For decades, there was only one question: Is your company listed in the Yellow Pages?
The book was delivered to every home, and anyone looking for a plumber, a lawyer, or a restaurant would flip through its pages.
Today, that same action takes place on Google Maps, TripAdvisor, an industry-specific website, and—increasingly—through a question posed to ChatGPT or Gemini.
The list has grown significantly. There are dozens of directories for companies operating in Italy—both free and paid, general and industry-specific.
As of September 2026, we had verified 62 of them, one by one:
- state
- costs
- domain authority
- weight in the AI engine’s responses.
There are 50 left to consider, and only a few are worth your time right now. Here’s what they are, what SEO benefits they offer, what risks they entail, and which ten are worth starting with.
What Are Business Directories?
Business directories are websites that compile business listings: name, address, phone number, website, hours of operation, category, and often photos and reviews.
In English, they are called “business listings,” a term that has now also entered the Italian marketing lexicon.
Each listing is like a mini public ID card for the company—viewed by people and read by search engines.
From the printed guide to the online form
The principle is the same as that of a phone book: be where the customer is looking. The nature of the listing changes.
The print version was static and published once a year; the online version is updated in real time, collects reviews, and interacts with other platforms.
PagineGialle.it is the clearest example of this: a single listing appears on PagineBianche, TuttoCittà, and Virgilio as well.
Directories, listings, and citations: three words, two meanings
“Directory” and “listing” refer to the portal and the profile page. “Citation,” on the other hand, has two uses that should be distinguished.
In local SEO, a citation is any online mention of a business’s name, address, and phone number—known as NAP (name, address, phone) data.
In AI engines, a citation is the link to the source that ChatGPT or Perplexity display next to the response—a topic we explore in more detail in our article on how to measure AI citations. Directories work on both fronts.
General-interest, niche, and review sites
General-purpose directories list all types of businesses: Google Business Profile, PagineGialle.it, Cylex.
Verticals serve a specific sector:
- TheFork for Restaurants
- Booking.com for Accommodation Providers
- MioDottore for Healthcare
- Immobiliare.it for real estate agencies.
Review platforms, such as Trustpilot, build reputation rather than local visibility.
A balanced presence combines the three families, in varying proportions depending on the sector.
What’s the difference between the Yellow Pages of the past and online directories?
The Yellow Pages used to be a single directory, printed once a year and consulted by people.
Online directories consist of dozens of portals that are updated in real time and accessed by people, search engines, and AI engines.
The goal remains the same—to be found; what has changed is the number of sources that need to be kept consistent and the fact that machines read them as well.
- What remains the same: It’s important to be where customers are looking, in the right category, with accurate information.
- What’s changing: There are many sources, and they feed off one another. An incorrect address on a website can spread to maps, navigation systems, and AI responses.
What this means for your decision: the choice shifts from “where to appear” to “which pages to manage and keep consistent.” A few well-maintained portals are worth more than many portals left to their own devices.
What SEO Benefits Do Business Directories Offer?
Local Citations and Data Consistency
Google compares the company’s data that it finds online.
When the name, address, and phone number match across the website, Google Business Profile, and local directories, the information is consistent, and the business appears trustworthy in local search results.
This is the foundation of local SEO: a few authoritative sites, with identical information across all of them.
Links and Authority: Follow and Nofollow
Many forms allow you to enter a link to the website.
The value depends on the portal and the type of link:
- A dofollow link passes on authority,
- A nofollow link drives traffic and signals the site’s presence without passing on ranking power.
OpenStreetMap, for example, uses nofollow links. A practical tip is to check the code of an actual listing before relying on that link, because portals change their settings over time.
Visibility on Maps and in local searches
The Google Business Profile listing powers the local search box and Google Maps.
This is the first and most important step: we cover it in detail in the guide to Google My Business, the name by which the service was known until 2021.
Directories and AI Engines: How ChatGPT and Gemini Reconstruct Who You Are
When someone asks an AI assistant for “a good accountant in Crema” or “the best free directories for small businesses,” the answer comes from external sources. Directories are among these sources, and some of these links are documented.
The sources that AI engines read
- Bing Places: OpenAI lists Microsoft among ChatGPT’s search providers, and Bing is also the search engine behind Copilot. Starting October 3, 2025, the service will be available at bing.com/forbusiness.
- Google Maps: Google links Gemini to data on more than 250 million places, including reviews, hours, and addresses.
- Yelp: On July 23, 2026, it licensed reviews and business data to OpenAI for ChatGPT. The extent to which the agreement applies to Italy remains to be clarified.
