What is NAP?

Google and AI tools build their picture of your business from many records, not only the ones you edit. Google says Business Profile information is "compiled from a variety of sources," including "crawled web content (e.g., information from a business' official website)" and "licensed data from third parties." It also says it decides how to show your address "based on your business information and information from other sources."

The same records come up when customers ask AI tools about you. When we asked ChatGPT about specific contractors ("Are they legit and good to hire?"), it cited the BBB in 10,582 of 11,982 answers, a government or licensing site in 10,288 and the business's own website in 9,557. If one of those records shows an old phone number, an answer can repeat it.

Source: Mindflow's research on what ChatGPT checks before recommending a contractor, October 2026. "ChatGPT" means the OpenAI API with web search. Methodology.

Google's guidelines for Business Profiles set a rule for each part of NAP. Your name must be your real-world name, your address must be accurate (or hidden, if customers don't come to you), and your phone number must be one your business controls. In Google's words:

• Name: "Your name should reflect your business's real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers."
• Address: "Use a precise, accurate address and/or service area to describe your business location." A virtual office "isn't eligible for a Business Profile."
• Phone: "The phone number must be under the direct control of the business." Google also says to "use a local phone number instead of a central call center helpline number whenever possible."

A mismatch is any difference that could make a person or a system think there are two businesses, or reach the wrong one. Here's a made-up example: your profile says "Northside Plumbing & Drain," your license says "Northside Plumbing LLC" at an address you left, and a directory lists a phone line you dropped two years ago.

In our view, formatting differences such as "St." and "Street" are far less of a problem than an old address, an old number or a different name.

If customers don't come to your address, you're a service-area business, and Google says "if you're a service-area business, you should hide your business address from customers." Your name and phone then do more of the work of identifying you, so keep them identical everywhere. Your address still appears on records you don't hide, such as your license and BBB profile, so keep it current there too.

Most NAP problems come from changes that only reach one record: a move, a new phone line, a rebrand or a name tweak made on Google alone. The fix is the same each time. Update every record you control, then fix or close the ones you don't.

• Adding service words or cities to your name on Google but nowhere else.
• Moving, or changing numbers, and updating only your Google profile.
• Using a call-center or referral number on your profile instead of a number you control.
• Leaving duplicate or old listings in place instead of fixing or closing them.

Related terms: local citation · service-area business · local pack · schema markup

Where to go next: the home-service SEO handbook covers NAP alongside the rest of the foundation, and our local SEO work includes keeping your listings accurate.

Read October 28, 2026.

• Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google
• Google Business Profile Help, Understand how Google sources and uses info in Business Profiles and local search results
• Mindflow Marketing, What ChatGPT checks before recommending a contractor and methodology, October 2026

Want to know which of your details don't match? The free AI Visibility Review includes your Google Business Profile gaps and what Google's AI and ChatGPT say for two searches, with the three fixes we'd make first.