Online directories for professional firms: which listings count and how to keep them clean

Why directories still matter

Hardly anyone leafs through a phone book today. Directories still have an effect in three ways. First, people search there on purpose, for example in the lawyers' register when they want to check that someone is really admitted. Second, search engines compare what different sources say about your firm, and a consistent picture strengthens trust in your data. Third, map services, navigation systems and AI assistants draw on such listings when they give out an address or phone number.

This results in a simple order: first the official registers and your Google Business Profile, then the big map services from Apple and Microsoft, then selected business directories. Paid portals come last and only if clients actually search there.

Official registers and chamber directories

The directories of chambers and authorities are the most reliable sources about your firm. Your entry is usually created automatically on admission, appointment or registration. You have to report changes of address or firm name to your chamber or authority anyway; additional details such as website, languages or practice areas can also be maintained in some registers.

• Check once a year: look yourself up in your profession's register. Do the address, phone number and spelling of your name match your website?
• Titles as in the register: specialist lawyer titles (Fachanwalt) in Germany, registration as a mediator in Austria or appointment as a bookkeeper can be checked there. What you state on your website and profiles must match the register.
• Link to it: a link from your imprint to your register entry is quick proof for visitors. Which details belong in the imprint is covered in the guides on mandatory information, for example for lawyers in Germany or tax advisers in Austria.

Apple Business and Bing Places

Anyone using an iPhone who searches Apple Maps or asks Siri for “tax adviser near me” does not see your Google profile but Apple's place card. You manage these listings for free through Apple Business, which replaced Apple Business Connect in spring 2026; existing listings were carried over. There you claim your firm's location and maintain its name, address, opening hours, logo and photos.

For the Bing search engine and Microsoft's maps there is Bing Places for Business. Conveniently, you can import a verified Google Business Profile instead of entering everything again. Still check every field afterwards, especially the category and opening hours. Microsoft Copilot relies on Bing, so a correct listing there also helps with AI answers.

Business directories: Herold, Gelbe Seiten, Das Örtliche

In Austria, Herold is the best-known business directory; in Germany it is Gelbe Seiten (Yellow Pages) and Das Örtliche. Many firms are already listed there because data was taken from phone directories or earlier listings. Austrian bookkeepers, as members of the Chamber of Commerce (WKO), are also listed in WKO Firmen A-Z; tax advisers and lawyers belong to their own chambers and are usually not listed there.

A free basic listing with correct data is usually enough. Paid add-on packages promise better placement, more photos or a mini website of your own. For a professional firm they rarely achieve as much as a good website of its own. More important than any package is that the basic data is correct and links to your website.

Paid portals: benefits, costs, contract traps

For lawyers, tax advisers and mediators there are specialised portals with profiles, reviews and enquiry forms. They can bring enquiries, especially in large cities and for areas of law in which people compare. Whether that pays off depends less on the portal than on the billing model and the contract. How traffic law firms hold their own next to fine portals with partner firms is shown in the guide Traffic law vs. fine portals.

Benefits for referring clients are prohibited for lawyers in Germany under § 49b(3) BRAO, in Austria under § 47 RL-BA 2015. For tax advisers, § 9 StBerG applies in Germany, and in Austria the commission ban of § 84 WTBG 2017, which also covers auditors. Fixed fees for a profile listing are easier to assess than models linked to the individual client matter. The details are in the guides on advertising law, for example advertising for lawyers in Austria or advertising for tax advisers in Germany.

For notaries, portals are particularly delicate. In Germany, under the guideline recommendations of the Federal Chamber of Notaries, they may only be listed in directories that are equally open to all notaries, and not in rankings; paid premium spots do not meet this. In Austria, promotional emphasis is prohibited. More on this in advertising for notaries in Germany and advertising for notaries in Austria.

Consistent data: name, address, phone

In online marketing this principle is called NAP: name, address, phone. It means that these three details appear in the same form everywhere. For professional firms there is an extra point: the firm name is often prescribed by professional law, for example the registered name of a company or the short name of a professional partnership. It must therefore not vary from directory to directory.

Cleaning up duplicates and outdated listings

After a move, a merger or a partner leaving, old listings almost always remain. Clients then call the old number or stand in front of the wrong building. Proceed systematically:

For new signatures and business cards with the right details, use the free tools for email signatures and business cards. How listings, website and structured data work together is explained in the guide local SEO for professional firms.

A routine that takes little time

Maintaining directories is not an ongoing chore. Once set up properly, a quick look twice a year and a thorough pass after every change is enough. Keep a simple list: directory, link to the listing, account that manages it, contract term and notice period. With this list, you'll find every place that needs changing within an hour after a move.

The central place for all details remains your own website. There, name, address, phone, opening hours and practice areas appear in full and in the binding form, and all directories point to it. What else belongs on the website is summarised in the post content for a professional firm's website.