| Tier* ↑ | Directory ↕ | Markets | How you get on | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple Business | UKFRUSIntl | You claim a profileNeeds premises | Free |
| 1 | Bing Places for Business | UKUS | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free |
| 1 | Google Business Profile | UKFRUSIntl | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free |
| 2 | Data Axle Local Listings | US | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free for 1–10 listings. 10+ locations is contact-sales. |
| 2 | Foursquare (venue claim) | Intl | You claim a profileNeeds premises | $20 one-time fee charged during the claiming process. |
| 2 | OpenStreetMap | Intl | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free |
| 2 | Wikidata | Intl | You create a profile | Free |
| 3 | 118000.frpopulated automatically via PagesJaunes (Solocal) | FR | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free base listing; a paid "offre référencement internet" exists, price not stated. |
| 3 | Airbnb | UKFRUS | MarketplaceNeeds premises | "Getting started is free. You set your price, and we only collect a fee after you've got paid." Host service fee percentage not stated on the page. |
| 3 | Better Business Bureau (free profile) | US | You claim a profileNeeds premises | Free profile. Accreditation is paid — BBB does not publish dues; a third-party estimate for a 10+ employee business is ~$965/year, set by the local BBB. |
| 3 | Booking.com | UKFRUS | MarketplaceNeeds premises | "Register for free", "No sign up fees" — but a commission is taken per stay and the percentage is NOT disclosed anywhere in the signup funnel. |
| 3 | Doctolib | FR | You create a profileNeeds premises | not stated — Doctolib publishes no practitioner pricing. Every pricing URL tried returned 404 or empty. |
| 3 | Holidu (host) | FRIntl | MarketplaceNeeds premises | Holidu fee 6% (down to 3% with exclusivity and growth discounts) + channel commission from 15% + one-time onboarding fee from €90. Holidu's own FAQ: "typically between 18% and 24%". All excluding VAT. |
| 3 | Justacoté | FR | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free — personalisation offered "gratuitement". |
| 3 | LinkedIn Company Page | Intl | You create a profile | Free |
| 3 | Mappypopulated automatically via PagesJaunes (Solocal) | FR | Check your entryNeeds premises | Free (indirectly, via PagesJaunes) |
| 3 | Nextdoor Business Page | UKUS | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free to create. Nextdoor Ads is a separate paid product. |
| 3 | Office de Tourisme — Espace Adhérents (commune-level) | FR | You create a profileNeeds premises | not stated — no cotisation figure published. |
| 3 | PagesJaunes (Solocal) | FR | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free tier ("Référencement non prioritaire"). Paid priority packages sold separately. |
| 3 | Petit Futé (Espace Pro) | FR | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free tier confirmed (basic page management, suggest edits, respond to reviews). Paid options for photos, offers, video and online booking — prices not stated. |
| 3 | Scoot / Touch Local | UK | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free |
| 3 | TheFork / LaFourchette | FRUK | MarketplaceNeeds premises | Performance and Enterprise tiers, both "Ask for pricing". Commission is "a percentage of your average bill per guest" on reservations from TheFork, TripAdvisor and partner channels. Reservations from your own website, Instagram and Facebook are commission-free. |
| 3 | thomsonlocal | UK | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free listing. The website backlink is NOT free — it requires a £10 + VAT purchase. |
| 3 | Tripadvisor | UKFRUS | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free to add or claim. |
| 3 | Trustpilot | UKFRUSIntl | You claim a profile | Free plan is real (50 automated invitations/month, 1 user, reply and flag reviews, 1 widget). Paid: Starter from $99/mo per domain, Plus from $319/mo, Premium from $799/mo — all 12-month commitments, billed annually. FR tiers: 79 € / 189 € / 479 € per month. |
| 3 | Yell.com | UK | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free basic listing; paid packages sold on the follow-up call. |
| 3 | Yelp for Business | USUK | You claim a profile | Free to create and claim a Business Page. Yelp Ads is a separate paid product. |
| 3 | YP.com / Superpages / DexKnows (Thryv) | US | You claim a profileNeeds premises | Free claim; heavy paid upsell to Thryv marketing services. |
| 4 | ACCA Find an Accountancy Firm | UKIntl | Check your entry | Free |
| 4 | AITO — Association of Independent Tour Operators | UK | Qualification-gated | Application fee from £250 + VAT (£100 non-refundable if rejected). Annual subscription based on turnover, not published. |
