Free business listings: where to list your business first
The short answer
Start with Google Business Profile, then Bing Places, Apple Business and Yelp. Google says you can add your business at no charge, Bing says listing is free and Yelp says it’s free to be on Yelp. Use the same business name, address and phone on each one, claim listings that already exist, and update your hours everywhere when they change.
You don’t need hundreds of directories. Get the handful customers really use right, and keep your name, address and phone the same on all of them.
Updated November 5, 2026. We make CoveDesk, which also looks after Google profiles, websites and reviews for small businesses. What this page says about other companies comes from their own pages, linked below.
Where to start
| Listing | Where | What it says about cost | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | business.google.com/add | “At no charge” | Shows on Google Search and Maps. Our step-by-step. |
| Bing Places | bing.com/forbusiness | “Listing it on Bing for FREE” | Also promotes paid ads. You don’t need them. |
| Apple Business | business.apple.com | We couldn’t see a listing price without signing in | Apple’s old Business Connect address now goes here. It covers devices and email as well as Maps, and some of that is paid. |
| Yelp | business.yelp.com | “It’s free to be on Yelp” | Paid ads and tools are sold separately, and you don’t need them to claim your page. |
Keep your details matching
Write down one exact version of your name, address, phone and website, and paste it everywhere. Customers get confused by old numbers and wrong hours, which is the real cost of a messy listing.
- Search your business name and your old phone numbers
- Claim what’s yours, and fix what’s wrong
- Update holiday hours everywhere: our sign maker has a list
- Check again every few months
What about paid listing services?
They can save time if you’ve got many locations. For one location, you can claim the main listings yourself in an afternoon. Ask what happens to your listings if you stop paying. CoveDesk also offers a one-time listings fix, if you’d rather hand it off: see Services.
Common questions
Where can I list my business for free?
How do I get my business on Apple Maps?
Is Bing Places worth it?
Do I have to pay for Yelp?
How many listings do I need?
Sources
What this page says about other companies comes from their own websites, read on November 5, 2026:
- Google Business Profile: https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778?hl=en (opens in a new tab)
- Bing Places for Business: https://www.bing.com/forbusiness/ (opens in a new tab)
- Apple Business: https://business.apple.com/ (opens in a new tab)
- Yelp for Business: https://business.yelp.com/ (opens in a new tab)
Prices and terms change, so check each company’s website before you buy. Company names are the trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify their services; none of them is affiliated with or endorses CoveDesk. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it.
Related comparisons
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The exact steps, what to do if a listing already exists, and how to get verified.
Local SEO for small business
Relevance, distance and prominence in plain words, and what to do about each.
How to get a business phone number
Free and paid ways to get a number, what each costs and how to set one up.
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