Most local businesses do not know whether their Google presence is strong, weak, or average for their category and market. They know they have a Google Business Profile and some reviews. What they cannot assess without external reference is whether “some reviews” is competitive or a liability, and whether their current situation is fine or costing them leads every day.
This page provides the reference benchmarks that make that assessment possible, organized by the metrics that most directly drive local search performance.
In This Article
How to Use These Benchmarks
These are reference points, not fixed thresholds. Local market conditions vary significantly: what constitutes a dominant review count in a mid-size market may be below average in a dense urban one. The benchmarks below represent typical ranges observed across competitive local markets in the United States. They are useful for directional assessment, especially when you compare them to the specific businesses currently outranking you in your own Map Pack.
The most useful application of any benchmark is to compare it to your named local competitors, not to an abstract industry number. If the benchmark says “80 reviews is competitive for a plumbing company” and the business ranking above you in your market has 240 reviews, the national benchmark is less relevant than the local competitive reality. Always apply benchmarks in the context of your actual competitive set.
Review Count and Velocity Benchmarks by Category
| Business Category | Competitive Count (Top Quartile) | Average Count | Healthy Monthly Velocity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and food service | 200 to 500+ | 60 to 120 | 15 to 40 per month |
| Dental practices | 150 to 350 | 50 to 100 | 8 to 20 per month |
| Plumbing and HVAC | 80 to 250 | 30 to 80 | 5 to 15 per month |
| Roofing contractors | 50 to 150 | 20 to 60 | 3 to 10 per month |
| Auto repair shops | 100 to 300 | 40 to 100 | 8 to 20 per month |
| Chiropractic practices | 80 to 200 | 30 to 70 | 5 to 15 per month |
| Law firms (personal injury, family) | 40 to 120 | 15 to 40 | 2 to 8 per month |
| Landscaping and lawn care | 40 to 120 | 15 to 50 | 3 to 10 per month |
| Optometry practices | 80 to 200 | 30 to 80 | 5 to 15 per month |
| Physical therapy | 60 to 180 | 20 to 60 | 4 to 12 per month |
| Insurance agencies | 30 to 80 | 10 to 30 | 2 to 6 per month |
| Accountants and tax preparers | 20 to 60 | 8 to 25 | 1 to 5 per month |
Velocity is often more important than total count for ranking purposes. Google weights recency heavily. A business receiving 10 new reviews per month consistently will tend to outrank a competitor with twice the total count but no new reviews in three months. If your total count is respectable but your most recent review is from four months ago, the velocity gap is your most urgent problem.
For how to build a consistent review velocity system, see How to Get More Google Reviews Without Begging.
Star Rating Benchmarks
| Rating Range | What It Signals | Click-Through Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 4.5 to 5.0 | Strong trust signal; competitive in most categories | Highest click-through rates in the Map Pack |
| 4.0 to 4.4 | Acceptable in most categories; competitive if review count is strong | Moderate click-through; sensitive to competition from higher-rated businesses |
| 3.5 to 3.9 | Visible signal of concern for high-consideration categories like healthcare and legal | Noticeably lower click-through; business is likely losing prospects to competitors above 4.0 |
| Below 3.5 | Active trust barrier; affects both ranking and conversion | Very low click-through; most prospects will scroll past or choose a competitor regardless of ranking position |
The practical floor in most categories is 4.0 to 4.2. Below that threshold, improving ranking position helps less than it would above it, because the rating itself is causing prospects who see the listing to choose a competitor. In categories where the decision carries significant personal stakes (healthcare, legal, financial services), the floor is closer to 4.3.
GBP Completeness Benchmarks
GBP completeness is measured across the fields Google makes available for a given business type. A fully complete profile has every available field filled in: primary and secondary categories, service area or physical address, phone number, website, hours of operation (including holiday hours), business description, products or services listed, attributes relevant to the category, photos uploaded within the last 60 days, and Q&A responses.
| Completeness Level | Typical Score Range | Competitive Implication |
|---|---|---|
| Fully optimized | 85 to 100% | Maximum eligibility for relevant searches; Google has clear signals to work with |
| Well-managed | 70 to 84% | Competitive in most markets; specific gaps may limit eligibility for some search categories |
| Partially complete | 50 to 69% | Missing elements are likely reducing search eligibility; fixable in one focused session |
| Neglected | Below 50% | Significant ranking and visibility gaps; high-priority fix before any other optimization work |
The most commonly missing elements across local business profiles, in rough order of frequency: secondary service categories, specific attributes (payment methods, accessibility features, service options), regular photo updates, Q&A responses, and holiday hour updates. All of these are fixable in an afternoon without any outside help.
Mobile PageSpeed Benchmarks by Category
| Business Category | Top Performer Range | Average Range | Competitive Threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare practices | 65 to 85 | 40 to 65 | 60+ |
| Home services (trades) | 55 to 80 | 25 to 55 | 50+ |
| Restaurants and food service | 50 to 75 | 25 to 55 | 50+ |
| Auto services | 50 to 75 | 25 to 55 | 50+ |
| Professional services | 60 to 85 | 35 to 65 | 55+ |
| Law firms | 55 to 80 | 30 to 60 | 55+ |
Mobile scores below 50 are common across all categories, which is why they represent a meaningful competitive advantage when addressed. A business whose mobile site loads in under 3 seconds is meaningfully different from a competitor loading in 7 or 8 seconds, both in search ranking signals and in the actual experience of prospects who click through from the Map Pack.
For how PageSpeed scores affect both ranking and lead conversion, see Core Web Vitals: Lead Generation Goldmine.
Reading Your Own Position Against These Benchmarks
The fastest way to apply these benchmarks is to pull up your own Google Business Profile and compare your current numbers directly:
- Note your current review count and the date of your most recent review
- Search your primary service category in your city and note the review counts and ratings of the top three Map Pack results
- Run your website through pagespeed.web.dev and note the mobile score
- Review your GBP profile for completeness: count how many service subcategories are active, check whether your business description is filled in, and note when your last photo was uploaded
With those numbers in hand, compare them to the benchmarks in the tables above and to your specific local competitors. The gaps that are largest relative to both are your highest-priority improvements. For a structured view of how these factors combine into an overall competitive position score, see What Your Google Business Profile Score Actually Means.
Which Gaps to Close First
Not all gaps are equal in effort or impact. This order produces the fastest meaningful improvement for most local businesses:
- GBP completeness gaps: fast to close, costs nothing, affects ranking eligibility immediately
- Review response rate: respond to every existing unanswered review this week; signals active management to Google immediately
- Photo recency: upload several recent photos; resets the recency signal within days
- Review velocity system: build and implement a consistent review request process; produces compounding results over months
- Mobile PageSpeed: requires technical work; impact on both ranking and conversion justifies the investment if score is below 50
Steps 1 through 3 are completable this week without spending money. Steps 4 and 5 take longer but produce the sustained competitive gains that keep a business in the Map Pack once it gets there.