First off, track your local search rankings to see if you’re climbing that SERP ladder. Tools like Whitespark or BrightLocal can monitor your positions for key terms. Keep tabs on website analytics, too. Are you seeing more organic traffic from your local area? That’s a big clue that citations are doing their job. Don’t forget your Google Business Profile insights—look for increases in calls, website clicks, and direction requests. Combine that data with offline intel: are more walk-ins mentioning they found you on Yelp or TripAdvisor? Another edgy tip: set up call tracking. Use unique phone numbers for specific directories (just be consistent with your main NAP), so you know exactly which listing is sending those sweet leads. Finally, keep a record of your baseline metrics before you go citation-crazy. That way, you’ll have cold, hard data proving whether your efforts are paying off.