## **Overview**

This article covers three common issues customers encounter after running a site audit or setting up local citations: how to act on flagged links without losing valuable backlinks, why image alt text may not appear as expected in audit results, and why citations may be missing from your dashboard.

## **Understanding Flagged Links in Your Audit**

When your site audit flags links, it does not automatically mean those links should be deleted. Review each flagged link individually before taking action. Consider whether the referring domain is relevant and authoritative, and whether removing or disavowing the link could harm your backlink profile. A cautious, link-by-link approach is recommended.

For broken outbound links, update the link in your content to point to a live, relevant page. For broken inbound links pointing to deleted pages on your site, you can work to preserve link value by ensuring the destination page exists and is accessible.

## **Image Alt Text in Audit Results**

If your audit has flagged images with missing alt text, here are steps you can take to address them:

- Open the Site Audit section from the left sidebar → OTTO SEO → Site Audit and locate the audit report for the relevant project.
- Look for image-related or on-page SEO flags within the report, which identify images that are missing alt text.
- For each flagged image, go to the page in your CMS or site editor and add descriptive alt text that accurately reflects the image content.
- Re-run the audit after making your changes to confirm the flags have been cleared.

If the audit report is not showing image-related issues at all despite expecting them, verify that your audit was configured to include on-page checks, and try running a new audit to get a fresh scan.

## **Citations Not Appearing in Your Dashboard**

If citations you have submitted or claimed are not showing in your dashboard, work through the following steps:

- Confirm that your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are entered consistently across all listings, as inconsistencies can prevent citations from syncing correctly.
- Check whether the citation submission was completed fully — incomplete submissions may not be processed.
- Review each citation source in your dashboard to see whether its status is shown as pending, claimed, or requiring verification.
- If a citation requires verification (such as a postcard or phone verification from the directory), complete that verification step before expecting it to appear as active.
- If a citation appears stuck or shows an error status, note the specific citation source name, the status displayed, and the project it belongs to — this information will help the support team investigate quickly.

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.