Why Google Business Profiles Are Driving Fewer Leads

What HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical Contractors Should Do Next

If you are a HVAC company, plumber or electrician you have likely noticed a troubling trend over the last 6–12 months.

Google Business Profiles are generating fewer calls, fewer form fills, and fewer real opportunities, despite rankings (visibility) looking “fine.” 

This is not anecdotal. It is structural.

Google has fundamentally changed how local search results are presented, monetized, and interpreted by users. This will affect how your business is choosen on Google.

The Local Pack Is Driving Fewer Leads

LeadsNearby is all about local leads and this will explain why GBP performance is declining, what is actually happening on the search results page, and why local SEO agencies that do not evolve their service mix will lose clients in 2026 and beyond.

The Local Pack Is Not Broken — It’s Being Crowded Out

Many agencies instinctively blame declining leads on algorithm updates, reviews, or category selection. Those factors still matter, but they are no longer the primary constraint.

The real issue is SERP real estate and user behavior.

1. Local Services Ads Look Like Organic Results (And Steal Clicks)

Local Services Ads now appear visually similar to organic local results:

• Business name

• Star rating

• Review count

• “Google Guaranteed” badge

• Prominent phone CTA

To the average homeowner searching “AC repair near me” or “emergency plumber”, LSAs do not feel like ads. They feel like Google’s recommendation even though it might say “Sponsored”.

This is the first thing people see when searching.

For HVAC, plumbing, and electrical searches, where urgency and trust dominate, LSAs intercept demand before users ever reach the local pack.

This is not accidental. Google has intentionally reduced friction between paid and organic local results.

Net effect:
Even if your GBP ranks #1 organically, it may now sit below multiple paid entries that absorb the highest-intent clicks.

2. AI Overviews Push Everything Down the Page

AI Overviews are no longer limited to informational queries. Increasingly, they appear for:

• “Why is my AC blowing warm air?” Click this link and you’ll see AI Overviews, Videos, People Also Ask, Discussions and Forms before you even get to Orgnaic search results!

• “Do I need to replace my electrical panel?”

• “How much does a plumber cost?”

These overviews:

• Occupy the very top of the SERP

• Answer questions directly

• Often reduce the need to click

When AI Overviews appear, the local pack is pushed further down or doesn’t even show. Most of the time below the fold on mobile.

For home service contractors, this matters because education used to be a gateway to leads. Now, education is often resolved before a user ever reaches a business listing.

3. The Local Pack Physically Appears Lower Than It Used To

This is not subjective. When you stack:

• AI Overviews

• Paid Search Ads

• Local Services Ads

The traditional 3-pack is no longer a “top of page” feature.

On mobile, where most home service searches occur, the local pack may require multiple scrolls. Visibility without attention does not generate leads.

4. Local Search Is No Longer Just “Google Search”

Homeowners now research contractors across platforms:

• YouTube for “HVAC repair explained”

• TikTok for real-world plumbing failures

• Reddit for honest contractor recommendations

• ChatGPT for “best electrician near me”

• Facebook Groups for local referrals

Google Maps and the local pack are now one channel among many, not the channel. If your brand does not exist across these surfaces, you are invisible to a growing segment of high-intent users.

The Strategic Shift Local SEO Must Make

Agencies that only sell “website + GBP optimization” are solving for rankings, not outcomes. Contractors do not buy rankings. They buy calls, booked jobs, and revenue.

To remain relevant, your business must diversify into channels that reflect how users actually search and decide today.

What Actually Works Now for HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical Brands

We hear this all the time: “I don’t want to be on camera” or “I can’t do videos.”

But the reality is simple. If that’s your mindset, you’re leaving leads on the table. Video is one of the most powerful drivers of visibility, trust, and conversions today, and the businesses using it are the ones winning attention and generating consistent leads.

1. Long-Form YouTube Content (High Trust, High Intent)

YouTube is now a search engine for homeowners.

Long-form videos such as:

• “Why your AC keeps freezing up in summer”

• “When a plumbing leak becomes an emergency”

• “Signs your electrical panel is unsafe”

Build authority, familiarity, and trust before a service call is needed.

From an SEO perspective, YouTube content strengthens entity recognition:

• Brand

• Service area

• Expertise

• Real-world experience

This content also feeds Google’s understanding of your business as a topical authority, not just a listing.

2. Short-Form Video Across Social Platforms

Short-form video performs exceptionally well for home services because it shows:

• Real technicians

• Real homes

• Real problems

• Real solutions

Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook Reels, and YouTube Shorts are discovery engines. They capture homeowners before intent crystallizes and keep your brand top of mind when it does.

3. Social Media Marketing as Trust Infrastructure

For contractors, social media is not about virality. It is about credibility reinforcement.

When a homeowner researches your business and sees:

• Active posting

• Helpful explanations

• Community engagement

they convert at higher rates across all channels, including Google.

4. Reddit and Quora Participation (Controlled, Ethical, Strategic)

Homeowners trust peer discussions more than ads.

Strategic engagement—answering questions about HVAC failures, plumbing emergencies, or electrical safety—builds brand association with expertise.

From an AI and semantic SEO standpoint, these platforms reinforce:

• Entity relationships

• Real-world use cases

• Natural language context

This improves visibility across AI-driven systems, not just traditional search.

5. AI SEO: Optimizing for Meaning, Not Just Keywords

Search engines no longer rely solely on keyword matching.

They interpret:

• User intent

• Context

• Relationships between entities

• Topical depth

Modern local SEO must include:

• Schema markup (Organization, Service, FAQ, Review)

• Entity linking (brand ↔ service ↔ location)

• Content that answers why, when, and how, not just what

This is how your business becomes understandable to AI systems like Google’s ranking models and generative search engines.

6. Digital PR for Local Authority

Mentions in:

• Local news

• Trade publications

• Community organizations

send trust signals that cannot be replicated with on-page SEO alone.

Digital PR strengthens brand authority across both human and machine evaluation systems.

7. PPC Is No Longer Optional — Especially Local Services Ads

This is the uncomfortable truth many agencies avoid:

If you are not maximizing LSA leads, you are leaving leads on the table.

LSAs dominate high-intent searches for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services. Ignoring them because they are “paid” does not serve your business goals.

Organic and paid must work together:

• SEO builds authority and long-term equity

• PPC captures demand immediately

Clients do not care which channel wins. They care that the phone rings.

The Bottom Line: Rankings Do Not Pay the Bills — Leads Do

The local pack is still valuable, but it is no longer sufficient.

If your company is not producing measurable leads across multiple channels, your clients will eventually replace you. Often without warning.

The future of local SEO is not about fighting Google’s changes. It is about adapting to how visibility, trust, and intent now function in a fragmented search ecosystem. LeadsNearby consistently leads the market through every major shift, identifying changes early and acting fast. So our clients stay ahead while your competition struggles to catch up.

For HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractors, the companies that win will be the ones that understand one simple truth:

At the end of the day, businesses do not care about Maps. They care about booked jobs.

Everything else is implementation detail.

Our Name Says It All

LeadsNearby is built around one core focus. Delivering high-intent, local leads from customers who are actively searching in your immediate service area, not wasted clicks or distant prospects.

Call 919-758-8420 if your home contactror business is struggling with leads and find out how we can help or contact us online with additional questions.