The local pack shows up on 98% of home-services searches, and LSAs sit above it half the time. Where a Denver contractor’s budget should go.

What the study measured

WebFX ran 100 home-services keywords (plumbing, HVAC, roofing, electrical and similar) across five US cities in May 2026, 500 searches in all, and recorded which result types appeared and where. It is a vendor study, so read the recommendations with that in mind, but the measurements are straightforward counts and they match what we see in Denver results every day.

Three result types were tracked: the Google local pack (the map with three businesses), Local Services Ads (the “Google Guaranteed” or “Google Screened” cards with a phone button), and standard Google Ads (text ads).

The three surfaces, by the numbers

The pattern that matters for budget: a searcher typing “furnace repair denver” sees LSAs first about half the time and the map pack right under them almost every time. A business in both is on screen before the first organic result on nearly every search. A business in neither is relying on blue links that start, on average, below position four.

What each costs in Denver terms

Costs below are how the channels are priced, not quotes; your category and service area set the actual numbers.

• The local pack is earned, not bought. The inputs are your Google Business Profile completeness, review count and recency, proximity to the searcher, and the relevance and authority of your website. Google’s own help page describes prominence as based partly on “how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have.” The cost is the ongoing work: our Denver local campaigns run $500 to $3,000 a month, and the profile work alone is on the Google Business Profile management page.
• Local Services Ads are priced per lead, not per click, and Google sets the per-lead price by category and market. You need the background check and licensing to earn the badge, and your rank within the LSA unit depends heavily on reviews and responsiveness. Note that Google announced in 2026 that LSAs are migrating into the Google Ads platform over the coming year, so expect the interface to change.
• Google Ads are priced per click in an auction. Our September 2026 Keyword Planner pull shows top-of-page bids for Denver home-services terms commonly in the $20 to $60 range; a click is not a lead, and for these searches the study shows the ad is usually below the pack anyway.

The split we recommend, by business stage

Under 20 reviews, profile incomplete

Everything into the pack first. LSAs rank on reviews too, so buying them before the profile is ready means paying for a low position in the LSA unit. Spend the first ninety days on the profile, the review system and the service pages. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey found 47% of consumers will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews; that applies to the LSA card as much as to the pack.

20 to 50 reviews, profile solid

Keep the SEO budget and add LSAs for the terms where they appear most: emergency and city-plus-service searches. Half of city-modified searches showed an LSA unit; those are the searches where someone is ready to call now. Cap the LSA budget to what you can answer by phone within minutes, because LSA rank punishes slow response.

50-plus reviews, in the pack for your core terms

Now text ads earn a place, but surgically: new service lines the pack does not yet rank you for, neighborhoods outside your proximity radius, and brand defense if competitors bid on your name. Measure every channel in booked jobs, not clicks or impressions; our call tracking guide shows how to attribute calls without breaking your listing.

The AI Overview wrinkle

One more surface is arriving on these searches. Whitespark’s sample of local queries in Houston, Phoenix and Denver found AI Overviews on 68% of local searches overall, but simple transactional searches (“plumber near me”) remained pack-dominant. Local SEO Data’s June 2026 study found 28.5% of local-pack businesses were missing from AI Mode for the same query. So for the emergency search the pack and LSAs still rule; for the research search (“how much does a furnace replacement cost in Denver”) an AI answer may sit above both, and it cites pages, not ads. That is a third reason to keep the SEO budget: the service page that earns a citation is the same page that supports the pack. Our Maps vs AI Mode piece covers that gap.

Four mistakes that waste the budget

1. Buying ads to compensate for a weak profile. The study puts text ads at position 11 on average. You are paying to appear below the problem.
2. Running LSAs without a phone process. LSA charges per lead and ranks on responsiveness. A missed call is a paid lead you lost and a rank you lowered.
3. Measuring the pack in rankings instead of calls. Position 2 in the pack from your own office means little if you are position 8 from the neighborhoods you serve. Check from where the customers are; the local SEO Denver page has the tool.
4. Treating the three as competing. They stack. A business in the LSA unit and the pack, with a service page an AI Overview cites, holds three of the first four things a Denver searcher sees. That is the goal, and it is reachable for a well-run contractor inside a year.

If you want the split worked out for your category with real Denver numbers, the free audit includes a channel map; the industry pages for plumbers, HVAC, roofers and electricians go deeper on each trade.

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