Author
JB

James Burfield

Founder, CitationHQ

12+ years in UK SEO. Founder of SEOBurf.

About James

James founded CitationHQ after a decade of watching local business owners waste evenings submitting their details to the same UK directories over and over. He runs SEOBurf, a UK SEO agency that has built and cleaned up citation profiles for hundreds of local businesses — from tradespeople to multi-location franchises. CitationHQ is his attempt to turn that hard-won process into software any business owner can run themselves.

Guides by James

Blog posts by James

citations · 5 min
The 7 most common citation mistakes UK businesses make (and how to fix them)
From abbreviated street names to forgotten old listings — the seven citation mistakes we see most often in UK local SEO audits, ranked by ranking impact.
local seo · 6 min
Local SEO after AI search: what's actually changed for UK businesses in 2026
Google Search Generative Experience, Apple Intelligence, Microsoft Copilot — how AI search has reshaped UK local SEO, and what citations have to do with it.
local seo · 6 min
The hidden cost of NAP inconsistency: why your local rankings stalled
If your local pack rankings stalled despite doing all the right things, NAP inconsistency is probably the silent killer. A practical guide to spotting and fixing it.
local seo · 5 min
Yell vs Yelp UK vs Bing Places: which UK directory matters most in 2026?
If you can only pick one UK business directory to invest time in, which is it? A senior SEO consultant's honest take based on 12+ years of UK local SEO.
local seo · 5 min
How long do citations actually take to impact UK local rankings?
A clear timeline based on what we see across hundreds of UK local SEO campaigns. Week 1 to month 6 — what to expect and when.
local seo · 4 min
The 12 UK directories that actually move local rankings in 2026
There are hundreds of UK business directories. These twelve are the only ones that meaningfully move local pack rankings. Everything else is noise.
local seo · 2 min
The UK local SEO checklist for 2026
A practical, do-it-this-week checklist for UK business owners who want to rank in Google Maps and the local pack — from NAP to citations to reviews.