- Trustpilot: According to LLM Pulse, as of September 2026, it is the seventh most-cited domain by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and AI Overviews.
Industry portals: Idealista has an app integrated with ChatGPT that has been active in Italy since March 2026, and Trivago makes hotel listing data available to AI assistants.
For a summary of the difference between search engine rankings and visibility in AI responses, see the article on What Are SEO, GEO, and AEO.
Why Consistent Data Matters for AI, Too
An AI engine that finds two different addresses or two different times chooses one version—and may choose the outdated one.
The real risk is that a customer might arrive at a closed location or receive a response with a disconnected number.
Keeping the main cards aligned is the simplest form of GEO monitoring.
In addition to directories, mentions in industry publications and websites are the domain of digital PR—the other tool a company can use to become a recognizable source.
Disadvantages and Risks of Business Directories
Duplicate records and data to retain
Every open record is a responsibility: it must be updated whenever there is a change in location, phone number, or hours.
Some websites automatically generate listings from public records, and it’s not uncommon to find two listings for the same company. It’s a good idea to review existing listings before creating new ones.
Weak portals, changing portals, recurring costs
There are directories with low authority and little traffic that provide minimal SEO benefits.
The landscape is changing, too: Habitissimo closed on February 10, 2025, and as of April 14, 2026, Apple Business has replaced Apple Business Connect.
Several directories offer paid plans with undisclosed pricing or automatic renewal: before signing up, it’s a good idea to review the plan’s duration, notice period, and actual features.
Fees and Dependence on Platforms
Booking and delivery platforms operate on a commission basis.
Airbnb, for example, charges a 20% fee on Experiences and a 15.5% fee on accommodations for most hosts.
They bring in customers and, at the same time, shift profit margins and customer relationships toward the platform. The company’s own website remains the channel where the company sets the rules.
Is it worth signing up for a website with low traffic?
It depends on the goal. For SEO ranking alone, it’s best to prioritize high-authority sites.
A low-traffic portal can be a good choice when it’s specific to your industry and drives qualified leads: in that case, the value lies in the customers it brings in, rather than in the strength of the link. The choice depends on what you need.
Two criteria are considered when making a decision:
- the portal’s authority, measured using Semrush’s Authority Score and considered high at 50 or above
- his area of specialization.
This gives rise to four situations:
- High-authority, general-interest portal: This is the foundational platform; you can create your listing right away. Examples: PagineGialle.it, Kompass, Trustpilot.
- High authority, vertical portal: this is a priority for those working in that sector. Examples: Tripadvisor, TheFork, Booking.com, MioDottore.
- Low authority, vertical portal: This is a strategic choice that works well if the portal attracts customers from the industry. Examples: Commercialista.com, Winedering, Treatwell.
- Low authority, general-interest portal: Refer to this when the primary sources are in order. Examples: Cylex, Hotfrog.
These figures are as of September 2026: before you sign up, it’s worth checking them again.
The 10 Business Directories to Start With
This is the selection that almost every Italian company should start with. Prices verified from official sources in September 2026.
| Directory | Cost | Pros | Against |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | Free | It feeds data into Google Maps and the local panel; the data is imported into Gemini | A proof of ownership is required |
| Bing Places for Business | Free | It links to Bing, Copilot, and ChatGPT search; it imports from Google | Integration with Copilot is still in development |
| Apple Business | Free | Overview of Apple Maps, Siri, and Wallet | Many online guides still use the old name, Apple Business Connect |
| PagineGialle.it | Free basic listing; paid visibility services with pricing available upon request | A listing also appears on PagineBianche, TuttoCittà, and Virgilio | Strong commercial push toward paid services |
| Facebook Page | Free; Meta Verified (paid) | Very common and often visible in search results | Algorithm-Based Organic Reach |
| LinkedIn Company Page | Free; Premium—pricing available upon request | B2B Reference Profile | Designed for B2B, without map features |
| Trustpilot | Free plan; Starter $99, Plus $319, Premium $799 per month per domain, annual contract | Among the domains most frequently cited by AI engines | Expensive, dollar-denominated paid plans |
| TripAdvisor | Free listing; Business Advantage for accommodations starting at $99 per year | A Leader in the Restaurant and Tourism Industry | The most useful features are available for a fee |
| Foursquare | Free Claim | It distributes data to a network of apps and lists OpenAI among the recipients of its data | Consumer app shut down; the connection to ChatGPT is mentioned only by Foursquare |
| Kompass | Free registration; Booster profile with price list available upon request | Long-standing B2B directory with good authority | Limited Free Version |
The complete guide, featuring 50 portals organized by sector and including a priority matrix, can be downloaded in Excel format at the bottom of the article.
