Clickflame data, first edition
Local Visibility Index 2026
We looked at 25,538 business listings for mechanics, roofers, electricians and locksmiths, and ran full audits on 35 local businesses. Most of them are hard to find online, and their ratings aren't why.
Data as of October 11, 2026. 4 trades. 25,538 listings. 35 full audits.
The Short Version
The index score is the share of businesses that clear three basics. A real website, at least 10 Google reviews, and a rating of 4.0 or better. Across all four trades, 43.8% clear all three. More than half miss at least one.
Who Has No Real Website
"No real website" means the listing had no link at all, or it pointed to a social or directory page (Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, a Google business.site page) instead of the business's own site.
Of the 9,824 with no real website, 8,656 had no link at all and 1,168 linked only to a social or directory page. See the counts by state and city.
Who Has Fewer Than 10 Reviews
Ten reviews is a low bar. A customer comparing three shops on the map usually skips the one with four reviews, even if all four are five stars.
Businesses with a real website had a median of 46 reviews. Businesses without one had 10. That doesn't prove the website brought the reviews. Owners who keep up a site usually keep up everything else too, and it shows.
Every Trade, Side by Side
| Trade | Listings | No real site | Under 10 reviews | Median reviews | Median rating | Index score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto repair and mobile mechanics | 8,944 | 51.3% | 29.9% | 29 | 4.8 | 36.8 |
| Roofers | 3,040 | 54.6% | 60.6% | 5 | 5.0 | 23.6 |
| Electricians | 3,799 | 44.7% | 50.6% | 9 | 5.0 | 32.4 |
| Locksmiths | 9,755 | 19.3% | 9.3%* | 82* | 4.9 | 76.2* |
| All four trades | 25,538 | 38.5% | 33.1% | 26 | 4.9 | 43.8 |
Index score = percent of listings with a real website, 10+ Google reviews and a 4.0+ rating. *Locksmith review counts were known for 5,167 of 9,755 listings, and those skew toward established shops, so the locksmith review figures and index score are likely higher than the true number.
What the Full Audits Found
We audit a lot of local businesses one at a time. Each audit checks the Google profile, the map pack from the business's own address, the top organic results, the website, and nine major directories. These are the 35 full audits we ran on outside businesses from September 28 to October 11, 2026, mostly auto repair. It's a small sample, so we give counts, not percentages.
- 7x
Reviews gap. The top-ranked rival near each business had a median of 188 Google reviews. The business we audited had 19.
- 12 of 35
Missing from the map. Searched from their own address for their own main service, 12 didn't show in the top 20 on Google Maps.
- 20 of 28
No local business markup. The site didn't tell Google its name, address and hours in a way Google reads directly. Seven of the 35 had no website we could check.
- 15 of 29
Not on any of the nine. We searched Google for each business on Yelp, Facebook, BBB, Yellow Pages, MapQuest, Nextdoor, Angi, Superpages and Foursquare. Fifteen turned up on none of them.
- 5.6s
Slow on phones. Median time for the main content to load on Google's mobile test, out of 25 sites we could test. Google calls 2.5 seconds good. Six scored under 50 out of 100.
- 22 of 28
No way to book online. No booking or quote request the customer could finish without calling.
- 24 vs 42
Fewer photos. Median Google profile photos for the audited business, against the top rival nearby.
What to Fix First
Worst first. One fix each.
- Get to 10 reviews, then keep going. Text every finished customer a direct review link the same day. That one habit moves more businesses up the map than anything else on this list.
- Get a real website on your own domain. A Facebook page doesn't count. One page with your services, your area, your phone number and real photos is enough to start.
- Put your name, address and hours in your site's code. It's called local business markup, and 20 of the 28 sites we checked were missing it.
- Claim Yelp, Facebook, BBB and Yellow Pages with the exact same name and phone number as your Google profile.
- Add photos of real jobs to your Google profile every month. The rivals beating you have nearly twice as many.
How We Counted
Listings. The listings in our own trade directories as of October 2026. That is 8,944 auto repair and mobile mechanic listings, 3,040 roofers, 3,799 electricians and 9,755 locksmiths. These cover the cities each directory serves. It isn't a random sample of every U.S. business. Supply stores and other businesses that aren't the trade itself were left out. Locksmith listings appearing twice were counted once, matched by phone number.
Real website. The website on the business's listing pointed to the business's own domain. Links to Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, Google business.site, Linktree, Nextdoor, Angi, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack, BBB or Yellow Pages count as no real website.
Full audits. 35 audits run by our audit tool on outside businesses from September 28 to October 11, 2026. Our own businesses and hand-entered records are excluded. Directory checks ran on 29 of them, site checks on 28 and speed tests on 25. Map rank is checked from the business's own address, top 20 results.
Not counted. We dropped business hours from this edition. Too many locksmith listings were saved without hours to compare fairly.
Quote any number here with the date (October 11, 2026) and a link to this page.