How To Get Your Practice On Apple Maps

Right about now everyone knows just how bad Apple MAps is and the majority of us have already with Iphone have already reverted back to the old Google Maps App because Apple Maps was well and truly driving s insane with lots of false data and business which did not even exist. I decided to write this post after seeing several posts on the topic and the importance of what being included on Apple MAps is to local business and healthcare practices in general. This may mot be the case now with all the confusion but the day will come that Apple sorts everything out and when they do Im sure you will not want to join to rush.

So why the need for your practice to be included in Apple Maps. Well this is simple. There is an estimated 1,000,000,000 iOS devices projected to be in the hands of consumers worldwide by 2015. Yes this is a big number and if we are thinking on a local level the numbers of people who will be searching for your business will undoubtedly be high as well so no matter how much the app sucks now it is something that as a practice you need to address and get listed.

The most frustrating thing so far from the information I have gathered is there is no consistent way of getting yourself listed.

Search for Your Business
Get your hands on an iPhone or iPad that has been updated to iOS6.  Open the Maps app and enter your business name and location in the search box.  Make sure you use the location.   In its current state, Apple Maps can get easily confused if the query is not precise.  In fact, because the app suffers from quirky data consistency issues, I recommend you do the following searches, just to make sure your business shows up for all of them:

- business name + city
- business name + street address
- business name + street address + city
- business phone number

If your business listing does not appear for any of these queries, it’s possible that you may have one of the following issues:

- Apple Maps does not have your business in its database
- Apple Maps is confusing your location with a different location (e.g. Miami, FL v. Miami, OH)
- Apple Maps does not have your location in its database

Here are some ways you can try to correct the situation:

The way to add your Business to Apple Maps

There are three main ways to currently add a US-based business to Apple Maps:

Report Your Location to Apple Map

i. Search for your location

ii. In the location detail click the “Report a Problem” 

iii. Choose the appropriate proble

iv. Choose “Other” on the Report a Problem s

iv. Choose “Other” on the Report a Problem scree

Add your business data via the various fields and submitIt’s unclear how often Apple is updating the maps based on user-submitted data, but my guess is they are furiously figuring out how to do it asap.

Add Your Business to Yelp

Yelp syndicates reviews and other content to Apple Maps.  If your business has been verified on Yelp, there’s a good chance that it will show up on the maps.  If you do not already have a business listing on Yelp, check out How To Add Your Business Listing To Yelp.Again, it’s unclear how often Apple updates the Yelp data, but my guess is this is some of the more frequently updated data on the maps.

Regular Checks of Your Business Listings
With so many things going wrong with Apple MAps just to make sure it may well be worth your while just regularly going to Apple MAps and seeing what information it is grabbing about your business and correct it when necessary.

I will be updating this post regularly as updates from Apple and other sources are constantly changing on this subject. I would like to thank Andrew Shotland however for providing me with the bulk of this information.