Key points at a glance
- Consistent details matter more than lots of listings: name, address, phone, website and opening hours should read exactly the same everywhere.
- A master data sheet with the binding spelling saves time and prevents contradictions whenever you create or correct a listing.
- A few well-kept listings are what pays off: Google, Apple Maps, OpenStreetMap, the big directories such as Herold in Austria or Gelbe Seiten and Das Örtliche in Germany, city and tourism portals and suitable restaurant guides.
- Actively correct or close outdated and duplicate listings after a move, a change of owner or a new number.
- Beware of listing offers by post, fax or email: many look like an invoice or a free data check but are in fact expensive contracts.
This post is general information and does not replace legal or tax advice. Rules change and some differ between federal states: check the details with your chamber of commerce (WKO) or IHK, the competent authority or your tax adviser.
Why directories still matter
Hardly any guest leafs through a printed business directory today. Online directories are still not irrelevant, though. They show up in search results when someone looks for your venue, they feed data to car navigation, map apps and voice assistants, and search engines compare your details with them. Google names three factors for local results: relevance, distance and prominence. According to Google, prominence includes, among other things, how many websites refer to a business.
The most important effect is a very practical one, though: a guest who finds your old phone number in a directory, or stands in front of a locked door because last year's opening hours are still listed, is annoyed before ever setting foot in your venue. How directories work together with your website and Google profile is explained in our guide to local SEO for restaurants. This guide is about the listings themselves.
Consistent details: the master data sheet
Before you create or correct a single listing, decide what your details are. In SEO jargon this is called NAP, for name, address, phone. The idea: name, address and phone number are identical everywhere, character for character. Variations such as “Gasthaus Huber” here and “Huber's Wirtshaus GmbH” there, “Hauptstraße 12” and “Hauptstr. 12/2”, or a mobile number next to the landline confuse guests and search engines alike.
| Detail | What to watch for |
|---|---|
| Venue name | As on your sign, without additions like “best schnitzel Vienna”. The company name from the commercial register belongs in the legal notice, not in the listing name. You can create a correct one with the legal notice generator for restaurants. |
| Address | One fixed spelling with house number; staircase or door only if guests need them. |
| Phone | The number that is actually answered, with the country code, e.g. +43 1 234 56 78. |
| Website | Always the same address, ideally the home page with https. |
| One address for bookings and enquiries that is read every day. | |
| Opening hours | Regular hours plus planned rest days and holiday closures. |
| Category and short description | Type of venue and cuisine in two or three sentences, the same for every listing. |
| Photos and logo | A small folder of current images in good resolution. |
Keep the sheet where your team can find it too, and record every listing with its link and login. You can create your opening hours in one consistent format for your website, door sign and profiles with the Opening hours tool.
Which listings pay off
The list of directories is endless; the list of truly useful ones is fairly short. Focus on services that guests actually use to search or that pass their data on to many other apps. Which ones those are differs partly between Austria and Germany.
| Listing | Country | Why it pays off |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | AT and DE | The most important source for Search and Maps. Details in our guide to the Google Business Profile. |
| Apple Maps (Apple Business) | AT and DE | The default map app on the iPhone, also used by Siri. Free. |
| Bing Places for Business | AT and DE | Data for Bing search and services that use Bing data. Free. |
| OpenStreetMap | AT and DE | A free world map that many apps, sat navs and websites are built on. |
| Herold (Austrian Yellow Pages) | AT | The best-known business directory in Austria, highly visible in search. |
| Gelbe Seiten, Das Örtliche, Das Telefonbuch | DE | The big business and phone directories in Germany. |
| Falter Lokalführer and other restaurant guides | depends on region | Editorial guides, such as Falter in Vienna. Inclusion cannot be bought, but checking your details pays off. |
| City, municipal and tourism portals | AT and DE | Locals and tourists search there, often with a link to your website. |
| Tripadvisor and review platforms | AT and DE | Important for tourists; more in our guide to Tripadvisor and restaurant guides. |
On top of that come platforms that suit your type of business: booking portals for a restaurant, booking platforms for a hotel, event calendars for bars and clubs, wedding portals for a Wirtshaus with a function room. Listings with trade associations, breweries or winemakers also bring valuable links from your local scene. How to build such links deliberately is covered in our guide to local backlinks.
