Most local businesses have claimed their Google Business Profile by now. Far fewer have touched the two listings that decide what people see when they don't use Google: Bing Places and Apple Business Connect.
Both are free. Both take under an hour. And both matter more than they used to, because they feed the AI assistants and phone features people use to find a business without ever opening a search page.
Why Bing matters again
Bing's own share of searches is modest, but its data travels. Microsoft Copilot answers from it, and it's one of the sources behind ChatGPT's search results. When someone asks an assistant for a plumber nearby, the business details it repeats often come from listings like this one, not from your website.
An unclaimed Bing listing may carry an old phone number, wrong hours, or a closed location pulled from some directory years ago. You won't know until you look.
Claiming Bing Places
Go to Bing Places for Business and sign in, ideally with a company account rather than a personal one. If your Google Business Profile is in good shape, Bing can import it, copying your name, address, phone, hours, categories, and photos in a few clicks. Verify by whichever method it offers, then review every field it brought over.
Use exactly the same business name, address, and phone number you use on Google and on your website. Small differences, like Suite versus Ste, or a tracking number in one place and your main line in another, make it harder for these systems to confirm they're looking at the same business.
Why Apple matters
Apple Maps is the default map on every iPhone, and in the US roughly half the phones in your customers' hands are iPhones. When someone asks Siri for a coffee shop or taps an address in a text message, Apple's data answers.
Apple Business Connect lets you claim that place card: hours, photos, a logo, a short description, and action buttons for calling, booking, or ordering. Without it, Apple fills the card from other data sources, which may or may not be current.
Claiming Apple Business Connect
Sign in to Apple Business Connect with an Apple Account, search for your business, and claim it. Verification usually happens by phone call or by uploading a business document. Add your hours, logo, real photos, and the right action link. Apple reviews changes before they go live, so allow a few days.
Then keep all three in sync
Claiming is the start. When your hours change for a holiday, update Google, Bing, and Apple the same day. When you move, change all three before the old address starts generating wrong turns and complaints. Put a quarterly reminder on the calendar to check each one.
These listings and your Google profile do more for a local business than most website changes, and they cost nothing. They also give AI assistants one consistent set of facts to repeat, which is a big part of how assistants decide which businesses to recommend. Listing cleanup is part of our reputation management work for clients who'd rather hand it off.