| 4 | annuaireagences.fr | FR | You create a profile | First 500 agencies free ("les 500 premières agences référencées gratuitement"). Partner tier from 9 €/month. |
| 4 | Appvizer | FR | You create a profile | Free — "Vous éditez une solution ? Référencez-la gratuitement sur Appvizer !" |
| 4 | Avvo | US | You claim a profile | Free profile. ProVantage and WebVantage are paid. |
| 4 | CFP Board — Find a CFP® Professional | US | You create a profile | Free |
| 4 | Chalets Direct | FRIntl | You create a profileNeeds premises | £225 + VAT per rental property per year (sale slots £179 + VAT/yr). Explicitly no commission and no click-through charges. |
| 4 | Chambers and Partners | UKUSIntl | You create a profile | "Submitting to Chambers is free." |
| 4 | Classement de meublés via l'Office de Tourisme | FR | Qualification-gatedNeeds premises | A fee exists — the "Grille tarifaire" is published as a downloadable document and the amount is not printed on the page. Invoiced with the classement decision. |
| 4 | Clutch | UKFRUSIntl | You create a profile | Basic $0. Verified $499/year. Advertiser custom. |
| 4 | Counselling Directory | UK | You create a profile | £24.50 per month rolling (30 days' notice to cancel), or £245 per year. Free for registered charities. |
| 4 | Crunchbase | Intl | You create a profile | Profile creation free; premium features gated behind a trial. Price for the basic profile is not stated. |
| 4 | Expertise.com | US | No submission route | Free provider portal. |
| 4 | Federation of Master Builders | UK | Qualification-gated | £62.69 + VAT per month. First year adds a £14.85 + VAT monthly inspection fee, or a one-time £178.20 + VAT inspection fee on the annual route. No annual contract. |
| 4 | FreeIndex | UK | You create a profile | Free tier with paid upgrades; prices not stated on the signup page. |
| 4 | G2 | Intl | You create a profile | Free to claim. "You can claim your profile for free." |
| 4 | G2 Digital Markets (Capterra + GetApp + Software Advice) | Intl | You create a profile | not stated — pricing is gated behind the application. |
| 4 | GetYourGuide (supplier) | FRUKUSIntl | Marketplace | "There is no cost for adding and maintaining an activity... You will only be charged a commission fee for bookings that are successful." The rate "may vary depending on your country of operation — the exact amount will be shared after you sign up." Monthly payouts free. |
| 4 | GoodFirms | Intl | You create a profile | Free $0/forever. PRO $49/month or $588/year. Sponsors custom. |
| 4 | Justia Lawyer Directory | US | You create a profile | Free — "Take Advantage of the Standard Directory Features — All Free". Paid placements (Justia Connect, Platinum/Gold, Elevate, Amplify) not priced publicly. |
| 4 | Justifit | FR | You create a profile | Offre Découverte free — "Sans engagement et sans limite de durée". Offre Essentielle (min. 2 months) and Offre Premium (min. 1 year) are paid; prices not published. No per-lead commission: "Aucune commission n'est perçue par Justifit, peu importe le nombre de mises en relations." |
| 4 | Kompass | FRUKUSIntl | You create a profile | Free company registration. Paid EasyBusiness / KSales tiers quoted on request; 7-day free trial without card. |
| 4 | Médoucine | FR | Qualification-gated | not stated — practitioners sign a "contrat d'adhésion"; terms not published. |
| 4 | Product Hunt | Intl | You create a profile | "It's 100% free to use." |
| 4 | Psychology Today Therapist Directory | US | You create a profile | "Members pay a fixed monthly fee of $29.95." No contracts. |
| 4 | Qualibat | FR | Qualification-gated | "à partir de 250 € HT/an par qualification". |
| 4 | Qualit'EnR (QualiPAC / QualiSol / Qualibois / QualiPV) | FR | Qualification-gated | Annual instruction fee 83 € HT, plus 83 € HT per brand per year. Audit 323 € HT for most qualifications (travel included). QualiPV 36 / under 500kWc: first audit 273 € HT, subsequent 233 € HT. QualiPV 500: 700 € HT. Qualisol CESC: 500 € HT. |
| 4 | ReviewSolicitors | UK | You claim a profile | Free tier confirmed. Premium is "Contact Sales" with a firm-size calculator; price not published. |
| 4 | RICS Find a Surveyor | UK | Check your entry | "You do not have to pay to appear on Find a Surveyor." Basic and Standard listings are both free. |
| 4 | Semrush Agency Partners | Intl | You create a profile | Free — "Verification is on us". No Semrush subscription stated as required. |
| 4 | Sortlist | UKFRIntl | You create a profile | not stated — "Flexible plans that grow with you". The /pricing page 404s. |
| 4 | SquareMeal | UK | You create a profileNeeds premises | Free to submit. |
| 4 | Super Lawyers | US | No submission route | Free. Court-tested: "It is absolutely clear from this record that [Super Lawyers does] not permit a lawyer to buy one's way onto the list." |