Map apps and OpenStreetMap
Besides Google Maps, many guests use Apple Maps on the iPhone, the navigation system in their car or apps built on OpenStreetMap. Day-trip restaurants, mountain huts, Heurige and hotels in particular are often reached straight through navigation. A wrong pin or a missing entrance costs you guests right away. How to claim your listing with Apple is explained in our guide to Apple Maps for restaurants.
OpenStreetMap works differently from the big platforms: there is no owner access, but a community that maintains the map together. Anyone can create a free account and add details. If you would rather not do it yourself, you can leave a note on the map, which volunteers will then check.
Find your venue on the map
Search for your venue on openstreetmap.org and check whether location, name and type are right.
Create an account or leave a note
Edit it yourself with a free account, or leave a note about the error without an account.
Add details
Enter opening hours, website, phone, cuisine, outdoor seating and wheelchair access, exactly as on your master data sheet.
Facts only, no advertising
No slogans or superlatives: OpenStreetMap describes what is there on the ground, and the community removes advertising.
Fixing outdated and duplicate listings
Most incorrect listings are not the result of carelessness but of change: a move, a new phone number, a change of owner, a new name, different rest days. Directories also copy data from one another, so an old error can spread for years. That is why it pays to work systematically rather than patching individual listings.
Take stock
Google your venue's name, phone number and address, including old numbers and former names. Note every hit with its link.
Claim listings
On services with owner access, claim the listing. The provider usually asks for verification by phone, post or email.
Align the details
Compare every listing field by field with your master data sheet, including the website link and opening hours.
Report duplicates
Don't just leave duplicates; report them to the provider as duplicates or have them merged.
Close old locations
After a move, have the old listing marked as moved or permanently closed rather than deleted, where the service allows it.
Document
Record the date, change and login on your master data sheet so the next correction goes faster.
For directories without owner access, a correction form or a short email to customer service usually does the job. Don't let anyone push you into a paid package: correcting your own details should cost nothing. After a change of owner, taking over all logins belongs on the to-do list for the first week, so the previous owner no longer has access.
Beware of listing scams
Anyone who opens or renames a venue tends to get post quickly: forms that look like an invoice, an official notice or a free data check. The Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) and the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IHK) have been warning about this so-called Adressbuchschwindel (directory fraud) for years. According to the WKO, the notice about the cost is usually hidden somewhere in the body text; by signing, you place a new, paid order. Such contracts often run for several years and renew automatically.
- Official-sounding names such as “business register”, “company directory” or “trade data service”, sometimes echoing well-known directories.
- Your real details are already printed on the form; you are only asked to “check” or “confirm” them.
- Highlighted words such as “free”, “basic listing” or “proof for correction”, while the price sits in small print.
- A payment slip and a short deadline, so you pay quickly without thinking.
- Reminders and threats of debt collection or court if you don't respond or if you object.
How to get it right
- Read every form in full, including the small print
- Only pay what you can clearly match to an order you placed
- Agree with your team that nobody signs or pays without checking first
- If in doubt, ask the WKO or IHK and send them the letter
- If you have signed, contest it in writing quickly and give notice as a precaution, with proof of delivery such as registered mail
Better not
- Sign forms just because your details are already on them
- Pay payment slips out of habit along with your real invoices
- Let deadlines or collection threats put you under pressure
- Agree to a listing or an upgrade on the spur of the moment on the phone
- Ignore a court payment order or a lawsuit
A simple routine for upkeep
Listings are not a one-off project. Menu, opening hours and team change; platforms come and go. With a fixed routine the effort stays small: a change happens first on your website, then in the most important profiles, then in the remaining listings. The more of your details come automatically from your website, for example via structured data, the easier it is for search engines to recognise the correct version.
Business directory checklist
- Master data sheet with name, address, phone, website and opening hours created
- Google profile, Apple Maps and Bing Places claimed and aligned
- OpenStreetMap checked and completed
- Herold or Gelbe Seiten and Das Örtliche checked
- Listed on city, tourism and relevant industry portals
- Old numbers, former names and old addresses searched and corrected
- Duplicate listings reported
- Team knows: no signature on listing offers without checking first
- Public holidays and holiday closures entered in advance in all key profiles
- All listings briefly checked once a quarter
A website as your reliable source
Every directory links to your website. See in the free preview how your venue can look online with up-to-date details, menu and opening hours.
A free preview of your venue website, designed by us.
