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Optimizing for Local Search > Foundation: Check Your Local Listings
Foundation: Check Your Local Listings
Today, literally thousands of online directories and websites offer up guides to local businesses. So, if you have a local business or a chain of shops, where do you start? The best place to start is by validating your data with the search engines themselves.
Search engines will place great emphasis on data you validate directly with them, treating it as highly trusted. If the address you validate directly with the search engines is 39 Temple Street and the InfoUSA address is 41 Temple Street, they are probably going to use the 39 Temple Street address (though this is not guaranteed!).
The major search engines provide you with tools to directly interact with the business profile data they will use to rank your business in local search results. Ensuring that the data they have on file is current, accurate, and optimized is obviously in your best interest. You can find the local management portals for Google, Yahoo!, and Bing at the following URLs: