Check Your Old Online Business Listings To Get Better AI Citation Results

I have been spending a lot of time lately trying to figure out what actually helps a Microsoft Dynamics partner get mentioned and cited by AI. A blog member recently reminded me of something that is easy to forget about.

Make it a point to update all of your company's online business listings.

I am talking about your Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Microsoft profiles, Clutch and other business directories and profiles you may have set up years ago and forgotten about.

You may be thinking, “We sell Microsoft Dynamics 365 across North America. Why should I care about my Apple Business Connect listing or Google Business Profile? We aren't trying to get people to walk into our office.”

But these profiles aren't just about local search anymore. They are another place where Google, Bing and other systems can find information about your company and validate who you are and what you do. And that can matter when AI is deciding which companies to mention.

What Does AI Find Online About Your Company? 

When someone asks an AI tool, “Who are the best Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central partners?” or “What Microsoft Dynamics partners specialize in manufacturing?” it needs information to help determine which companies belong in that answer.

Your Google Business Profile might describe you as an ERP consulting company. Your Microsoft profile might say you specialize in Dynamics 365 Business Central. Your ERP Software Blog profile might list the industries you serve and the regions where you work. Clutch could have another description of your company. Bing and Apple may have business information about you too.

All of these little pieces of information help establish your company's identity online. Ideally, they should all be telling the SAME basic story.

AI is smart, but also kind of dumb. You need to make it easy for AI to know exactly what you do.

This is also why I don't agree when people say SEO is dead. We can call the new strategies AEO, GEO, AIO or whatever new acronym someone invents next week, but AI still needs to find information about your company somewhere. Making your company easy to find, understand and validate online is still important.

When Was the Last Time You Looked at These Business Listings? 

Here is an experiment I think every ERP Software Blog and CRM Software Blog member should try. Search for your own company online and look at the results as if you were a prospect who knew nothing about you.

Don't just look at your website. Find your Google Business Profile, Bing Places and Apple Business Connect listings. Look at your Microsoft profiles, Clutch, software directories, association websites and partner directories. Of course, look at your company profiles and directory listings on ERP Software Blog, CRM Software Blog and ERP Cloud Blog too.

And don't assume that because you filled out a profile years ago, there is nothing more to do. These platforms change. Google Business Profiles, for example, have added and expanded the information businesses can provide over the years. Depending on your business and location, you may now be able to add a more detailed business description, additional business categories, specific services and service descriptions, attributes, social media links and other information that you never filled out when you originally claimed the profile.

So your listing may be completely accurate and still be incomplete.

You may also be surprised by what you find elsewhere. Perhaps there is an old company description that was written five years ago. Maybe it still says you are a Microsoft Gold Partner (which is worse than you may realize). Perhaps you have changed your focus to Business Central but your profile still talks mainly about Dynamics GP. You could have an old logo, an outdated office address or a description of services that doesn't reflect what you sell today.

You may even discover profiles on websites you didn't remember creating.

A few years ago you might have found one of those old directory pages and thought, “Nobody is clicking on this anyway, so who cares?”

I think we have a new reason to care.

If search engines and AI systems can find the information, that listing becomes another source they can potentially use to understand your company. And it can be the information they cite about you. You need it to be accurate.

Start With Google, Bing and Apple 

Even if local search is not an important source of leads for you, I would start by reviewing your Google Business Profile, Bing Places and Apple Business Connect listings. Make sure you have claimed them, and then look beyond the basic contact information.

If you claimed your Google Business Profile five or ten years ago, go back and look at it again. Don't just check that the phone number and address are correct. Look at every field Google gives you the opportunity to complete now.

What categories are selected? Are there additional categories that accurately describe what you do? What services are listed? Can you add descriptions to those services? What does the company description say? Have you added your social profiles? Are there other fields available now that weren't there the last time someone at your company paid attention to the profile?

For example, Google currently allows eligible businesses to provide a business description of up to 750 characters and choose a primary category along with additional categories. Businesses can also add services and, in many cases, custom service descriptions, as well as social media links and other attributes. Not every feature is available to every business, but there may be considerably more you can tell Google about your company than you did when you originally set up the profile.

Use that space wisely.

If you are a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central partner specializing in manufacturing and distribution, I would want that to be clear. If you have moved away from legacy Dynamics products, make sure an old description isn't still positioning you primarily as a Dynamics GP or Dynamics AX company.

Then move on to Microsoft, Clutch and other reputable directories where your company has a profile. Don't just ask, “Is this information wrong?” Ask, “Is there more information I could be giving them?”

The goal isn't necessarily to paste exactly the same company description everywhere. It is to make sure these sources agree about the important facts: who you are, which Microsoft products you work with, the industries you know, the services you offer and the markets you serve.

Let AI Help You Find Listings You Forgot About 

You can use AI to help you find old profiles you may not even know are out there. 

Try a prompt like this:

Find online business profiles, directories, partner listings, review sites and other third-party pages that describe [COMPANY NAME]. I want to audit our company's online business listings. Show me where our company is listed and flag information that appears outdated, inconsistent or incomplete. Then suggest reputable business and industry directories where a Microsoft Dynamics partner like us should be listed but currently isn't.

I would try the prompt in more than one AI tool because you may get different results, and I would definitely click through and check the results yourself.

You can also search Google and Bing for your company name and variations of it. Add terms such as “Microsoft Dynamics,” “Dynamics 365,” “Business Central,” “ERP” or “CRM.” You are trying to uncover all those little profiles and listings your company has accumulated over the years.

Don't Go Sign Up for 100 Junk Directories 

I am NOT suggesting that you find every obscure directory on the internet and create a company profile just to get another listing or backlink.

I would rather see your company accurately represented on a smaller number of reputable websites than listed on 200 junk directories nobody trusts.

Start with the major platforms and then think about the places that make sense for a Microsoft Dynamics partner: Microsoft properties, respected software directories, review sites, industry associations and established websites in the Dynamics community.

And yes, I would include your ERP Software Blog and CRM Software Blog directory listings in this audit. Make sure the products, industries, locations, company description and links we have for you still reflect the business you want prospects — and AI — to find today.

Your Assignment: Find 10 Listings 

This isn't a complicated marketing strategy, and it doesn't require buying another AI tool. Set aside some time and find at least 10 places online that describe your company.

Check the company description, products, services, industries, location, website URL, logo and any other information you can edit. Even if the information is correct, check whether the platform now gives you additional fields you haven't completed. Fix anything that is old, incomplete or inaccurate. If you discover an important directory where you aren't listed at all, investigate whether it makes sense to add your company.

Then keep an eye on your AI visibility.

I can't promise that updating your Bing Places listing or cleaning up an old Clutch profile is suddenly going to make ChatGPT recommend your company. There are obviously many factors involved. But if AI is looking across the web to understand and validate companies, I want to make sure the information it finds about my company is accurate and complete.

For the amount of effort involved, I think this is a pretty easy box to check.

By Anya Ciecierski, ERP/CRM Software Blog Co-Founder