt sources sort to the top, each with a direct signup link; "mark built" takes the listing URL so the scan can verify it later
"Send to Actions" files one task per missing source with the exact NAP to paste, character for character - aggregators land as high priority
Every task is deduplicated per source - hit the button twice, get zero duplicate work items

DATA AGGREGATORS · BUILD THESE FIRST

5 OF 5 BUILT Data Axle ✓ · Neustar Localeze ✓ · YP Network ✓ · Foursquare ✓ · HERE/TomTom GPS ✓

★ HIGH VALUE · BUILD BY HAND

Yelp · Apple Maps · Bing Places · Nextdoor · BBB · your local chamber - manually, never through auto-submit engines.

CHECKLIST · 15 OF 21 BUILT

Six to go. Send 6 to Actions files each as a task with the exact name, address and phone attached.

Illustrative example - sample business.

The scan

One click verifies every listing you've built

"Scan listings" visits each saved listing page, reads its LocalBusiness schema markup first, falls back to checking the visible text, and scores name, street, zip and phone as match, conflict, or not readable. It verifies what you built - it never marks anything built or missing - and your Google Business Profile is the single source of truth it checks against.

Formatting differences never read as errors: phone matching keys on the last 10 digits, street matching folds USPS abbreviations (St/Street, Ave/Avenue) and ignores suite fragments
Directories that block bots - Yelp-style challenge pages - get an amber "verify by hand" chip, never a false error; those high-value listings are maintained by hand anyway
Deliberately polite: sequential fetches with a 400ms gap and a 15-second cap per page, so your checks never look like an attack

SCAN RESULT · BBB

NAP ✓ All four fields match your Google Business Profile.

SCAN RESULT · HOUZZ

NAP ERROR Phone found: your old number from two providers ago. One click opens the found-vs-should-be comparison.

SCAN RESULT · YELP

Verify by hand - Yelp blocks automated checks. Expected, not an error.

Illustrative example - sample business.

The scoreboard

A score you can actually move

The 0-100 citation score

Tier-weighted coverage, not raw counting: aggregators count double, high-value listings 1.5x, standard directories 1x - and a listing found with a NAP error earns only half its weight. Green at 70+, amber at 40-69, red below.

Recomputed on every view

Found, three ways

A source counts as found if you marked it built, if the link crawl spots its domain among your referring domains, or if the NAP scan verified the saved page. Two of the three are machine-checked - your word alone never has to carry the score.

Mark built · weekly crawl · on-demand scan

"Link confirmed" chips

The same link index behind backlink monitoring cross-checks the checklist: when a directory's domain appears among your referring domains, the row gets a green "link confirmed" chip - independent proof the listing is live.

Link profile refreshed every 7 days

One NAP, one source of truth

Every scan compares against your Google Business Profile: business name (tagline stripped), address and phone. Fix the NAP inline on the citations card and every future scan verifies against the corrected version.

Checklist always on

Send to Actions

One click files a work item per un-built source on your task board, each carrying the exact NAP to paste character for character. Aggregators arrive high priority, directories medium, and nothing ever double-files.

On demand · one task per source

Trade organizations

A suggested list of national, state and local associations worth joining for your trade and city - the memberships that come with a real citation and often a real referral network. You verify, join, and log the profile link.

Generated on demand

Illustrative scenario A plumber changed phone providers two years ago. The checklist shows 15 of 21 built; the scan comes back with nine listings NAP-verified green, Yelp and Nextdoor amber ("verify by hand" - they block bots, exactly as expected), and one red: a directory still carrying the old number, with the found-vs-should-be comparison one click away. One listing edited, one rescan, score 80 and green. Citation work this quarter: about 20 minutes.

Why this shape

A foundation, not a subscription treadmill

21curated sources on the checklist - not 300 directories of noise

5data aggregators that feed the rest - build these first

$0per submission - we verify listings, we don't sell them

Build your citations once. Then get on with your life.