These two terms get used almost interchangeably, but they describe different goals. Understanding the distinction helps you know which one you actually need more of.
Getting your website listed on a directory — a curated collection of websites or businesses, usually organised by category. The primary goal is typically a backlink and referral traffic. See our full link building guide for where this fits into a wider strategy.
Getting your business's name, address, and phone number (NAP) listed consistently across the web. The primary goal is a local SEO trust signal — a citation doesn't require a link to count. See our citation building guide for the full process.
A single directory submission is very often both at once — the listing includes your business NAP (a citation) and a link back to your site (a directory backlink). This is why the two get conflated so often in practice.
| Directory submission | Citation building | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary goal | Backlink + referral traffic | NAP consistency / trust signal |
| Needs a link? | Yes, typically | No — text mention is enough |
| Best for | Any business, especially products/SaaS | Local and multi-location businesses |
| Key metric | Referring domains, domain rating | Consistency across sources |
A local or multi-location business should weight citation building more heavily. A SaaS or purely online product should weight directory submission (for the backlink and traffic value) more heavily, since NAP consistency matters less without a physical presence.
Only if it includes your business's name, address, and phone number — a product-only directory listing without that detail is a backlink but not a citation.
Most businesses benefit from both to some degree, but the right balance depends on whether you're local/multi-location (citations matter more) or purely online (directory backlinks matter more).
We submit your product to vetted directories by hand and send proof of every listing.
See pricing →A beginner's explanation of link building: what it means, why backlinks affect rankings, and the main types of link building you'll come across.
Read the guide →What a referring domain is, how it differs from a backlink, and why the number of unique referring domains matters more than total link count.
Read the guide →A step-by-step walkthrough for finding your backlinks in Google Search Console for free, including how to export the full list and what the report does and does not show.
Read the guide →