Bing's local search results are increasingly accurate, which is especially important as consumers look to find online information about businesses quickly.

A report from Implied Intelligence found that local results from Bing search are among the most accurate on the web, behind only Superpages, Yellowpages and Google Maps. Local marketers might take this as a sign to get more serious about Bing SEO. While the study shows that Bing is already performing well in terms of directing users to the right information, it’s likely that local results from Bing will become richer with the recent announcement of a partnership from Yelp.

The Implied Intelligence survey found that Yelp itself is performing well, finishing seventh in terms of overall accuracy. Results were judged on a scale of one to five, ranking each local web destination for its accuracy against data from 1,000 local businesses.

As search becomes more popular for consumers, it’s critical for search engines to provide information regarding businesses quickly. While directory sites, such as Yellowpages and Superpages are still seeing traffic, Google, Bing and others can build their reputations with consumers by providing accurate local listings. Plus, developing content to target nearby searchers through local SEO should be a priority: more than half of Americans turn to general search to find information on local businesses.

Local results through general search will likely gain even more prominence as the growth of smartphones has led to a rise in mobile local search, which Brafton reported frequently results in phone calls to businesses or other secondary actions.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.