Unstructured citations

[echo1]

We all now how important citations are, structured and unstructured for local results. Oftentimes, as David Mihm said, they are the factor that could tilt the balance.
It is also true that the higher the authority of a website the more weight Google puts on a citation.

My question is, how far should you go after those unstructured citations, would you get them from everywhere you can if the number and not the quality would be the difference between number 1 and number 2 spot in Google local?

[Francisco_Meza]

My brother ranks in Yelp in #1 position. He has several bad reviews, but he still gets business. He responds with rebuttals for the reviews are always fresh.

Read this: http://searchengineland.com/bad-merchant-google-may-drop-your-rankings-151028

Matt Cutts is going to start hammering sites that have bad merchant reviews. Hopefully Matt Cutts doesn't wipe out my brother.

[echo1]

I am sorry if I wasn't clear enough. I was asking about the quality of unstructured citations and the places you get them from, not about reviews although, it is a very interesting piece to read.

[David-Mihm]

Hi Echo,

You're in a very competitive space, so I would say I'd focus more on getting quality unstructured citations.  One or two from colleges and universities or government organizations could indeed tip the balance in your case.  Have you thought about giving free rides from O'Hare and Midway to incoming guest speakers at various seminars / colloquia @ Univ of Chicago, Northwestern, etc, just as an example?

Taking a quick look (assuming this is you) -- I'd suggest trying a couple things first, though:

1. set your service radius much tighter (something like 30 miles)

2. get more reviews on TripAdvisor, WeddingWire, AngiesList, and Yelp.  These seem to be the most prominent review portals in your space.

Hope that's helpful.

[echo1]

Thanks David!