Apple Integration Overview | Yext Hitchhikers Platform

This article provides an overview of the integration between Yext and Apple, as well as requirements for syncing content from Yext to Apple Maps and Siri.

Integration Overview

Apple’s Business Connect APIs allow data sync to Apple Maps via Apple Business Connect accounts. To manage one or more listings on Apple Maps, you must either work with a trusted Apple partner like Yext who has integrated with the Apple Business Connect APIs or set up your own Apple Business Connect account and manage your location data manually.

Updating data in a Business Connect account will prompt Apple to combine this data with their data set and ultimately publish that data on Apple Maps and Siri. While Business Connect accounts are an extremely strong signal, they are not the only source of data considered for Apple Maps and Siri. Using the Yext Listings product or your own Business Connect account is the best way to ensure accurate data about your brand appears on Apple.

Apple Business Connect Accounts

Within Apple Business Connect accounts, there is an important hierarchy of related objects that help organize how entities are stored. These three objects are: Company, Business, and Location. Not every account will use all of these objects.

As we explain each object, we will also walk through an example using the Turtlehead Tacos business — Turtlehead Tacos operates two brands in two countries each with a varying number of operating locations.

Company

Company is the highest level object that encompasses your entire organization and all locations. Each company should have one Business Connect account that stores all of their data to be put on Apple Maps.

In our example, the Turtlehead Taco business would have one ‘Turtlehead Tacos’ company in Apple Business Connect.

Business

Business is the next highest level. A business is a sub-brand of the larger company. A given Business Connect account might not have any businesses in it. This would only occur if the account operates multiple brands.

In our example, Turtlehead Tacos would have four businesses, one for each brand-country combination.

Location

The lowest level object is a Location, which, as its name suggests, simply refers to each physical location you want to list on Apple Maps. If a given location operates under a specific brand and country of the business, the location would be placed in that business’ folder.

In our example, Turtlehead Tacos may have hundreds of locations across their business units and countries.

Overall, Turtlehead Tacos would have:

• One Company
• Four Businesses (one for each brand-country combination)
• Multiple Locations distributed between the four business folders (for each individual location)

Listings Sync Process

By default, Yext will sync your locations of all categories to Apple using Yext’s Business Connect account. Apple allows data sync in most countries — reach out to your CSM for more details on your specific country.

As an alternative to leveraging the default Yext Apple Business Connect account, Apple has an additional setup where you can leverage your own Apple Business Connect account. If you would like to use your own Business Connect account, you must delegate Yext as an agency to manage account resources on your behalf.

For more information on delegation, and the benefits of leveraging your own Apple Business Connect account, visit the Apple Delegation reference documentation.

For steps to delegate Yext as an agency, visit the Delegate Yext as an Agency in Apple Business Connect Account guide.

Once delegated, Yext will sync listings data to the customer Business Connect account on your behalf. Additionally, you will gain the following benefits of delegation:

• Apple Showcase posting
• Update Cover Photo
• Highest data priority

Fields That Sync to Apple

• Business Name
• Apple Business Description*
• Address
• Phone Number
• Category
• URLs
• Hours
• Business Attributes
• Walking and Driving Coordinates
• Gallery Photos
• Payment Methods
• Cover Photos (Delegated Businesses)
• Action Links**

*The Apple Business Description field is the only description field that syncs to Apple and has a 500-character limit. The general Description field does not sync with Apple.

**For more information on the Apple Action Links, visit the Apple Action Links reference documentation.

Showcase Social Posting

Yext’s integration with Apple also supports Showcase social posting. To learn more about creating Apple Showcase posts via Yext’s social posting tool, visit the Apple Showcase Posting reference documentation.

Showcase social posting is currently only supported for locations in the United States.