Apple Business Connect and Bing Places for Local Businesses

Why claim listings beyond Google

Most businesses start with a Google Business Profile, and that guide covers it in full. Apple and Microsoft keep their own business data, and if you never claim your listing there, what people see comes from whatever those companies collected. Apple says in its introduction to Apple Business that your place card "appears in many Apple apps, from Maps to Siri to Calendar, Messages, and Spotlight searches." Microsoft's Bing Places introduction describes the service as "a free Bing service that empowers businesses to claim existing listings, or add new ones, to control the information displayed about you to customers."

Neither replaces the other. The work is mostly the same each time: claim, verify, then keep name, address, phone and hours the same everywhere. The local SEO service-area pages guide explains why that consistency matters for the pages on your own site too. The same applies to neighborhood platforms such as Nextdoor business pages.

Apple Business Connect is now Apple Business

If you search for Apple Business Connect, you land on a guide that now opens with one line: "Apple Business Connect is now Apple Business." The old Business Connect guide explains that Apple Business "combines the capabilities previously found in Apple Business Manager, Apple Business Essentials and Apple Business Connect into a single, comprehensive offering."

So one portal at business.apple.com now covers device management, work email in some countries, and the part that matters here: brands and locations on Apple Maps. If you already used Business Connect, Apple's sign-up page says you can sign in with the personal Apple Account you used there. You can then create an Apple Account for Work, or keep the personal account, in which case "you can use only brand and location management features of Apple Business." For a business that only wants its Maps listing right, that is enough.

Not every feature is offered everywhere. Apple's feature availability page lists "Brand and Location Management" by country or region, so check yours before you plan around it.

Signing up and verifying with Apple

Apple's sign-up and verification page sets a clock: "After you sign up, you have 60 days to verify your organization." It warns that if your organisation "isn't approved during the verification window, your organization, data, and Managed Apple Accounts are deleted." Start verification on the same day you sign up.

A few details from that page catch people out:

• The person signing up must use a real name. Apple says names such as IT Coordinator or Apple Deployment "are returned to you to correct the information."
• The website field is optional, but Apple says "providing it can expedite your organization’s verification process."
• Verification "requires two methods of verification and can take up to five business days to complete." The methods are a Business ID (a D-U-N-S Number or EIN), domain validation with a DNS TXT record, or App Store Connect if you publish apps.
• You also upload one official document, such as a business license, a utility bill or a lease.
• Apple repeats that you should make sure "that any filters allow mail from all apple.com domains," so its emails reach you.

Adding or claiming a location on Apple Maps

Locations live under Brands > Locations. Apple's add a single location page covers two cases: a new place, and one that already exists on Maps. In both you confirm the pin is on the right building (Satellite view helps), choose a primary category, set status and hours, and pick the brand the location belongs to. The website field also accepts a social page: Apple says "A Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok page can also be used."

Points worth knowing before you start:

• A business not open yet can use the Opening Soon status, but the opening date "can’t be more than six months away."
• For an existing place, phone verification "may be available if a location already exists on Maps." Apple calls the number it has on record, and you enter a four-digit code.
• If someone else already manages the place, you see "This location is already managed." You can still add it, then request a transfer with documents such as a business license or utility bill. Apple says "The review can take up to five business days."

Apple can also change your listing. Its page on keeping location information accurate explains that customers can report a wrong status from the place card, and that "Apple reviews these reports and edits your place card." You get an email when Apple changes the name, status or hours, and you can accept the change or contest it. Keep the email address on the account one that someone reads.

Showcases, Actions and insights

Once a location is verified you can add more than the basics. Apple's showcase page describes a showcase as "a module on the place card that allows you to highlight new items, deals or sales, or other promotional content," with a headline, body, image and a call-to-action button. Showcases "can run for up to 365 days. The default is set for 90 days." Apple reviews each one, so it asks you to "plan at least three calendar days before you want the showcase to go live."

Actions are the buttons at the top of the place card. Apple's Actions page says they link to "your brand’s website or preferred platform," with names such as Order or Tickets. A restaurant might add Menu, Reserve or Delivery. Customers need iOS 17.4 or iPadOS 17.4 or later to use them, and Apple's approval "can take up to three business days." Point each Action at a page that does that one job, for example your booking page rather than the home page. The website forms guide covers making those pages easy to finish.

Apple's insights page explains what you can measure: searches, views and Actions in Maps, split into name or brand searches, category searches and other searches. One detail matters for small businesses: "Usage metrics below a reporting threshold are represented as zero." A zero for a quiet week may just mean low numbers, so look at monthly totals.

Apple also sells ads on Maps through the same portal. Its Ads on Maps page says this is available in the United States (except American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands) and Canada, and "Only advertisers with business locations and an address for their organization in those countries are eligible to run ads on Maps."

Claiming a listing in Bing Places

Bing Places runs at bing.com/forbusiness. Its get started page says you sign in with a Microsoft account, a work account, Google or Facebook, and that "Any listings you claim or create will be associated with the email credentials you've used to sign in." Use a shared business login rather than one person's private account.

