Case Study: SureFire Local Uses Yext to Manage Online Listings, Boost Reputation, and Drive Search Discoverability

SureFire Local is a software development company that makes online marketing simpler for small businesses — helping them grow profitably. The company's all-in-one marketing platform automates review requests, search engine optimization, online advertising, and more. That way, its 7,000+ customers can dominate local search results and gain a competitive advantage.

Maureen Moran is SureFire Local's chief technology officer, overseeing technology and product development. Her development team manages SureFire Local's entire product lifecycle, from research and development to technology deployment. The team's mission is to provide SureFire Local's customers with simple yet powerful ways to gain online visibility and attract ideal customers in their local areas.

When Moran joined the company in 2015, she began building a marketing platform to help SureFire Local's customers manage their local listings without signing into different (cumbersome) systems. Initially, the idea was to create a means for SureFire Local's account managers to manage customers' information. However, it soon became apparent that it would be more efficient to build a backend platform supporting a SureFire Local dashboard that customers could use to update their listings on their own.

That required a solution with powerful and flexible APIs that could integrate with SureFire Local's platform and allow customers to customize their digital experiences easily. "We needed the right partner with APIs mature enough to integrate into our software so that customers didn't have to log into multiple dashboards to manage their listings," said Moran.

SureFire Local also needed a solution that integrated well with the company's other tools, such as call tracking and social media. The technology should also be able to grow as SureFire Local adds additional services to accommodate its customers' needs.

The search for the right technology partner didn't take long. Moran selected Yext in 2015 after seeing how Yext's APIs could help SureFire Local automate online listings management, improve efficiency, and provide its customers with an easy way to manage their directory listings. With the help of Yext, customers can service their listings through SureFire Local's desktop and mobile application dashboards, reducing the dependency on SureFire Local's account managers and making sure all listings are updated in real-time.

SureFire Local's customers benefit from Yext's Publisher Network of more than 200 publishers. Yext research shows that brands that appear across 75% of publishers in the network outperform their competitors by 141% regarding Google search traffic.

The flexibility of the Yext platform has also allowed SureFire Local to branch out its offerings. Whereas initially the company used Yext exclusively for listings management, today SureFire Local also offers its customers online reputation management, which allows them to respond to customer feedback and reviews. SureFire Local also uses Yext Knowledge Tags to help customers improve their businesses' chances of being discovered through search engines.

According to Moran, Yext's ability to continuously expand and improve its offerings is why SureFire Local chose the company as its partner and continues to do so. "Yext has accommodated my product suggestions and continued to grow its technology. As SureFire grows and has higher demands for API and automation, Yext has kept pace."

In 2024, SureFire Local customers performed more than 68,000 profile updates — a number that grows every day. These updates account for over 3,400 local locations. Meanwhile, SureFire Local processed 89 million API requests through Yext.

Customers have also been able to rapidly respond to what their competitors are doing using one of Moran's favorite Yext features, the competitive intelligence Search Tracker. Search Tracker uses keyword analysis to show customers how their listings perform against competitors. They can use this information to make adjustments as necessary. "I haven't seen anything like Search Tracker," said Moran. "It's a unique feature I really enjoy."

Another thing Moran enjoys is the customer support she's gotten from her Yext team. "Having great support is a key reason I stay with vendors. I've changed out most of my other vendors but stayed with Yext. That's because I've always had good people on my team. Whenever there's a problem, Yext gets it resolved very quickly."

Over the years, Moran has come to appreciate how Yext constantly pushes its technology forward. This continuous strive for innovation has brought big dividends for SureFire Local. "The fact that Yext is always improving its technology has allowed me to increase my ROI."

Moran has some parting advice for companies seeking a marketing technology partner. "Take a serious look at Yext. Yext offers more directory listings than competitors, making it a strong choice for businesses looking to manage online visibility. And be sure to evaluate Yext's APIs if they plan to integrate the solution into their platform."

To learn more about Yext's offerings, book a demo today.