Listings beyond Google: Bing, Apple and your country's directories

Picture a customer with an iPhone. They open Apple Maps and search for a barber nearby. Your Google profile is perfect. But on Apple Maps, your listing still shows the hours you had three years ago. They walk past. And you never knew.

In this lesson, you’ll claim your listings on Bing and Apple, choose a handful of directories that matter in your country and trade, and make the details match everywhere.

Google isn’t the only map. Bing has its own listings, called Bing Places. Apple has its own, managed in Apple Business. They’re separate from your Google profile, so you claim and check each one.

Do they matter? In BrightLocal’s US survey, published in February 2026, 27 percent of people said they used Apple Maps to read reviews of local businesses. A year earlier, it was 14 percent. That’s US data, but the lesson is the same everywhere: check every map your customers might use.

And AI assistants don’t only read Google. OpenAI says ChatGPT search sometimes works with other search providers, and can use your approximate location for local results. For restaurants, it can show availability from OpenTable, Resy or Yelp. Microsoft’s advice for appearing in Copilot answers includes keeping your details current in Bing Places. And in Whitespark’s expert survey, three of the top five factors for AI search visibility were citations: your listings and mentions across the web.

So the rest of the web needs to agree with your profile.

Let’s start with Bing. Bing Places is free, and it now lives at bing.com/forbusiness. Microsoft moved it there in October 2025, and existing listings moved across automatically.

The quickest way in is to import your Google profile. Sign in, choose the import, connect the Google account that manages your profile, and pick your location. Microsoft says the import keeps details like your name, hours and contact details.

Then check everything it brought across: name, address, phone, hours, categories and website. Fix anything that doesn’t match your W3 facts sheet.

If Bing asks you to verify, it sends you a PIN. Microsoft’s support team says the PIN can come by phone, post, email or text, but not every option is offered to every business. A postcard usually takes five to six business days in the US, and can take longer elsewhere.

Now Apple. Apple used to call its tool Apple Business Connect. In March 2026, Apple announced a new, free service called Apple Business, and from the 14th of April it replaced Business Connect. Apple says it’s available in more than 200 countries and regions. So if an old guide mentions Business Connect, that’s why.

What you set up there shows on your place card across Apple Maps, Safari, Spotlight and more.

Here’s the order. First, sign up and verify your organisation. Then go to Brands, then Locations, and add your location. Put the pin on your actual building. Enter your display name, primary category, phone number, website and hours, exactly as they are on your W3 sheet.

If your business is already on Apple Maps, Apple may offer to check it by phone. It calls the number it has on record, and you type in a four-digit code. So make sure someone answers that phone.

Once you’re live, you can add offers to your place card, which Apple calls showcases, and see how customers find you.

Now the directories. You don’t need hundreds. Choose five to ten that customers in your country and your trade actually use.

Here’s a simple way to find them. Search for your main service and your town, the way a customer would, and scroll past the map. The directories on the first page are the ones your customers see. Then add the booking or review platform your trade already uses, and your trade body’s member list, if it has one.

For each one, claim the listing and make it match your W3 facts sheet: the same name, address, phone, hours, categories and website. And write down who holds the login, because logins get lost when staff leave.

When something changes, like a new phone number, update every listing on the same day. An old number on one directory can still reach a customer, or an AI answer.

A trade tip. The site where customers book you often matters more than a general directory. For a salon, that’s its booking platform. For a restaurant, its reservations site. For a clinic, the directory patients use to find a practitioner. Start with those.

A rules check. You’ll get offers to submit your business to hundreds of directories for a small fee. Say no. Google’s spam policies list low-quality directory links as link spam. And Google’s advice on hiring an SEO says to avoid anyone who talks about submitting your site to thousands of search engines.

A country note. In the US, claim your Yelp page and keep it accurate, but don’t ask for Yelp reviews. Yelp’s guidelines say businesses shouldn’t ask, and prompted reviews can end up in its “not recommended” section. BrightLocal’s US survey also saw more people using sites like Facebook, Tripadvisor, the Better Business Bureau, Healthgrades and Angi.

In the UK and Australia, the trade sites differ. Our country pages give examples, like Yell, Checkatrade or Treatwell in the UK, and hipages, Service Seeking or Fresha in Australia. Use the search check to see which ones your customers actually see.

And for restaurants anywhere: OpenAI says ChatGPT can show OpenTable bookings worldwide, so keep that listing right too.

Let’s recap. One: Bing and Apple keep their own listings, so claim both: Bing Places, and Apple Business, which replaced Business Connect. Two: choose five to ten directories your customers actually see, and skip bulk submissions. Three: copy every detail from one facts sheet, so everything matches.

Your task: open W10, your listings tracker. Claim Bing and Apple this week, then add your directories one by one, with the date you checked each. Next lesson: earning local links and mentions, the honest way.