The create your listing page sets the order: "search for your business on Bing to see if it is already listed. If so, claim it. If a listing doesn't exist, create one." Two of its rules differ from what many owners expect:

• If you have moved, do not edit the old listing. Bing says "please create a new listing with the updated address instead of claiming the old one," and mark the old listing as closed.
• Nothing goes live before verification: "any updates or changes will only go live after the listing has been successfully verified."

Verification uses a PIN sent "via phone, mail, email, or text." Phone is offered only when the existing listing already has the business number and it has not been edited. Bing says a postcard typically takes "5-6 business days to arrive within the United States" and recommends waiting "at least 12 days from when you requested verification before contacting support." If a PIN fails, check whether an agency or a colleague started verification from another account, because you must enter it in that same account. Chains can group listings and bulk verify, which Bing says takes "5-7 business days" to review.

Importing from Google Business Profile

If your Google profile is already in good shape, Bing can copy it. Its Google sync page lists the steps: select Import from your Google Business Profile, choose a weekly, biweekly or monthly sync, sign in to Google, and import the listings it finds. "If your business is already verified in Google Business Profile, Bing automatically verifies the imported listing." Publishing then "typically takes 7-12 days."

Read the limits on the same page before you connect:

• "You cannot manually select specific listings to import." Bing picks up eligible listings from the Google account.
• "Syncing may create duplicate listings, especially if a listing already exists on Bing."
• Categories and Google UTM tags "may not sync exactly between platforms." If you tag your Google website link with UTM parameters, check what Bing shows.
• Linked listings cannot be edited in Bing: "Update the listing in Google, and then sync it with Bing Places." Turning sync off stops future updates but does not unlink the profile.

Bing's own get started page adds that when listings match, "Bing will use Google data to overwrite the Bing Places for Business listing information." So fix the Google profile first, then import. Bing Places is separate from Bing Webmaster Tools, which covers your website's pages in Bing search rather than your map listing.

Bing's data rules and ranking

Bing's data quality guidelines warn that breaking them "could lead to suspension." The main rules:

• Use the name customers know. "Do not use descriptors like 'best,' 'cheap,' or 'closed' in your business name, unless they are legally part of your business name."
• An address is required, including the suite number. A mailing address you don't operate from can't be used.
• Use your own working phone number and website, not a reseller's or partner's. Social profiles go in their own section, not in the website field.
• You can give up to two time slots per day for hours.

Businesses that travel to customers, such as plumbers or tutors, can hide their address. Bing's page for businesses without a physical store says you answer "Are customers expected to visit your address?" in Basic details and can show the whole address or only the city and postcode. For photos, Bing's photo guidelines allow up to 100, each "at least 480x360 pixels," with a 10MB limit per upload.

On ranking, Bing's ranking page names relevance, distance and popularity. It says "Website SEO also plays an important role in determining local ranking," and that popularity draws on reviews and ratings on sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor and on how often the business "is mentioned across the web." A complete listing helps with relevance. Your website and your reputation elsewhere do the rest.

A checklist

• Write down one version of your name, address, phone, website and hours, and use it on Google, Apple and Bing.
• Apple: sign up at business.apple.com and finish both verification methods well inside the 60 days.
• Apple: add or claim each location, check the pin and entrance, choose the primary category, set hours.
• Apple: add Actions that point at the page for that job, and plan showcases at least three days ahead.
• Bing: search before you create, claim the existing listing, verify with a PIN in the same account.
• Bing: if Google is correct and verified, import it, then check for duplicates and for categories that did not carry over.
• Moved? Create a new listing on Bing and mark the old one closed.
• Make sure someone reads the account email, so Apple's edits and Bing's PIN mails are not missed.

Frequently asked questions

Is Apple Business Connect still available?

Apple's Business Connect guide now says that Apple Business Connect is now Apple Business, which combines Apple Business Manager, Apple Business Essentials and Apple Business Connect. You manage brands and Maps locations at business.apple.com, and you can sign in with the personal Apple Account you used for Business Connect.

How long does Apple take to verify a business?

Apple says organisation verification requires two methods and can take up to five business days, and that you have 60 days after sign-up to verify. If the organisation is not approved in that window, Apple deletes it and its data.

Is Bing Places for Business free?

Yes. Microsoft describes Bing Places for Business as a free Bing service that lets businesses claim existing listings or add new ones.

Can I copy my Google Business Profile to Bing?

Yes. Bing Places can import listings from your Google Business Profile and sync them weekly, biweekly or monthly. If the business is verified on Google, Bing verifies the imported listing automatically, and publishing typically takes 7 to 12 days. Linked listings are edited in Google, not in Bing.

Can a service-area business hide its address on Bing?

Yes. Bing says businesses that visit customers, such as locksmiths, plumbers and tutors, can hide their address and show only the city and postcode, but a valid address is still needed for verification.

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