01
87.1%High ratings are table stakes
Nearly nine in ten measured profiles have a Google rating of 4.5 or higher. A strong star rating alone rarely creates meaningful separation in this sample.
Cite this findingAaptly Research · 2026 benchmark report
Local Business Visibility Benchmarks 2026
What does a competitive local-business profile actually look like? We analyzed 98,642 operational profiles across 2,574 cities to establish category-level benchmarks for reviews, ratings, websites, and linked social presence.
Public profile snapshot: July 31, 2026 · Aggregate data only
98,642eligible profiles
2,574cities represented
4.77average Google rating
79median Google reviews
Executive summary
Ratings are crowded. Review depth and owned presence separate categories.
A 4.5-star rating is no longer unusual: 87.1% of measured profiles meet or exceed it. The more useful competitive signal is category-specific review depth. The overall median is 79 reviews, while the 75th percentile is 198 and the 90th percentile is 424.
Owned presence remains uneven. 14.1% of eligible profiles have no linked website in the observed record, and 41.6% have no linked Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok URL. Those are profile-coverage observations, not claims about whether an account exists elsewhere.
Four findings
The headline numbers
02
79Review depth varies sharply by category
The overall median is 79 reviews, but category medians range from 43 for remodeling to 351 for pest control. A useful benchmark must be category-specific.
Cite this finding03
14.1%One in seven lacks a linked website
Among eligible profiles, 14.1% have no website recorded on the public business profile. The gap rises above 20% for barbershops and nail salons.
Cite this finding04
41.6%Linked social presence is inconsistent
Two in five profiles have no Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok URL in the observed listing record. This measures linked-profile coverage, not whether the business has a social account elsewhere.
Cite this findingReview depth
The median review count changes by more than 8× across categories
Pest-control profiles in this sample have a median of 351 reviews, compared with 43 for remodeling. Comparing every business to one universal review target hides the competitive reality of its category.
Distribution
Nearly half the sample has fewer than 75 reviews
22.3%0–24 reviews22,040 profiles · 4.83 avg. rating
25.9%25–74 reviews25,557 profiles · 4.81 avg. rating
26.9%75–199 reviews26,563 profiles · 4.72 avg. rating
16.9%200–499 reviews16,718 profiles · 4.70 avg. rating
7.9%500+ reviews7,764 profiles · 4.75 avg. rating
Category table
Local visibility benchmarks by business category
Only categories with at least 100 eligible profiles are published. Download the CSV for the same aggregate rows in a reusable format.
| Category | Profiles | Avg. rating | Median reviews | 75th percentile | No linked website | No linked social* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Med spas | 22,708 | 4.84 | 69 | 177 | 3.7% | 30.2% |
| Salons | 16,890 | 4.81 | 57 | 130 | 12.9% | 37.7% |
| Barbershops | 16,473 | 4.77 | 100 | 222 | 22.5% | 54.6% |
| Spas | 15,753 | 4.75 | 54 | 134 | 12.5% | 46.8% |
| Nail salons | 13,827 | 4.53 | 151 | 314 | 24.6% | 48.5% |
| Tattoo studios | 10,054 | 4.83 | 92 | 218 | 15.4% | 35.5% |
| HVAC | 550 | 4.84 | 246 | 761 | 10.7% | 42.2% |
| Plumbing | 452 | 4.81 | 254 | 931 | 7.7% | 42.5% |
| Roofing | 412 | 4.87 | 118 | 259 | 2.7% | 34.5% |
| Remodeling | 392 | 4.87 | 43 | 90 | 4.8% | 30.1% |
| Electrical | 338 | 4.79 | 65 | 249 | 19.8% | 52.4% |
| Pest control | 293 | 4.79 | 351 | 1,379 | 7.2% | 39.6% |
| Garage door services | 287 | 4.88 | 142 | 429 | 11.8% | 44.3% |
| Junk removal | 182 | 4.93 | 120 | 485 | 7.7% | 35.2% |
*No Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok URL in the observed record. This is not proof that the business has no social account.
Methodology
How the benchmark was calculated
Inclusion and deduplication
The source contained 100,973 records and 100,689 distinct Places IDs. We retained the latest record per Places ID, then included profiles marked operational with a Google rating from 1–5 and a non-negative review count. The final benchmark population is 98,642.
Category and coverage rules
Category uses the normalized service category when available and falls back to the vertical label. We publish a category only when at least 100 profiles qualify. Website and social statistics measure whether URLs are present in the observed public-profile record.
Privacy
The report contains aggregate statistics only. It does not publish business names, addresses, phone numbers, contact details, domains, messages, or any individual profile. The downloadable files contain the same aggregate category rows.
Limitations
This is an observational Aaptly research sample, not a probability sample of every local business. It is concentrated in beauty, wellness, and selected home-service categories. Public profiles change, and listing completeness does not by itself prove ranking position, lead volume, business quality, or revenue.
Press and research use
Use the findings with attribution
Suggested citation: Aaptly, “Local Business Visibility Benchmarks 2026,” published July 31, 2026. Link to this report so readers can inspect the methodology and current aggregate data.
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