How to claim and optimize an Apple Maps listing

Being visible on mapping apps is important to your local SEO efforts. That’s why you’ve claimed Google Maps listings for your clients. Have you thought about Apple Maps?

Apple Maps is a competitor to Google, but make no mistake: it’s a heavyweight in the world of navigation apps. Apple Maps is the default navigation app on every iPhone and iPad. Plus, when someone searches or asks Siri for recommendations, that data comes from Apple Maps.

For reference, Apple says there are more than 1.5 billion iPhones in use (The Verge). That’s a lot of potential customers your clients could be missing out on if they’re not on Apple Maps.

It doesn’t cost anything to claim an Apple Maps listing, except time. This guide walks you through both setting up a listing and optimizing it.

How to claim an Apple Maps listing

If you’ve claimed Google Maps listings for your clients, then you already have an idea of how to claim a listing on Apple Maps. Apple manages business listings through Apple Business Connect, the free tool that replaced Maps Connect in 2023.

To get started, go to businessconnect.apple.com. You’ll sign in with your Apple ID. If you don’t already have one, you’ll need to create one.

Once you’re in, you’ll need to select how you’re connected to the business you’re claiming:

• Business owner
• Authorized by the business owner

If you’re signing up on behalf of a client, then you’ll choose the second option. Unlike the old Maps Connect, Apple Business Connect lets you invite multiple users to a business and assign each of them a role, so you and your client can both work on the same business listing. One Apple ID can also manage multiple locations.

You’ll still want to coordinate with your client before you claim the listing on Apple Maps. There are some verification steps you’ll need to complete.

Claim an existing listing

Once you’re logged in to Apple Business Connect, you’ll choose your language. Next, you’ll select your business.

To do this, type in the business name. If it’s already listed on Apple Maps, it should pop up. If the business has a generic name, then you may need to sort through the listings until you find the right one.

What if the business doesn’t come up? You may need to create a brand-new Apple Maps listing. We’ll go over the steps for that below.

If the business does pop up, you don’t want to create a duplicate. Instead, select the existing listing by clicking or tapping it. Once you’ve done this, you should see the option to claim the place.

Claim the business listing and you’ll be prompted to enter business information into various fields. These include:

• Business name
• Address
• Phone number
• Business categories
• Hours of operation
• Website
• Social media links

Once you’ve updated this information, you’ll be ready to move to verification. A few fields — including the business description, attributes and images — only unlock once verification is complete.

Adding a new Apple Maps listing for a business

If you type in the business name, but it doesn’t appear, you’ll need to create a new listing. Apple makes this very simple. Choose the option to add a new place, then follow the same steps for claiming an existing Apple Maps listing.

Verifying the business listing

The final step is verifying the business. Apple wants to make sure anyone editing business information legitimately represents the business.

The quickest route is a call or text to the business phone number you provide, which gives you a unique one-time password (OTP) to enter and complete your claim. If you manage passwords on iPhone, you can also keep your credentials organized and securely accessible while managing business listings. Apple may also send a code by email. If neither works — a shared line, a number your client controls, a location without a public phone — you can upload an official document showing the business’s name and address, such as a utility bill, lease or insurance policy.

If you’re claiming a listing on behalf of a client, then it’s a good idea to coordinate with them. You may want to have them claim the listing themselves, with you walking them through the process via a video chat. At the very least, you’ll need them to send or enter the OTP to complete the process.

Verification can take up to five business days, and your updates won’t appear on the map until it clears. Build that lead time into any client commitment you make.

Updating information on a claimed business listing

If you’re claiming an existing business, make sure your information is accurate.

Apple Maps collects data from many sources. That’s how your client’s business was likely listed to start. Apple scraped data from another source and added it to their map.

Of course, that information could be wrong or out of date. You’ll want to go over the details carefully and update any information that isn’t accurate.

This is a very good reason to make sure your clients claim Apple Maps listings for their business. Even if your focus isn’t local SEO, having the right information in the mapping app is important for the customer experience.

Apple Maps used to offer far fewer fields to edit than Google Maps. That gap has closed. Once a listing is verified, you can upload a logo, a cover image and photos directly, write a business description, set attributes, and add actions that let customers order food, book a reservation or schedule an appointment without leaving the app.

How to optimize an Apple Maps listing

If you’re familiar with local SEO, then you already know some of the principles Apple Maps uses.

The key to almost all local SEO is your NAP: name, address, phone number (Forbes). You want to be sure a local business’s NAP is correct and consistent across locations. Matching between Google Maps and Apple Maps is important. You should also check for other listings, such as:

• Google Business Profile
• Bing
• Yahoo
• Waze
• Yelp
• Tripadvisor

The NAP details on any of these listings should match your client’s website and social media profiles.