How can you check the benefits you’ve received?
A directory is only as good as the traffic it brings. A few weeks after signing up, you can measure the benefits in two simple ways:
- by checking whether the link on the card has been detected and whether it has any impact on ranking
- by counting the visits to the site that come from that portal.
Has the backlink been detected, and does it add value?
In Semrush, in the Backlink Analytics section, enter your website’s domain and open the list of backlinks.
Here, check three things:
- if the link from the directory appears
- whether it’s “follow” or “nofollow”
- What is the Authority Score of the page that links to you?
A dofollow link from an authoritative website helps improve search engine rankings; a nofollow link is still useful as an indicator of presence and a source of traffic.
The Backlink Audit tool, also available in Semrush, identifies links that should be monitored because they come from low-quality sites.
If you don’t use Semrush, the “Links” section of Google Search Console shows you the sites linking to yours for free, though it updates less frequently and provides fewer details.
How much traffic comes from directories?
In Google Analytics 4, open Reports, then Acquisition and Traffic Acquisition, and select the dimension “Session: Source/Medium.”
Visits from directories appear as “referrals” and list the portal’s name as the source, for example, paginegialle.it / referral.
For each one, look at sessions, engagement time, and conversions: a directory that brings in few visits but many leads is worth more than one that brings in a lot of casual traffic.
Two steps can make the data more accurate. Clicks from the Google Business Profile listing typically appear as organic Google traffic: by adding a UTM parameter to the listing’s link—for example, utm_source=google-business-profile—you can distinguish them from the rest.
Visits coming from AI assistants often appear as referrals with the source listed as chatgpt.com or perplexity.ai: this is an initial, measurable indicator of the GEO weight of your listings.
Frequently Asked Questions About Business Directories
Yes, and these are the most important ones to start with. Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business, the basic listing on PagineGialle.it, and the company pages on Facebook and LinkedIn are free.
Paid versions offer additional visibility, statistics, or tools for managing reviews.
Quality matters more than quantity. A solid foundation includes map listings (Google, Bing, Apple), one or two general-purpose directories, and vertical portals specific to your industry. About ten well-maintained and consistent listings are worth more than fifty listings that are created and then forgotten.
There are three models: monthly or annual subscription, commission on bookings or sales, or payment per contact received. Many portals only disclose their pricing after initial contact. Before signing up, it’s a good idea to check the minimum term, automatic renewal, and cancellation notice period.
Open the claimed listing and edit the fields. The most organized approach is to keep a document containing the official information—that is, company name, address, phone number, website, and hours of operation—and use it as the sole reference for every portal, updating all listings whenever there is a change.
NAP stands for name, address, and phone. When these details match across all sources, search engines and AI engines can reliably identify the company. Even minor differences, such as an abbreviation or an old phone number, can raise doubts and cause outdated information to appear.
They matter for local SEO and even more so for building trust with readers. Recent, numerous reviews—especially those with a response from the business owner—make the listing more convincing. Managing reviews is an ongoing process that requires dedicated tools and strategies.
Three factors are considered: whether the portal is used by clients in the industry, the domain’s authority, and the business model it employs.
A restaurant finds value in TheFork and TripAdvisor, while a law firm benefits from portals like deQuo.
For examples of vertical strategies, you can read the guide to local SEO for restaurants and the guide to SEO for lawyers.
First, you must claim the listing by proving you are the owner—usually by making a phone call, entering a code sent by mail, or providing an email address from the company’s domain.
From there, you can edit the information or request that the listing be closed. If the listing was created automatically, the request is handled by the portal’s support team.
Download the guide to the 50 business directories
Directories are one of the building blocks of a comprehensive SEO strategy: if you want to understand which listings to focus on for your company and how to keep them consistent, we can analyze them together.
In the Excel file, you’ll find the 50 verified portals, along with their costs, pros and cons, authority metrics, and the priority matrix by industry.
The file has four sheets. You’ll find them in the tabs at the bottom: click on them to open them one at a time.
- Come usare questa guida: come leggere il file, la matrice delle priorità, i cinque passi per partire e il link all’articolo.
- Le directory: una riga per portale, con dove iscriversi (link cliccabile), stato a settembre 2026, modello, costo, pro, contro, Authority Score, priorità, legame con gli AI engine e la colonna “Da cui partire” con le 10 dell’articolo. I filtri sono attivi.
- Le mie schede: registro da compilare, con una riga d’esempio, menu a tendina per i dati NAP e il tipo di link, e i totali di visite e contatti.