Anthony Bing Places And Apple Maps: Listings Beyond Google
Set up Bing Places and Apple Maps this week, right after your Google Business Profile is in good shape. Both are free. Both take about an hour. And both feed places your customers already search, from iPhones and Siri to Windows, Edge and Microsoft's Copilot. Google gets all the attention, so almost no one in your town has done this well. That is your opening.
I run a local marketing agency, and I audit a lot of small business listings. The pattern is always the same. Google is polished. Bing has an old phone number or nothing at all. Apple Maps shows photos some stranger uploaded to Yelp. Fixing that is one of the easiest wins in local SEO.
Key points
- Google Business Profile comes first. Bing Places and Apple Maps are the next two to claim.
- Bing Places can import your listing from Google. Review everything after the import.
- Apple Maps is managed in Apple Business, which replaced Apple Business Connect. Full steps are in my Apple Maps guide.
- Your name, address and phone number must match on all three. Small differences cause real trouble.
- Add your own photos. If you do not, these platforms fill the gap with whatever they can find.
Why Bother With Anything But Google
Google is where most local searching happens. That is not the question. The question is what the people who do not use Google, or do not use it first, will find.
- iPhone users often ask Siri or tap Maps. That is Apple Maps, not Google. Apple's own materials say Apple Business helps customers find you in Maps, Wallet and Siri.
- Windows and Edge users are pushed toward Bing search and Bing Maps by default on many machines.
- AI answers. Microsoft's Copilot uses Bing. Other AI search tools have also been reported to lean on Bing's index. I would not bet the farm on exact details, but a wrong listing on Bing is never going to help you there.
- Car screens. Apple CarPlay runs Apple Maps on the dashboard.
None of this replaces Google. It just means a customer who starts somewhere else does not hit a dead end with your name on it.
Step One: Lock Down Your Name, Address And Phone
Before you create or fix anything, write down one version of your business information. This is called NAP, for name, address and phone number. Use the same one everywhere.
Pick these and do not vary them:
- Business name. The one on your sign and your invoices. No keywords stuffed on the end.
- Address. Same format every time. Suite number, spelled the same way.
- Phone. One main number. If you use call tracking, keep the main number on the profile and the tracking number as an additional one, if the platform allows it.
- Website. Your real homepage, with https.
- Hours. Including holidays.
- Categories. The closest match on each platform.
We audit a lot of businesses where the suite is "Ste D" on one site and "Unit D" on another. Search engines mostly forgive it. Still, make it boring and identical.
Bing Places Step By Step
Bing Places for Business is Microsoft's version of a Business Profile. It is free.
- Go to the Bing Places for Business site and sign in with a Microsoft account. Use a company email you will still own in five years.
- Choose to import from Google Business Profile if you have one. This is the fast route. It pulls in your name, address, hours, photos and categories.
- Or add the business by hand. Search first so you do not create a duplicate of an existing listing.
- Verify. Bing usually verifies by phone, text, email or postcard, depending on the listing. Some imported listings from Google verify automatically if the accounts match.
- Review everything after the import. Imports can bring in old categories, odd descriptions or a service area that no longer matches.
- Add photos, a description and your services.
If a listing already exists, claim it instead of making a new one. Duplicates are the worst problem here. They split your reviews and your information.
Next, add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing also supports IndexNow, a protocol that lets you tell participating search engines when a page changes. It is free and it takes minutes.
Apple Maps In Plain Words
Apple Maps is run through Apple Business, which took over from Apple Business Connect. You prove you are the business, claim or add the location, then fill out the place card.
I walked through the whole process in How To Add Your Business To Apple Maps. The short version:
- Sign in at business.apple.com with an Apple Account.
- Verify your organization.
- Search your business, claim it if it exists, add it if it does not.
- Verify the location, often by phone call.
- Upload your own photos and fill in hours and links.
The big mistake I see: owners never check the card. Ours showed photos pulled from another site that did not help sell the shop. If you do not take control, Apple uses whatever it finds.
What To Fill In On Every Platform
| Field | Do | Do not |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Exact legal or sign name | Add city or keywords |
| Categories | Pick the closest primary | Pick five that are loosely related |
| Hours | Match real hours, update for holidays | Leave "open 24 hours" if you are not |
| Description | Plain words, what you do and where | Phone numbers or sales pitches in the text |
| Photos | Your real shop, crew, work | Stock images |
| Website | Link to the page that fits | Link to a broken or redirected URL |
| Services | List what you really do | List everything under the sun |
Check For Duplicates And Wrong Info
Once a month, search your business name on Bing, Apple Maps and Google, from a phone and a computer. Look for:
- A second listing at an old address
- A wrong phone number
- Photos you did not choose
- A "permanently closed" tag that should not be there
Fix each on the platform it lives on. If you moved, update every one of them the same week. Old addresses hang around for years if you let them.
How Much Effort To Put In
Be realistic. For most local shops, Google is 80 to 90 percent of the effort. I would give Bing Places and Apple Maps about an hour each at setup and ten minutes a month after that. If you want a deeper look at the main profile first, start with the Google Business Profile playbook.
Reviews are different. You do not need to chase reviews on Bing or Apple. Put your energy into Google reviews, which are what most people read and what the other platforms do not replace.
Questions
Is Bing Places worth setting up if almost nobody uses Bing?
Yes. It costs nothing and takes about an hour. Bing powers search in Edge and Microsoft's Copilot, and it has a presence on Windows machines that many owners forget about.
Can I import my Google Business Profile into Bing Places?
Yes. Bing Places has an import option that pulls your name, address, hours, photos and categories from Google. Always read through the result afterward, since imports can carry over outdated details.
Do my listings need to match exactly across platforms?
They should match closely. Use one version of your business name, address and phone number everywhere. Tiny formatting differences are not fatal, but real differences, like an old phone number, confuse customers and search engines.
Do I have to pay for Apple Maps?
No. Apple Business is free for managing your place card. You do not need any paid add on to claim and edit a location.
If you want someone to check your listings across all three platforms and fix what is off, book a strategy call.
Want my new posts near the top when you search? Pick Anthony Limpert as a preferred source on Google and Google shows them to you more often in Top Stories.