Top 3 businesses were on more directories. Among the top 10, recent reviews differed most.

By Omri KfirUpdated October 31, 2026

Short version: we looked at Google Maps results for 20 home-service trades in large US cities from two sides.

• Top 3 against positions 11 to 40 (40 searches): the top 3 were found on more directories (median 12 vs 8) and had more recent reviews (median 18 vs 5 and 3 in the last 90 days).
• #1 against positions 4 to 10 (499 searches, with a 100-search sample for listings and recent reviews): on the 9 major directories they looked alike (6 vs 5, #1 ahead in 51%), but #1 had more recent reviews than its own #4 to #10 in 74% of searches (nearly 3 in 4).

In our study of 40 searches, businesses in the top 3 were on about half again as many directories as businesses at 11 to 40. Among the top 10, recent reviews are what differed most. Both are correlations, and the limits come first, just below.

Method in one sentence: 499 Google Maps searches ("trade + city", 20 trades × 25 US metros, top 20 results, October 29, 2026, US English desktop) comparing #1 with positions 4 to 10 of the same search, a 100-search sample of those for listings, links and recent reviews, and 40 more searches (top 40 results) comparing the top 3 with positions 11 to 40. Download the data (CSV).

Limits, before the numbers

• Correlation, not cause. Every number here describes what businesses at each position had in one day's searches. It does not show why they rank.
• One search point per city, no searcher location. Distance from the person searching is not measured. Where we mention distance, it is a proxy: the distance from the middle of the top 20 results.
• One day per sample, desktop, large US metros, 20 home-service trades. Small towns, mobile and other industries may differ.
• Small samples where marked: the top 3 against 11 to 40 comparison is 40 searches (280 businesses). The listings, links and recent-review numbers for #1 against 4 to 10 come from 100 searches (800 businesses).
• Listings: found by Pack Leader's own search of each directory. A miss can be our search, not the business's absence. For #1 against 4 to 10: the 9 major directories only (Yelp, BBB, Facebook, Nextdoor, Foursquare, Yellow Pages, LinkedIn, MapQuest, Superpages), and a business counted only when all 9 searches answered. For the top 3 against 11 to 40: the full directory list for home services; of 9,520 directory searches, 9,158 returned results; 362 (310 never answered, 52 errors) are left out and never counted as "not found".
• Links: the data provider's raw count of referring domains. It includes low-quality sites, so it is a count, not a measure of link quality.
• Reviews in the last 90 days: we read the newest 30 reviews of each business, or the newest 100 where all 30 were recent. Some were still all recent at 100 (16% of the #1s and 6% at 4 to 10; 15% of the top 3, 0% at 11 to 20 and 4% at 21 to 40), so the true numbers are higher and these medians are lower bounds.
• We use medians: review counts are very uneven. We show no trade or city on its own: each has 25 searches or fewer, too few to report. No business is named anywhere in this study.

How to read "ahead"

In each search, we compare a business's value with the median of a group from that same search. "#1 ahead in 74%" means that in 74% of searches, #1 had more than the median of its own #4 to #10. "Top 3 ahead in 63%" means that in 63% of cases a top 3 business had a larger share of the directory list than the median of its own search's positions 11 to 20.

Part 1: the top 3 against positions 11 to 40 (40 searches)

Finding 1: the top 3 were found on about half again as many directories as businesses at 11 to 40

A median of 12 directories against 8, in our study of 40 searches. This shows where the businesses were listed, not why they rank.

What to do: if you are outside the top 10, check which directories the businesses above you are on and you are not, and add the ones that fit your business. Our local citations guide covers how.

Finding 2: recent reviews differed even more clearly

In our study of 40 searches: a median of at least 18 reviews in the last 90 days for the top 3, against 5 at 11 to 20 and 3 at 21 to 40. A top 3 business was ahead of its own search's 21 to 40 in 74% of cases.

Finding 3: star rating did not differ

In our study of 40 searches, the median was 4.9 in every group, and a top 3 business was ahead in under half the cases. Almost everyone has a high rating, so the data cannot show rating as a difference.

Part 2: #1 against positions 4 to 10 (499 searches)

Finding 4: #1 had more recent reviews than its own #4 to #10 in 74% of searches

Among the top 10, this is what differed most of every signal we measured: the leader was still collecting reviews in the last 90 days, not only sitting on a large total.

