Bing Places and Apple Maps: two listings many shops skip

Many shops set up their Google listing and stop there. But not every customer uses Google. iPhone users ask Siri, and Siri opens Apple Maps. People who ask Microsoft Copilot get answers from Bing. If your shop is not on these two, those customers see other shops. Setting up both costs nothing and takes about an hour.

Nisha runs a stationery shop. Her Google listing is neat. Good photos, right hours, lots of reviews. She never set up Bing or Apple Maps. She did not think anyone used them.

One evening a parent with an iPhone says, "Hey Siri, stationery shop near me." Apple Maps opens. Nisha's shop is not there. Another shop, two lanes away, shows up with its hours and a phone number. The parent goes there.

A college student asks Copilot on her laptop, "Where can I buy chart paper nearby?" Copilot reads from Bing. Bing does not know Nisha's shop. It gives other names.

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1. Go to bingplaces.com and sign in.
2. Search for your shop. If Bing already has it, claim it. If not, add it.
3. If you already have a Google Business Profile, Bing lets you import your details from it. This saves a lot of typing.
4. Bing will ask you to prove the shop is yours. Follow the steps it shows you.

1. Go to businessconnect.apple.com and sign in with an Apple Account. It opens in a web browser, so you can do this on a computer too.
2. Search for your shop. Claim it if it is there. Add it if it is not.
3. Apple will ask you to prove the shop is yours. Follow its steps.

Your shop name, address, phone number and hours should match your Google listing exactly. Same spelling. Same phone number. Same opening time.

If Google says "Nisha Stationery, Shop 4" and Bing says "Nisha Stationers, Shop No. 4", a customer can get confused. Search tools can too. Copy your details from Google, word for word.

Pick the category that fits best, like "Stationery store". Then add real photos. The front of your shop, so people can spot it from the road. The inside, with your shelves. A few of the things you sell.

Use your own photos, not pictures from the internet.

Once a month, open Bing Places and Apple Business Connect. Did your hours change for a festival? Did you get a new phone number? Fix it on Google, Bing and Apple on the same day.

Also search your shop on Bing and on Apple Maps, the way a customer would. See what they see.

Nisha now checks all three listings on the first Monday of every month. It takes her fifteen minutes. Now a parent who asks Siri can find her shop too, not just the one two lanes away.

Not sure what customers see? Viabe Pulse checks your Google listing, your website, your listings and your Instagram and Facebook pages where it can find them, next to the shops near you, and tells you what to fix first. Scan your business. Full scan ₹499 + GST.