How to Make Sure Customers Can Still Find Your Number in 2026 (Now the UK Phonebook Has Gone Digital)

If you’ve noticed fewer “UK phonebook” referrals or customers saying they found you on Google instead, you’re not imagining it. BT has been discontinuing the printed BT Phone Book, with remaining printed stock only sold until September 2025, while the PDF directory remains available free of charge.

Separately, BT’s Phone Book Online digital directory was reported to have been withdrawn after April 30, 2024, meaning people are increasingly relying on search engines, maps and business directories to find business contact details.

For businesses, the risk is simple: if your name, address and phone number (NAP) aren’t consistent across the web, customers can’t find you – or worse, they reach the wrong place.

This guide provides a practical checklist to help you keep your number discoverable, trusted, and easy to call.

1) Where customers look now (instead of the UK phonebook)

Today, most customer journeys start in one of these places:

• Google Search / Google Maps (often via a “near me” search)
• Apple Maps / Siri (common on iPhones)
• Bing (including Windows and voice assistants)
• Business directories (for example, Yell and 192.com)
• Your website (especially “Contact” and service pages)
• Social profiles (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram)

This matters because these platforms cross-reference each other. When your details match everywhere, your visibility and trust improve; when they don’t, platforms can suppress or override your info.

Google explicitly advises businesses to represent themselves consistently across real-world branding and information sources.

2) Build your “single source of truth” for contact details

Before you start editing listings, create a one-page record with:

• Business name (exactly as used on signage and invoices)
• Primary phone number (format it consistently)
• Secondary number(s) (if any)
• Address (or service area wording if you’re mobile-only)
• Website URL
• Opening hours
• Primary category/service description

Then decide: one primary inbound number is usually best for customer simplicity. If you need multiple departments, route calls internally – don’t publish five different numbers that drift out of sync over time.

3) Get Google Business Profile right (it’s the new front page)

Your Google Business Profile is often your most visible listing. Google confirms you can edit your profile to keep contact details up to date (including phone numbers). It also notes that you can add up to two additional phone numbers beyond your primary number.

Quick checklist for Google Business Profile

• Claim and verify the profile (if not already)
• Confirm the primary phone number is correct
• Add a secondary number only if it’s genuinely required
• Check address/service area accuracy
• Keep categories tight and relevant
• Add photos and keep hours current

Pro tip: Search your own business name and see what numbers appear on directory sites. If you find old numbers, fix those listings first- Google’s ecosystem often picks up conflicting data from elsewhere.

4) Fix the key directories (so your number is actually findable)

Even if you don’t love directories, customers still use them—and platforms use them as data sources.

Priority directories to review

• Yell: The Yell app describes itself as the UK’s leading business directory with over 2.7 million UK businesses listed.
• 192.com: Offers a UK business directory and a mechanism to “Add Your Business”.

Also consider the map ecosystems:

• Apple Maps / Siri: Apple notes you can use Apple Business Connect so customers can find you in Maps, Apple Wallet, Siri and more.
• Bing: Microsoft states you can use Bing Places for Business to claim/update how your business appears in Bing Maps search results.

Watch this quick video guide on how to update your team directory in Microsoft 365

Directory hygiene checklist

• Correct phone number
• Correct address/service area
• Correct category
• Correct opening hours
• Remove duplicate listings (duplicates cause mismatches)

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5) Don’t forget the “offline-to-online” leak points

These are common sources of inconsistency:

• Old invoices/quotes with old numbers
• Legacy email signatures
• Old PDF brochures still ranking in Google
• Recruitment listings with outdated contact details
• Supplier portals and industry directories

Do a simple internal sweep: if staff have templates, signatures or documents with phone numbers, standardise them.

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6) When customers do call: route it properly so you don’t lose the lead

Being discoverable is only half the job – answering consistently is what converts enquiries.

This is where modern cloud communications helps: you keep one published number, while calls can ring the right people (office, mobile, or remote teams) without exposing personal mobile numbers.

Practical options Yellowcom can enable with iPECS applications

• Website chat to call-back and click-to-call: iPECS ENGAGE (within CONNECT) can add webchat to your website, with options like “Request call back” and “Voice call”, and can even automate chat flows.
• Bring WhatsApp Business into the same workspace: CONNECT can integrate WhatsApp Business messaging so customer conversations aren’t trapped on personal devices.
• Mobile workers answered under the business identity: IPECS ANYWHERE uses a smart SIM approach so staff can make/take calls using their business extension and keep personal numbers private (without relying on an app for the call itself).
• Understand what’s happening on your inbound line: iPECS Analytics supports reporting and custom dashboards for call KPIs, helping you spot missed-call patterns and resourcing issues.
• Turn calls into actions: Sidekick can transcribe calls and produce summaries and action points, reducing admin and improving follow-up consistency.

The outcome: One visible number customers can find, and a comms setup that ensures calls are handled professionally.

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7) What about Directory Enquiries?

Some customers still use Directory Enquiries, but costs can be high. BT lists that calls to 118 500 cost 77p per call plus £1.55 per minute (incl. VAT), plus your provider’s access charge.

That’s another reason to make online discovery frictionless: the easier your number is to find on Google/maps/directories, the fewer customers need to resort to paid lookup routes.

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A simple 30-minute “get found” checklist

1. Confirm your official NAP (single source of truth)
2. Check Google Business Profile phone number(s) and hours
3. Update website header/footer + Contact page
4. Add/confirm LocalBusiness structured data
5. Correct your Yell and 192.com listings
6. Add/confirm Apple Business Connect and Bing Places listings
7. Set a quarterly reminder to re-check for duplicates.

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Keep your number visible and make every call count

With the UK phonebook now effectively digital-first, “being listed” is no longer a one-and-done task. It’s ongoing visibility management across search, maps, directories and your own website.

Yellowcom can:

• Audit where your phone number appears online,
• Correct inconsistencies and ensure your inbound calls route reliably using iPECS applications – supported locally via Belfast, Glasgow and Dublin.

Contact Yellowcom for a quick “number visibility + call handling” review and a tailored demo of how iPECS can support your inbound enquiries.