What to do: count the reviews the #1 in your search got in the last 90 days, and compare that with yours. Google's content policy lists "unusual volumes or patterns of review contributions" as a sign of rating manipulation, so aim for a steady pace.

Finding 5: on the 9 major directories, #1 and its neighbors looked alike

In half the searches #1 was ahead, and in half it was not. Near the top, being listed did not separate #1 from its neighbors.

Finding 6: #1 had about three times the reviews of #4 to #10

These are the reviews of the #1 business only. Our earlier study of the same searches reported 275 for positions 1 to 3 together. The positions 4 to 10 median is 140 in both.

Finding 7: but the most-reviewed business was #1 in only 1 search in 4

In 499 searches, #1 had the most reviews of its own top 10 in 25%. The leader usually has more reviews than the businesses at 4 to 10, but in most searches someone below it has even more.

What to do: don't chase the biggest review count in your search. Compare yourself with the #1, and look at how recent its reviews are.

Finding 8: being closest to the middle of the results was rare for #1

#1 was the closest of its top 10 to the middle of the top 20 results in 10% of 499 searches. That middle point is a proxy, not the searcher: this study has no searcher location. Google says local results are based on relevance, distance and prominence (Google Business Profile Help), so read this as "#1 was rarely the business closest to the middle of the city", not as "distance does not matter".

What to do: check your rank from several points across your area. Our local grid does that.

Finding 9: more photos and somewhat more linking sites, by a raw count

#1 had the most photos of its top 10 in only 13% of searches. The link gap is modest, and a raw count says nothing about the quality of each link. The median rating was 4.9 for #1 and 4.9 for positions 4 to 10.

Finding 10: website basics barely differed

Homepages were checked where the website answered. These items were about as common below #1 as at #1.

Both views together

The factor we expected, and what we found

Going in, we expected listings to be where #1 pulls away. Near the top they were not: #1 and positions 4 to 10 looked alike on the major directories. Further down the difference was clear: the top 3 were on more directories than businesses at 11 to 40. Recent reviews differed at both levels. None of this shows what causes a rank, and this study does not show listings or links making anyone #1.

What this means for a local business

1. Outside the top 10: check your listings gap. In our study of 40 searches, the top 3 were on about half again as many directories as businesses at 11 to 40.
2. Inside the top 10: watch the pace, not the total. Count the #1's reviews from the last 90 days and set a pace you can keep, every week.
3. Don't copy the biggest number. The most-reviewed business was #1 in 1 search in 4.
4. A high rating and website basics are common, not an edge. Most businesses in these searches already had them.
5. Look at your own #1. Medians across many searches are not your market. See why a competitor ranks higher for how to check each gap by hand.

Method in full

• Main searches: one Google Maps search per trade and city pair ("plumber Denver, CO"), 20 home-service trades × 25 large US metros. 499 searches returned enough results. Top 20 results each, collected October 29, 2026, through DataForSEO (United States, English, desktop). These are the same searches as our Google Maps top 3 study. Groups: #1 (499 businesses) and positions 4 to 10 (3,493).
• Websites: homepage checks for positions 1 to 10, where the site answered (448 #1s, 3,032 at 4 to 10).
• 100-search sample: some of the main searches from every trade, cities spread out, 800 businesses (#1 and positions 4 to 10). Read in October 2026 for listings on the 9 major directories, referring domains and the newest reviews.
• 40-search sample: searches for every trade in cities from the main study, top 40 results, read in October 2026. Per search the top 3 and businesses spread over positions 11 to 20 and 21 to 40: 280 businesses (120 / 80 / 80). Listings on the full home-service directory list, referring domains and the newest reviews.
• "Ahead": a business's value against the median of a group in the same search.
• Not measured: distance from the searcher, link quality and review bursts. For #1 against 4 to 10, directories beyond the 9 major ones.
• Public data only. No customer data, and no business is named. Download the aggregate data (CSV).

Cite this study

Pack Leader, "What the Map Pack #1 has that the rest don't: a study of 499 searches", October 2026, https://leadthepackseo.com/data/map-pack-leader-study.