How many Google reviews does your business need to make the top 3?
Real numbers by trade from 3,320 Google Maps checks: what the top 3 businesses had for HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical, landscaping and more.
The short version
- The number you need depends heavily on your trade and your town.
- HVAC and plumbing leaders had hundreds of reviews; concrete and lawn care leaders had a few dozen.
- A steady weekly pace beats bursts, and replying to every review counts.
"How many reviews do I need?" is one of the first questions owners ask, and the honest answer is: it depends on your trade and your town. But "it depends" isn't useful, so here are real numbers.
Where these numbers come from
In October 2026 we checked Google Maps rankings at 3,320 points in 21 smaller U.S. markets, from Bismarck, North Dakota to Wichita Falls, Texas: five points around each of 664 local home-service businesses (the business's address and points to its north, south, east and west), using the search for that business's trade. The table shows the middle (median) value for each trade, so half the businesses had more and half had fewer.
The numbers by trade
Higher means a newer business has a better shot. KarpOS Google Maps checks, October 2026.
| Trade | Points checked | Median reviews, #1 business | Median reviews, all top-3 spots | Top-3 spots held by a business with under 25 reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC | 570 | 536 | 302 | 9% |
| Plumbing | 415 | 320 | 204 | 8% |
| Carpet cleaning | 115 | 196 | 132 | 17% |
| Pest control | 95 | 136 | 136 | 19% |
| Roofing | 435 | 88 | 76 | 20% |
| House cleaning | 125 | 49 | 49 | 34% |
| Electrical | 340 | 43 | 31 | 46% |
| Landscaping | 300 | 41 | 30 | 45% |
| House painting | 100 | 37 | 29 | 45% |
| Tree service | 125 | 33 | 25 | 49% |
| Lawn care | 200 | 27 | 25 | 50% |
| Concrete | 145 | 10 | 7 | 84% |
Smaller samples (fewer than 15 businesses each, so treat them as rough): window cleaning (median #1: 70), junk removal (46) and fencing (34).
How to read your trade's number
It's a target, not a guarantee. Hitting the median doesn't put you in the top three. In our checks, the #1 business had the most reviews of the top three less than half the time. Distance from the searcher, your Google category and your profile all matter too. We dig into that in what the #1 Google Maps business has.
Your town matters more than the national number. These are smaller markets. In a metro area, expect the numbers for HVAC and plumbing to be higher. The most useful benchmark is the businesses that actually beat you where your customers are searching.
Recent beats total. A business with 150 reviews, the latest from two years ago, looks worse to customers than one with 80 and a new review every week. Recent reviews are also what owners can actually control: you can't go back and collect reviews from 2019.
Rating has a floor. Customers do filter by stars. BrightLocal's 2026 consumer survey found 68% of people only use businesses rated 4 stars or higher. Volume fixes a low rating faster than most owners expect: a business at 3.9 stars from 33 reviews needs only 4 new five-star reviews to reach 4.0, though it takes about 40 to reach 4.5.
How to close the gap
- Find the businesses ahead of you at the spots that matter (not just at your shop) and note their counts.
- Work out the pace. If the leader has 300 reviews and adds 5 a month, you need more than 5 a month to catch up. Pick a weekly number you can actually hit.
- Ask every customer, every job. Not just the happy ones you're sure about. Selective asking breaks Google's rules. Here's how to ask for Google reviews in a way that works.
- Reply to every review, good and bad. It's the part customers read most closely after the stars.
Quick answers
How many Google reviews does an HVAC company need?
In our October 2026 check of 21 smaller U.S. markets, the #1 HVAC business had a median of 536 reviews and the top three had a median of 302. HVAC is one of the most review-heavy trades.
How many Google reviews does a roofer need?
The #1 roofing business had a median of 88 reviews, and 20% of top-three roofing spots went to businesses with fewer than 25.
Is there a minimum number of reviews to show up on Google Maps?
No. There's no minimum. In concrete, more than half of the top-three spots we recorded went to businesses with fewer than 10 reviews.
Sources
- KarpOS Google Maps checks: 3,320 points around 664 home-service businesses in 21 U.S. markets, October 13 to 14, 2026.
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026