Why is NAP so important? Google, Apple, and other companies want to provide the best user experience. When someone asks about local dentists, Apple wants Siri to deliver accurate information. If your NAP is consistent across all profile listings, then Apple is more confident that information is correct.

This, in turn, boosts local SEO. Since Apple is more confident about the business, they’ll push it higher in the rankings. If the NAP is inconsistent, Siri may not mention it.

Trying to standardize business profiles can be an arduous task. There are hundreds of websites that list businesses. Trying to keep them all up to date manually is time consuming. That’s why you might want to look at solutions like syndication services or the listings tools in Vendasta’s small business software platform.

Fill out every detail on the place card

As you might have guessed from our discussion about NAP, the key to local SEO is accurate information. That also means providing more detail can help your clients’ SEO efforts.

The more complete, up to date, and accurate your information is, the better your Apple Maps listing will perform.

For that reason, be sure to include the client’s website and any social media profiles they have with their Apple Maps listing.

You’ll also want to provide operating hours, including whether the business is open 24/7. Apple Business Connect also supports special hours, so you can set custom hours for things like a drive-through that stays open later, or temporary hours across a date range for holidays and seasonal closures. Keep those current — nothing erodes trust faster than a customer driving to a business that turns out to be closed.

Next, think about the business category. Apple Maps has plenty of options, but you’ll want to choose the most relevant category. Being more accurate is always better. Also try to keep business categories consistent across different platforms.

Really want to boost local SEO? Use the tools Apple gives you. Upload a strong logo, cover image and photo set rather than leaving Apple to pull whatever it can find elsewhere. Publish Showcases to promote limited-time offers, seasonal products or events. Add actions so customers can book, order or reserve straight from the place card. Then check the insights in Apple Business Connect to see how people are finding and interacting with the listing, and adjust from there.

Other benefits of claiming a business listing

You probably know the benefits of good local SEO include more visibility for the business and even higher in-store traffic. Given that Apple Maps handles billions of mapping inquiries weekly (Justin O’Beirne), it’s a cornerstone of local SEO strategies.

What other benefits are there to claiming a listing on Apple Maps? One is that Apple will tell you about upcoming features. Knowing about these features first could help you and your clients stay ahead of the local SEO curve.

This is particularly salient right now. Apple has kept building on Business Connect since it launched, adding Showcases, richer place cards and reporting. Claiming the listing is what gets your clients access to all of it.

List on Apple Maps and beyond

To be the local SEO expert your clients need you to be, make sure their businesses are everywhere their customers might find them. That means thinking beyond Google Business Profile listings and Google Maps. Your clients should be on Apple Maps too—they might be missing out on billions of search queries otherwise. Listings are one piece of a bigger system for helping clients win more customers.

With this guide in hand, you can help them not just claim their business on Apple Maps but optimize the listing too.

Apple Maps listing FAQs

1. What is an Apple Maps listing?

An Apple Maps listing — Apple calls it a place card — is a business profile that appears in Apple Maps and Siri search results. It includes details like business name, address, phone number, hours, category, photos and actions, helping customers find and navigate to a location.

2. Who can claim an Apple Maps listing?

A listing can be claimed by the business owner or someone authorized by the owner. Agencies can manage listings for clients, and Apple Business Connect supports multiple users per business with assignable roles, so you don’t have to share one login.

3. How long does it take to verify an Apple Maps listing?

Phone and text verification is usually quick, but Apple advises the full process can take up to five business days. Document-based verification sits at the longer end of that range.

4. Can you create a new Apple Maps listing if one doesn’t exist?

Yes. If the business doesn’t appear in Apple Maps, you can add a new place through Apple Business Connect and submit the business details for verification.

5. What information can be edited in an Apple Maps listing?

You can update core business details like name, address, phone number, website, hours, category and social links. After verification you can also add a description, attributes, a logo, a cover image, photos, Showcases and actions.

6. Why is NAP consistency important for Apple Maps listings?

Consistent name, address and phone number across platforms helps Apple trust the data. This improves visibility in Apple Maps and increases the chances of appearing in Siri-based searches.

7. Does optimizing Apple Maps help with local SEO?

Yes. Apple Maps plays a major role in local discovery for iPhone users. Accurate and complete listings improve visibility, navigation accuracy, and local search performance.

8. Can agencies manage multiple Apple Maps listings?

Yes. Apple Business Connect is built for multi-location management, and one account can hold many locations. You can also invite your client as a user on their own listing rather than managing it from a shared login.

9. How do I add photos to an Apple Maps listing?

Upload them in Apple Business Connect once the listing is verified. You can add a logo, a cover image and additional photos directly — you no longer have to rely on Apple pulling images from third-party platforms like Yelp.

10. Is Apple Maps worth prioritizing alongside Google Maps?

Absolutely. Apple Maps is the default navigation app on iPhones and powers Siri results. Ignoring it means missing a large segment of local search traffic.