| 4 | The Good Food Guide | UK | No submission routeNeeds premises | n/a — you cannot buy in. |
| 4 | The Manifestpopulated automatically via Clutch | Intl | You create a profile | Free |
| 4 | Travel Trust Association | UK | Qualification-gated | not stated. |
| 4 | TrustATrader | UK | You create a profile | not stated — application form then callback (01438 870097). |
| 4 | TrustRadius | Intl | You claim a profile | Free Profile tier confirmed. Premium requires a demo; price not published. |
| 4 | VouchedFor | UK | You create a profile | not stated. |
| 4 | Which? Trusted Traders | UK | Qualification-gated | £248 inc. VAT one-off non-refundable assessment fee, then monthly by headcount: 0–3 staff £66/mo, 4–9 £86/mo, 10–19 £114/mo. Annual: £797 / £1,029 / £1,363. |
| 4 | Zocdoc | US | MarketplaceNeeds premises | Basic free. Growth: new-patient booking fee, no monthly platform fee. Advanced: new-patient booking fee + $250 per provider/month. The per-booking fee amount is not published. |
| 5 | Annuaire de l'Ordre des experts-comptables | FR | Check your entry | Free |
| 5 | Annuaire RGE (ADEME / France Rénov') | FR | Check your entry | Free to be listed. The RGE qualification behind it is paid — see Qualit'EnR and Qualibat. |
| 5 | avocat.fr — Annuaire des avocats de France (CNB) | FR | Check your entry | Free |
| 5 | Care Quality Commission | UK | Check your entryNeeds premises | not stated on the registration guidance page. CQC does charge annual fees. |
| 5 | Déclaration de meublé de tourisme en mairie (Cerfa 14004) | FR | Check your entryNeeds premises | Free. Failure to declare is punishable by a fine of up to €450. |
| 5 | FCA Financial Services Register | UK | Check your entry | Free |
| 5 | Gas Safe Register | UK | Check your entry | not stated — registration fee pages blocked automated access. |
| 5 | General Dental Council online register | UK | Check your entry | Free to appear. The GDC annual retention fee applies to registration itself. |
| 5 | INPI — Guichet unique des formalités | FR | Check your entry | "Les coûts des formalités de modification sont réglementés et varient selon la nature de la modification." Figures not published on the page. |
| 5 | INSEE — correction du code APE/NAF | FR | Check your entry | Free. "Un délai de 20 jours ouvrés est requis pour instruction de votre dossier". |
| 5 | J2Ski Directory | Intl | You create a profile | Basic listing free. A paid "Boost" promotion exists at /directory/promotion. |
| 5 | Kiwitaxi (transfer companies and drivers) | FRIntl | Marketplace | "What's the commission? We do not charge any commission." You set your own prices per car class and route. Payouts twice monthly via SWIFT, SEPA or Payoneer. |
| 5 | L'Annuaire des Entreprises (data.gouv.fr) | FR | Check your entry | Free |
| 5 | Mozio (transport providers) | FRIntl | Marketplace | not stated. |
| 5 | ORIAS — Registre unique des intermédiaires | FR | You create a profile | Free to appear; annual registration process. |
| 5 | Pappers.frpopulated automatically via INSEE — correction du code APE/NAF | FR | Check your entry | Free |
| 5 | REVTC — Registre des exploitants VTC | FR | Check your entry | Free. The site warns: "REVTC n'adresse jamais de facture ni par mail, ni par sms, ni par courrier postal." |
| 5 | Societe.com | FR | Check your entry | Free to appear. |
| 5 | SRA Register | UK | Check your entry | Free |
| 5 | Transferz (transfer company registration) | FRIntl | Marketplace | "Joining is free, with no monthly fees or customer-acquisition costs." You set your own rates. Payouts every two weeks. |
| 5 | Your state contractor licence board (e.g. California's CSLB) | US | Check your entry | not stated — fee schedules not published on the reachable pages. |
* Tier is our ordering, not a finding. No published study ranks listing sources this way — it is a sound order for fixing data errors (correct the source before its mirrors), standing in for suggestion order only because nothing better exists yet.
Never recommend
The ones we tell customers to stay away from
These are live, real and self-serve — which is exactly why they need naming. Each reason states what we read on the directory's own pages: observable facts, not opinions about anyone's character.
The rule, rather than the blocklist.
Reject any destination whose value proposition is volume of links rather than a record a person or an AI tool would actually consult. Three tests:
- Would a real person land on this page from anything other than a search for the business's own name?
- Does the site verify the submission at all before publishing it?
- Is the pitch about the listing, or about the link? If the marketing leads with Domain Authority, backlinks, or a count of sites — reject.
