Yelp Is Not Optional for Local Businesses — Here's How to Win On It

I hear it constantly: "I don't use Yelp." That's fine — your customers do, and so do the systems they rely on. Yelp data feeds Apple Maps, Siri, Alexa and a growing share of the answers AI assistants give about local businesses.

Your Page Exists Whether You Claim It or Not

Unclaimed pages still show up. They just show up with wrong hours, an old phone number and no photos — and nobody there to respond when a review lands.

What Actually Moves the Needle

• Claim the page and fill every field, especially services and service area
• Add real photos — not stock, not your logo ten times
• Respond to every review, good and bad, within a couple of days
• Keep hours accurate, including holidays

The Part Most Businesses Skip

Yelp rewards activity. A page you touch monthly outperforms a page you set up once and abandoned. That's it — that's the secret.

I'm Janet Galati with JG Marketing Solutions, a Yelp Premier Agency partner. Every Monday, real marketing knowledge you can use.