A. Is registering with Apple Maps important?
Yes, registering with Apple Maps is crucial—that’s the simple answer, and we stand by it.
If you’d like to know why we believe that, here are a few bullet points:
- Google rules (est 90% search and 70% maps) in 2024 but Apple has begun activating its counter strategy with its biggest move with Siri and ChatGPT launched in Q4 2024
- Apple iPhones have 60% of the US market share (vs Android having 70% worldwide)
- Apple Business Connect (launched Jan 2023) is part of Apple’s counter offensive. It had a rocky launch but has innovated with indoor maps of airports, malls, public transport directions, business chat, and is even integrating with an upgraded Siri and ChatGPT…
B. How to register (create or claim) your Apple Business listing?
Claiming an Apple Business Connect listing is similar to that for claiming a Google Business Profile listing.
Step 1: Create your (or log into your existing) Apple ID and log in
If you don’t want to use your personal Apple ID to manage your business listing, you can create a new one. Otherwise, you can use your personal Apple ID.
Step 2: Once logged in, go to Apple Business Connect and access Apple Maps Connect, and choose the type of Business
- “Small Business” if the business if less than 25 locations
- “Enterprise” if it has 25 locations or more.
- “Third-Party Partner” if an agency managing for other companies
Step 3: Search for the Business You Want To Claim on Apple Maps
Type your business’s name where it says “Search for your location’s name.” Click on the location you want to claim, or click “Add a new location with this name” or “Add new place” if your business doesn’t appear.
Step 4: Edit and Confirm the Business Information
Follow the on-screen prompts and fill out as much information as you can. You will be asked to add, edit, or confirm all the business name, address, location pin, contact details, website, business hours, business category, etc.
You’ll also be asked to provide the legal name and address of your company, if different from the business listing info you previously provided.
Key Tip: You need to list one primary category for your business when you claim it but be sure to list the most in-demand relevant secondary categories as well. Also, if you update all the available categories regularly this may give you an edge over your competitors on Apple Maps.
Step 5: Verify Your Business on Apple Maps
Similar to Google Business Profile, Apple will ask you to verify your business. This will probably happen by Apple sending a verification code to the business phone you’ve listed but it might involve Apple asking for some official documents to be uploaded, etc. Simply follow their prompts and directions until your business is verified. You can also verify later.
Once your business is added to Apple Maps, it appears as a “Place Card” which users can expand to see an overview of the location. Users can also take other actions such as clicking a navigation button to instantly get driving directions or clicking a CTA button (e.g., “Reserve” if you’re a restaurant or take reservations in advance) if you’ve set one up.
C. What is the difference between Google Business Profile vs Apple Business Listings?
Besides Google Maps being the dominant map player in the USA, the main experiential difference that stands out to us is that Google Maps has its own Reviews and Apple Maps does not. Apple does not generate their own reviews but instead relies on third-party reviews from Yelp, Bookings.com, TripAdvisor, Facebook, etc.
One caveat: Apple Maps users can indicate a positive or negative “Apple recommendation” based on certain experiences (e.g., “Overall”,”Facilities”, “Customer Service”, and “Services Offered”) so encouraging your happy customers to recommend you on Apple maps (even though they cannot leave a review) makes sense as well. Nonetheless, managing and responding to reviews on all the third-party sites Apple Maps draws from is important for Local SEO marketing on Apple Maps.
D. How to manage and optimize your Apple Business listing to your advantage?
After simply filling out your Apple Business listing with as much business information as possible, you can optimize it by keeping it updated and active. This means keeping your categories updated, information consistent with your business information found elsewhere on the internet, uploading posts and whatever else you’re able, etc.
Why is this important? One simple way to get this in your head is to view this all from Apple’s perspective. Apple does not charge businesses to have a listing on Apple maps. Yet since Apple wants users to use Apple Maps rather than Google Maps (as that will help Apple’s business model), Apple will reward any businesses that make their maps the preferred option. In other words, “optimizing Apple Maps” simply means doing all you can to help Apple Maps achieve its goal of being more used than Google Maps.
How do you do this? It is by making Apple Maps more useful, by adding:
- Action links or CTA steps (e.g., “Call Now,” “Get Directions,” etc.)
- Posts (which can run up to 30 days)
- Photos (original photos updated regularly is Apple’s preference)
- Anything else that will cause users to choose Apple Maps first
E. Next Steps
Just open a browser and get started. We’d suggest having your Google Business Profile open at the same time so you can simply copy and paste information over from one to the other. “Progress not perfection,” is the mantra to follow here – having a claimed partially filled Apple business profile is better than not having one at all.
If you get stuck, we’d recommend simply asking ChatGPT for next steps (as it now is pulling data from more recent years and can do a good job compiling steps) and try following them. If you’d rather not deal with this and do not have someone on your team you can pass this task off to, feel free to reach out to us if we might help. Our Digital Marketing Package starts (as of 2024) at $595 per month but taking care of Apple Maps and all your citations are an automatic part of it.
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