Local citations: the listings that tell Google your park is real.
Google counts the places that list your park and checks that they agree. Most parks are missing half the ones that matter, or listed with the last owner’s phone.
IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Citations are listings of your park on other sites: directories, review sites, maps, and tourism sites. They build local authority in two ways. Each consistent listing confirms the park's existence and location to Google, and the camping-specific ones send guests directly. The order that matters for a park: Google Business Profile, Apple Maps, Bing Places, then the camping directories, Campendium, RV Life, Good Sam, The Dyrt, Allstays, then the state tourism site and visitor bureau, then general directories like Yelp. Every one must show the same name, address, and phone. Quantity beyond that does little; a hundred junk directories help less than ten right ones.
The listings a park needs, in order
- Google Business Profile. The one that decides the map pack. Field by field.
- Apple Maps and Bing Places. iPhone users search Apple Maps by default; ChatGPT and Copilot search Bing. Both are free to claim and usually unclaimed.
- Camping directories. Campendium, RV Life Campgrounds, Good Sam, The Dyrt, Allstays, FreeRoam, Hipcamp where it fits. These are where RVers actually look, and each links.
- The state tourism site and the county or town visitor bureau. Authoritative, local, and usually a free listing with a link.
- The chamber of commerce. A membership fee, a listing, a link, and an introduction to every local business that might advertise on your map.
- General directories. Yelp, Facebook, TripAdvisor, Foursquare. Less weight for a park, but they feed data to others and guests check them.
What a clean set looks like
The listings for a 60-site park in Prescott, after the first pass:
| Listing | Status | Links to site |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | Claimed, category RV park, hours by season | Yes |
| Apple Maps | Claimed, pin corrected to the office | Yes |
| Bing Places | Imported from Google | Yes |
| Campendium | Claimed, old owner's phone replaced | Yes |
| RV Life | Added, was missing | Yes |
| Good Sam | Updated | Yes |
| Arizona tourism site | Added | Yes |
| Prescott chamber | Member listing | Yes |
| Yelp | Claimed, hours fixed | Yes |
Nine listings, every one showing "Willow Lake RV Park, 1617 Heritage Park Rd, Prescott, AZ 86301, (928) 445-6311," character for character. That is the whole job, and then keeping it that way.
What consistency means here
Every listing shows the same name, the same address, and the same phone, character for character. The camping directories are the worst offenders because parks change hands and the old owner's listing lives on. Why it matters and how to fix it.
What does not help
Bulk submission services that list you on five hundred directories nobody uses. They create mismatches faster than they create authority, and the sites are often the ones Google discounts. Ten right listings, kept accurate, beat five hundred wrong ones.
What it looks like when it is missing
The park is on Google and Facebook and nowhere else. Campendium has it under the old name with two reviews from 2018. RV Life does not have it at all. The state tourism site lists the competitor. Apple Maps shows the pin in the wrong place.
What it costs a park
Direct traffic from the camping directories, which RVers use to plan, and the authority those consistent listings would have added to the map ranking. And the guests who found the old phone number on a directory and called someone else.
How to check your own
- Search your park on each site in the list above. Note missing, wrong, and unclaimed.
- Search your phone number in quotes on Google. Every result should be you, current.
- Check the pin location on Apple Maps and Google Maps.
What we do about it
The Listings + Reviews band starts with claiming and correcting every listing in the order above and keeping them matched to the site. Then monthly monitoring, because directories re-import old data. We report which listings send visits so you can see which ones matter for your park.
Questions about this.
Which directories should an RV park be listed on?
Google Business Profile, Apple Maps, and Bing Places first; then the camping directories, Campendium, RV Life, Good Sam, The Dyrt, and Allstays; then the state tourism site, the visitor bureau, the chamber, and the general directories like Yelp.
How many citations does a park need?
Ten to twenty right ones, kept accurate, matter more than hundreds. The relevant listings for a park are the camping directories and the local tourism sites.
Should I use a citation submission service?
Not the bulk ones that list you on hundreds of unrelated directories. They create mismatches and little authority. Claim the listings that matter by hand or through a service that manages the specific ones.
Do camping directories help with Google ranking?
Yes, and they also send guests directly. Consistent listings on Campendium, RV Life, and Good Sam confirm the park's location to Google and are where RVers plan trips.
Want this done for your park?
This is the ongoing work in the Marketing band. Tell us about your park and we will say what we would build first. SEO for parks starts at $250 a month.
Part of the RV park SEO guide, section: What grows a park site. Previous: Consistency: a steady drip beats a burst and then silence. Next: Review generation: the one thing a park can do that moves rankings fastest.