Learn · Getting your facts right
Why must my facts match everywhere?
Because AI assistants and search decide whether to trust your facts by checking whether your sources agree.
48.3725° N114.1817° W
A sample · a made-up plumber
Four copies of your facts.
A customer asks an AI assistant
“What’s the number for Sample Plumbing, and when are they open?”
It answers
Reading every copy it can find.Two numbers: 555-0100 or 555-0134? It may give neither.Open weekdays, 7 to 5. Call (406) 555-0100.
16 of 16 agree
Your websitetrue version
- Sample Plumbing
- 12 Main St
- (406) 555-0100
- Weekdays 7 to 5
Google profile
- Sample Plumbing
- 12 Main St
- (406) 555-0100
- 7 to 7, summerWeekdays 7 to 5
- Sample Plumbing
- 40 Elm St12 Main St
- (406) 555-0100
- Weekdays 7 to 5
A directory
- Sample Plumbing
- P.O. Box 21412 Main St
- (406) 555-0134(406) 555-0100
- Weekdays 7 to 5
- 1 of 5It reads every copy.An AI assistant reads every copy of your facts it can find: your website, your Google profile, your Facebook page, the directories.
- 2 of 5One true version.Write down one true version of your facts: exact name, address or service area, phone, hours, website.
- 3 of 5The copies disagree.Common mismatches: an old phone number, a P.O. box on one listing, old hours, a move that only reached half your listings.
- 4 of 5The big ones first.Fix the big listings first: Google, Apple, Bing, Facebook. Then the review sites and the directories.
- 5 of 5Every copy matches.Now an AI assistant can repeat your facts with confidence. When anything changes, change it everywhere the same day.
The answer
Because AI assistants and search decide whether to trust your facts by checking whether your sources agree. When your website, your Google profile, your Facebook page and the directories all give the same name, address, phone number and hours, an AI assistant can repeat them with confidence. When they disagree, it may leave you out, or give a customer the wrong number. The fix is one afternoon: find every copy, pick the true version, and make every copy match it.
Key points
- Write down one true version of your facts: exact name, address or service area, phone, hours, website.
- Your own website carries that version first. Everything else copies it.
- Common mismatches: an old phone number, a P.O. box on one listing, old hours, a move that only reached half your listings.
- Fix the big listings first: Google, Apple, Bing, Facebook. Then the review sites and the directories.
- When anything changes, change it everywhere the same day.
What counts as a mismatch
Some differences matter more than others:
- Phone numbers. An old number, a cell number on one listing and the shop number on another, or a tracking number from an old ad.
- Addresses. A P.O. box on one listing and a street address on another. A suite number here and not there. The old address after a move.
- Hours. Summer hours on the website and winter hours on Google. Holiday closures on the door but nowhere online.
- Names. "Sample Plumbing", "Sample Plumbing and Heating" and "Sample Plumbing LLC" in three places. Small differences are usually fine; different words are not.
- Status. A listing marked "permanently closed" for a business that simply moved.
Where your facts live
More places than most owners expect:
- Your own website
- Google Business Profile, Apple Business Connect, Bing Places
- Facebook and Instagram
- Review sites, lead sites, neighbourhood sites and trade-specific sites
- Your chamber of commerce directory, the Better Business Bureau, Yellow Pages sites
- The state's business registration record
- Old ads, old flyers that were scanned, and pages that copied your listing from somewhere else
The one-afternoon check
- Write your true version on one page. Exact name, street address or service area, phone, hours for each season, website address.
- Search for your business name and your phone number. Go through the first two or three pages of results.
- Search for your old phone number and old address too. That is where the stale copies hide.
- Make a list. Site, what it says, what is wrong, and whether you can log in to fix it.
- Fix the big ones first: your website, Google, Apple, Bing, Facebook.
- Then the rest: your chamber directory, the BBB, trade sites. Most let you claim a listing or send a correction.
- Write down where you fixed things. Next time something changes, that list is your checklist.
How to keep them matching
- When hours change, change the website, Google, Apple, Bing and Facebook the same day.
- Before each holiday, add holiday hours on Google and Apple.
- Keep one phone number for the public. If you use call tracking, keep your main number on your website and your Google profile.
- Once a year, repeat the search for your name and phone number.
Where it fits
Where Validated.Directory fits
Your Validated.Directory record is read from your own website and confirmed by you, so it carries the true version and the date you stood behind it. When your website itself is missing a fact, we tell you, and only you, so the first copy, the one everything else should match, is right.
Questions
- Does "St." versus "Street" matter?
- Very little. Pick one way and use it everywhere, but do not lose sleep over abbreviations. Different phone numbers and different addresses matter far more.
- Can I use a P.O. box as my address?
- Not on Google, and it confuses customers who want to find you. If you do not meet customers at a location, list your service area instead.
- I moved. What do I fix first?
- Your website and your Google Business Profile, then Apple, Bing and Facebook, then everything else on your list.
- A directory I never signed up for has my old number. What now?
- Most directories let you claim or correct a listing. If one will not, fixing the big listings and your own website usually outweighs it.
- Why does it matter to AI specifically?
- An AI assistant writes one answer. When sources disagree, it has to choose, and it may choose wrong or leave you out rather than guess.
Validated.Directory, by BeargrassAI. Columbia Falls, Montana. Written 2026-09-25.
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