Home ServicesMulti-Location Local SEOGoogle Business ProfileReview ManagementAI Visibility

Beating National Franchises in Their Own Backyard

A family-owned home services company with four locations went from invisible in local search to owning the Google Maps pack in every market it serves — while cutting paid search spend and growing call volume at the same time.

Client: Multi-Location HVAC and Plumbing GroupRegion: Southeast United States (4 Markets)Timeline: 8 months

+312%

Organic Traffic Growth

47

Google Map Pack Rankings

4.8★

Average Review Rating

-28%

Paid Search Spend

The Challenge

Outgunned by National Franchises Across All Four Markets

Despite years of strong word-of-mouth, this home services group was losing the digital battle to national franchise competitors with bigger budgets and centralized SEO operations.

  • 1Google Maps pack in all four markets dominated by national franchise brands — the company did not appear in the top 7 results for its core service and city combinations.
  • 2Google Business Profiles were incomplete, inconsistent, and unverified in two of the four locations — leaving critical ranking signals on the table.
  • 3Average star rating had dropped to 3.6 across locations, dragged down by a cluster of unresolved negative reviews that went unanswered.
  • 4Website featured a single generic service page with no location-specific content — a fundamental barrier to ranking in local organic results.
  • 5Zero AI visibility — not mentioned by ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI when users searched for HVAC or plumbing services in any of the four markets.
  • 6No systematic approach to review generation — competitors had 3 to 10 times the review volume despite similar tenure.

Our Approach

A Multi-Location Local SEO System Built to Compound

We built a location-by-location infrastructure that treated each market as its own SEO campaign — unified by consistent brand signals and a centralized review generation engine.

Multi-Location Local SEO

Location-specific keyword research across all four markets. On-page optimization including city+service page architecture, internal linking, and local schema markup.

Google Business Profile Optimization

Full rebuild of all four GBP profiles — correct service areas, category hierarchy, Q&A seeding, photo uploads, weekly post cadence, and attribute optimization.

Review Generation System

Implemented a post-job SMS review request workflow tied to the company's field service software. Consistent review volume with guided response templates.

Location Landing Pages

Built 12 location-specific landing pages covering every city-service combination in the four markets — each with unique content, local signals, and conversion elements.

AI Visibility and AEO

Created FAQ-structured content targeting how AI platforms answer "best HVAC company in [city]" and "24-hour emergency plumber [city]" queries.

Citation Building and Cleanup

Audited and corrected NAP data across 60+ directories for all four locations. Built new citations in home services-specific directories to strengthen local authority.

The Results

First in Every Market — Without Increasing Ad Spend

By month eight, the company was ranking in the top three of the Google Maps pack for 47 city and service keyword combinations — and had reduced its reliance on paid search while growing leads.

47

Map Pack Rankings

Top 3 position for city+service combinations

+312%

Organic Traffic

Across all four markets combined

+156%

Service Calls from Google

Attributed via call tracking

4.8★

Avg Review Rating

Up from 3.6 — 214 new reviews earned

Ranked in Google Maps top 3 for 47 city and service keyword combinations across all four markets
Organic traffic grew 312% year-over-year measured at the eight-month mark
Inbound call volume attributed to Google Search and Maps grew 156%
Average star rating recovered from 3.6 to 4.8 with 214 new verified reviews
Paid search budget reduced by 28% while total lead volume grew 34%
Now featured by ChatGPT and Perplexity for "[service] in [city]" queries in all four markets
All four GBP profiles now verified, fully optimized, and maintaining top category positions
Cost per acquired customer dropped from an estimated $190 to $68 across all channels
“We spent years trying to compete on Google and getting nowhere. RankWorks figured out exactly what was holding us back in each of our markets and fixed it. Now we are the first result — and the recommended business — in every city we operate in. Our phones do not stop.”

Operations Director

Southeast Home Services Group

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