Why inconsistent business info costs you rankings

Your name, address and phone number, your NAP, is scattered across dozens of sites: Google, Bing, Apple Maps, Yelp, directories, old listings you forgot. When they don't match, Google can't be sure which is right, and a business it isn't sure about is a business it won't confidently rank.

Citations are an identity check

Every mention of your NAP on another site is a citation, and Google treats them as votes that you're a real, established business at a real address. When those votes agree, trust goes up. When one listing says 'Suite 4' and another 'Unit 4', or an old phone number lingers on a directory, the signal muddies and your rankings soften. Citation signals are a real slice of the local algorithm, small but real, and they underpin the bigger ones.

It also sends customers to the wrong place

This isn't only about Google. A wrong address or a dead number on some directory sends a ready customer to a closed door or a disconnected line. You lose the job and never even know it happened.