Case study · Google Maps · Sacramento, California
A Sacramento plumbing, heating and air company with a strong reputation that was not quite showing up first. On Google Maps they sat #2 for “HVAC Contractor” and #3 for “HVAC Repair”. Now one paid ad sits above them on both searches, and no other business does.
Started at #2
#1(01) The starting point
Nobody books HVAC repair weeks ahead. The system stops on a hot afternoon, someone opens Google Maps, and they call one of the first businesses they see. Usually the first one that looks trustworthy.
Go Pro was #2. Customers called #1. On the two searches that matter most when a system breaks, another business sat above them: second for “HVAC Contractor”, third for “HVAC Repair”.
Close is not the same as first. The goal was simple to say: the first business Google ranks on both searches, with nothing above Go Pro except whoever is paying for the ad slot.
“HVAC Contractor” at the start
#2
“HVAC Repair” at the start
#3
Reviews today, at 4.9
221
(02) The climb
The Google Maps list for each search, the way a homeowner in Sacramento sees it. Go Pro is the dark card. The other businesses are left unnamed.
“HVAC Contractor”
#2 → #1
“HVAC Repair”
#3 → #1
(03) The screenshots
“HVAC Contractor”: #2 → #1
Below the sponsored ad, the first listing is Go Pro, 4.9 stars from 221 reviews.
“HVAC Repair”: #3 → #1
Below the sponsored ad, the first listing is Go Pro, 4.9 stars from 221 reviews.
Read the list
The same order on both searches. Go Pro first, right under the ad.
Go Pro shows 221 reviews at 4.9. Further down the same lists, the next businesses show 11, 29 and 5. Reviews are one of the signals Google weighs, and they are the part of prominence you can read off the screen because they are public and countable. Prominence has many other inputs: links, mentions across the web, and how established the business is. So the work went past reviews: matching the profile and the website to the exact words people type when the air stops, and building the signals that tell Google who the established name in Sacramento is.
The listing above them is an ad. It is there because someone pays for every click. The first real result is earned.
(04) How we work on Google Maps
Google ranks Maps results by distance, relevance and how well known a business is. Distance is fixed. Relevance and reputation are where the work goes, and the payoff is a spot nobody bills you for per click.
Step 01
Pick the searches that bring emergency calls
“HVAC Contractor” and “HVAC Repair” are what people type when a system has already failed. Those are the calls worth the most, so those are the searches we track.
Step 02
Match the profile to the search
Google Maps shows the business that best fits the words searched. The Google Business Profile has to say plainly, in the buyer’s language, that this company does that exact job in Sacramento.
Step 03
Make the website agree
The website backs the profile up: clear service pages for heating and air work, written the way buyers search, and consistent business details everywhere Google looks.
Step 04
Report with screenshots
Every report shows the actual Google Maps screen for each tracked search, so the owner sees what customers see, not a dashboard score.
Two deadlines, in writing, before your busy season starts.
Guarantee 01
20days
If you don’t see visible improvement in your key metrics within the first 20 days, we refund $200 on top of returning your payment for that period.
What we measure: your traffic, what that traffic is worth, how much authority your site and its pages carry, and how many other sites link to you, against the day we start.
Guarantee 02
60days
If your qualifying keywords aren’t on the first page of Google within 60 days, we keep working for free until they are.
What counts: at least one high-value search for your business on page one of Google.
No long-term contracts. Results keep you here. Paperwork doesn't.
Your next step
A free 30-minute strategy call on Google Meet. We search “HVAC repair” and your other best services from where your customers are, show you who Google puts first and why, and tell you what we would do first and what it costs.
Bring with you
We search your market live
The way your customers do, in the towns you serve.
We show who's above you, and why
On Google, on Maps and in the AI answers.
You leave with a road map
Yours to keep. If we can help, we'll invite you to work with us.
For established businesses doing at least $20,000 a month.
Straight answers
On Google Maps in Sacramento they were #2 for “HVAC Contractor” and #3 for “HVAC Repair”. Close, but someone else was getting the first call. Today they show 221 reviews at 4.9 stars on both screens.
First for both searches. On each screen the only listing above Go Pro is a sponsored ad, and no other business ranks ahead of them.
The sponsored listing is an ad. The business pays Google for every click, and it disappears when the budget stops. The first result below it is ranked by Google on relevance, distance and reputation, and nobody pays per click for it.
That is what our Local SEO work is for. We rank businesses across Canada and the United States, and we take on established businesses doing $20,000 a month or more. We take on 15 new clients a month, so each one gets the work done properly.
Local SEO, organic SEO, or the two together usually run between $1,497 and $5,000 a month. Your number depends on how many services and towns you want to win and how strong the businesses above you are. You get it on the strategy call.
If you don’t see visible improvement in your key metrics within the first 20 days, we refund $200 on top of returning your payment for that period. If your qualifying keywords aren’t on the first page of Google within 60 days, we keep working for free until they are.
No. There are no long-term contracts, and you can leave any month. We keep clients by moving their rankings.
