Being mentioned elsewhere is what turns a website from a claim into a verifiable business. Search engines use it to judge whether you are real and established. AI assistants use it even more heavily, because a business discussed in several places is one they can describe with confidence.
None of what follows involves buying links. It is slower, and it is the only version that keeps working.
- 1
Fix your core listings first
Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Companies House, Yell, and the main directory for your trade. Make sure the business name, address and phone number are byte-identical across all of them. Inconsistent details are actively harmful — they make it harder for anything to be confident two listings are the same business.
- 2
Claim your trade and membership listings
Every trade body, accreditation scheme, chamber of commerce and professional register you belong to almost certainly has a member directory. These are among the strongest and easiest mentions available, they are usually already paid for, and most members never fill in their profile.
- 3
Ask the businesses you already work with
Suppliers, manufacturers whose products you fit, partners, clients whose sites you built. Many have an approved installer, stockist or partner page. This is the highest-conversion outreach there is, because the relationship exists — it is a favour between people who already know each other, not a cold email.
- 4
Give local press something worth printing
Local papers and community sites need stories constantly. Genuine news works: a new site, an award, an apprentice hired, a charity project, a local sponsorship. A press release about your ordinary business does not. The test is whether someone unconnected to you would find it mildly interesting.
- 5
Sponsor something local and make sure it is documented
A club, a team, an event. The value is the write-up and the sponsor page, so make sure that is part of the arrangement rather than assumed. A local sports club link is worth more to a local business than most national coverage, because the relevance matches.
- 6
Be genuinely useful somewhere public
Trade forums, local business groups, Reddit, LinkedIn. Answer questions properly, without pitching. AI assistants draw heavily on these discussions, and a well-regarded answer that happens to mention what you do carries far more weight than anything self-published.
- 7
Track what you have and keep it current
Keep a simple spreadsheet of every mention: where, when, what it links to. Check it twice a year. Sites get rebuilt and listings get dropped, and a link that quietly disappeared is worth an email to restore — much easier than earning a new one.
What to avoid
Paid link schemes, link exchange networks and bulk directory submissions all still exist and all still get sold. They are detectable, they are devalued, and at scale they attract manual penalties. The recovery costs more than the links ever delivered.
Mass cold outreach offering a guest post is close to worthless now. Response rates are negligible and the sites that accept are usually the ones whose links carry least weight.
A realistic pace
One or two genuine mentions a month is a good rate for a small business. Twenty in a week looks exactly like what it is.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. An unlinked mention of your business name and location still contributes to how confidently a search engine or AI assistant can describe you. Links are stronger, but the mention alone is not wasted.
Would rather we did it?
These guides are here so you can do it yourself. If you would rather hand it over, that is what we do.
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