A mention of your business name, address and phone number on another website — a directory, an association listing, a supplier page, a news item.
Citations are one of the ways search engines confirm a business is real and located where it claims. Volume matters far less than consistency and relevance.
The realistic list for a Calgary business is short: Google, Apple Maps, Bing Places, the chamber of commerce, relevant trade associations, and the two or three directories customers in your sector actually use. Beyond that the returns fall away sharply.
This comes up most often in Local SEO & Google Business Profile. Getting into the three listings Google shows above the normal results — driven by your profile, your proximity, your reviews and your citations.
A free consult is twenty minutes and there is no pitch deck at the end of it.