Glossary
NAP consistency
NAP consistency means your business name, address and phone number read the same everywhere they appear: on your website, your Google Business Profile, your structured data and other sites. NAP is industry shorthand, not a term Google uses.
Why it matters
Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to appear in local results (Google Business Profile Help), and its guidelines ask for the business name as it is used consistently in the real world: on signage, on the website and on stationery (guidelines).
There is a plainer reason too. A customer who sees one number on your contact page and another in your footer has to guess, and may pick the one that no longer rings.
Where it has to match
Start with your own site, where you control every word. The same name and main number belong in the footer of every page, on the contact page and in your structured data, and the same address too if you show one. Google's documentation for LocalBusiness structured data lists name and address as required properties and telephone as a recommended one (Google Search Central).
Next comes your Business Profile, which should carry the same name, address and main number as the site. The address is the exception for a service-area business: Google's guidelines ask it to hide the address on the profile (guidelines). So a plumber based at home matches on name and number, and the site names the towns served where an address would go.
After that come the directories and trade listings that show your business elsewhere. Writing Street on one and St on another is a matter of style. A wrong suite number or a disconnected line is an error a customer acts on.
Tracking numbers and second lines
A call-tracking number is a separate line that forwards to yours, so you can see which ad or page made the phone ring. If the tracking line replaces your main number in the structured data or on the profile, the places that identify you stop agreeing.
An old line kept for a few regulars, or a toll-free number beside the local one, splits you the same way. Pick one main number for every place the business is identified.
How the scan checks it
The free scan looks at the parts of NAP your website holds. L1 gathers every tap-to-call link it finds on your pages, plus the telephone in your structured data, and flags the site if they add up to more than one number. L2 takes the street address from your structured data, when it states one, and looks for it in your homepage text. The scan reads your site only, so directories and your profile are for you to compare by hand.
What the free scan checks
- L1: Your phone number doesn't match across the site
- L2: Your address in structured data doesn't appear on the page
Questions
We moved last year. What do we update first?
Your Business Profile, because the change may take a while to appear: Google reviews edits before they go live (Google Business Profile Help). Next, your website, meaning the footer, the contact page and the address in your structured data. Then the directories, starting with the ones your customers use.
Can we use a call-tracking number on our website?
Yes, if your main number stays in your structured data, your footer and your Business Profile, and the tracking number is kept to the pages made for the campaign it measures. The scan cannot tell a tracking line from a mistake, so if it finds both it lists them under L1 for you to judge.
Where this fits in our work
We handle this as part of Local SEO: Your Business Profile, reviews, listings and site worked on together for the map results and local searches your customers make.
Related reading
Guides
- Should you do local SEO in-house or hire an agency? What you can do yourself, what a hire costs, and when an agency is the better use of the money.
- What should a local SEO audit check? The checks a local SEO audit should cover, which ones our free scan runs, and what only access to your accounts can show.
Posts that use this term
- What happens to my Google ranking if I change my business name or address? A move keeps your profile and, for most businesses, your reviews. A new name may not. Where Google draws the line, and what to update first.
Related terms
- Map pack: The short list of local businesses Google shows with a map, and the three things Google says decide who appears.
- Local citations: Mentions of your business name, address and phone on other websites, and which ones are worth your time.
- Rank grid: A map of where a business shows in local results from points across its area, and how to read one without being misled.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google. Checked September 26, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google. Checked September 26, 2026.
- Google Search Central: Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data, updated September 8, 2026. Checked September 24, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help: Edit your Business Profile. Checked September 26, 2026.