Brownbook
Brownbook publishes a listing from just three details: name, category and country. It asks for no address or phone number, checks nothing before publishing, and holds 44.6 million listings. A directory that publishes anything tells customers nothing about you.
UK Small Business Directory
It holds more than 290,000 listings, lets anyone submit one, checks none of them, and sells Bronze, Silver and Gold upgrades.
Bizify
Anyone can list free, and Bizify sells "verified" as a paid upgrade. When verification is something you buy, a free listing shows no sign that anyone has checked it.
Cylex UK
Its site blocked us on four separate attempts to read it, it turns up on almost every bulk-submission list, and it runs a separate web address for each town (paisley., reading., edinburgh.), a pattern Google's spam policies call doorway pages.
chamberofcommerce.com
Not affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce despite the name. A private commercial directory borrowing the authority of a national institution, with a free listing that funnels into a 30+ site bulk-distribution trial. There is an active BBB consumer alert about Chamber-branded solicitations to small businesses.
annuaire-google.com
It uses Google's name but has nothing to do with Google. We'd avoid it whether or not the site works.
Reciprocal-backlink annuaires (Annuaire du Conseil, Meilleur du Web, Secous, Mes Annuaires, Coodoeil, WebWiki, FranceSurf, TopLien)
Their own wording gives it away: "L'inscription est gratuite contre un lien retour", meaning the listing is free if you link back to them. Google's spam policies treat link swaps like this as spam. An article listing thirty or more directories at once is a mass-submission list.
StarOfService
It sells leads but looks like a directory, and it publishes no prices anywhere despite listing more than 180,000 professionals. Signal-arnaques.com has 21 reports and 96 comments about it, and Scamdoc gives it a trust score of 18%.
Digital Agency Network (DAN)
Every plan is paid: when we checked on 18 October 2026, prices ran from €560 to €2,980 a year, with discounts that change. The more you pay, the more places you appear (Standard covers 1 city and 4 services; Platinum covers 8 cities and 16 services). With no free tier and no editorial check, what you spend is the only thing that decides where you show up.
Bulk "directory submission" services (500+ sites, "high DA", "get cited by AI")
These services pick sites by an SEO score called Domain Authority and call the work an "off-page SEO technique". Google's own spam policies list "low-quality directory or bookmark site links" as link spam. The newest versions promise to get you "cited by AI" using the same sites that approve anything.
No list here
Where the honest answer is that there isn't one
Padding these cells would be the easiest thing in the world and the most damaging. A short true list beats a long plausible one, and naming the empty cells is as useful as filling the full ones.
We haven't found a directory just for management or strategy consultancies in any country we cover. The agency directories have consulting and IT-services categories you can use instead.
We haven't found a directory just for management or strategy consultancies in any country we cover. The agency directories have consulting and IT-services categories you can use instead.
We haven't found a directory just for management or strategy consultancies in any country we cover. The agency directories have consulting and IT-services categories you can use instead.
Only Yelp and Nextdoor fit. We also checked Bira, which has no member directory for shoppers, Totally Locally, which doesn't list individual shops, Faire, which sells to shops rather than shoppers, and Etsy, which lists products rather than shops.
Only Petit Futé, your Office de Tourisme and PagesJaunes fit. Ma Ville Mon Shopping has closed: its website no longer loads.
Only Yelp and Nextdoor fit. We didn't find a third directory for independent shops that we'd trust.
Of the US listings for professional firms, only the CFP Board's search involves doing anything: you opt in. The AIA has no public architect finder and the AICPA has no public firm directory, so we have nothing to suggest for US architects or surveyors.
What to do instead. Ask your own buying question in ChatGPT and in Google. See which lists and directories come back. Claim the ones that already rank. If nothing comes back but competitors' own websites, that's your answer — there is no directory layer in your market, and your effort belongs on your own site.
One niche in full
Ski and airport transfer
Worth showing in detail because it is the sharpest example of why this research exists — roughly half of a plausible-looking candidate list turned out not to be a listing opportunity at all.
We found no directory of ski-transfer companies. Every ski-transfer name we checked, such as Mountain Drop-offs, Cool Bus and Alps2Alps, is an operator running its own vans. The marketplaces (Kiwitaxi, Transferz, Mozio and GetYourGuide) sell your rides inside their own booking pages rather than on a page about your business. The only public record is REVTC, which is for operators established in France.
Which five apply to you?
This page is the map. The work is narrower: the three to five rows that fit your sector, your country, your premises situation and the registrations you actually hold — with your details written once and reused identically, and each listing tracked from submitted to live. That's what Ghostart does, alongside measuring whether AI tools start reading them for your buyers' questions.
Get your five, with the copy written