When a Denver furnace quits in January, the homeowner searches, and the companies that appear first get the call. Webolutions compared October 2025 and October 2026 search data for 10 Denver plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical companies. Nine of them grew their estimated search traffic, many dramatically. One lost ground. And the biggest winners weren’t always the companies with the most top-ranked web pages; they were the companies that dominate Google’s map results.
This study is part of Webolutions’ Digital Performance Research series. We name companies where their results offer a model worth following. Companies with less favorable findings are described by category.
Key findings
- Brothers Plumbing, Heating & Electric leads the market. It earns about a third of the group’s non-branded search value, an estimated $2.6 million a month, grew its top-3 rankings by nearly 80% and appears on page one for seven of eight core Denver searches.
- Two different contests. In the regular results, Brothers and one other company hold three-quarters of the group’s top-3 rankings. In the map, different companies win: Heart Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electric and Right Away Heating & Cooling hold almost no top-3 organic rankings, yet rank second and third in estimated search value. Heart now appears in 956 map-pack positions, up from 174, the most in the group.
- Nine of 10 companies grew; one went backward. One established multi-trade company lost 19% of its traffic and 41% of its top-3 rankings while the group’s top-3 rankings grew 46%. Its estimated search value rose, but competitors’ rose far faster, and its share of the market’s search value fell by about three-quarters.
- Growth isn’t the same as gaining ground. Two companies grew their traffic and rankings but still lost more than half of their market share, because competitors grew faster.
- Homeowners ask each other first. Reddit ranks #1 for five of the eight core searches we sampled, ahead of every company.
- Ownership didn’t predict results. Private-equity-backed and independent companies appear among both the winners and the laggards.
How we measured this market
Organic Search Value estimates what a company’s unpaid search traffic would cost if it bought the same clicks through Google Ads. In Denver home services, those clicks are expensive: across this group, the average visit is worth about $24. That makes search value a direct measure of whether a website ranks for the searches that bring in service calls, and it gives executives a number they notice: whether their website’s value is rising or falling against the competition.
We remove branded searches (searches for a company’s own name), because they come from homeowners who have already chosen that company. Non-branded searches, such as "furnace repair denver" or "water heater replacement," come from homeowners who are still choosing. That is where companies win or lose new customers.
One adjustment matters in this market. Across the 10 companies, Semrush’s estimate of combined traffic more than quadrupled and non-branded value rose more than sixfold. Real demand didn’t change that much. Semrush now appears to credit Google’s map-pack positions with far more traffic than it did a year ago. Raw growth figures would make nearly every company look like a winner, so we compare each company’s share of the group’s non-branded value. Share holds the market constant and shows who is gaining ground relative to the competition. Because Semrush’s change affects map-heavy companies most, we also report each company’s share of the group’s top-3 organic rankings, a count that doesn’t rely on traffic estimates.
The scorecard: 10 Denver home-services companies, year over year
We name the companies whose results offer a model to follow. The others are described by category, and each will receive its detailed findings privately.
| Company | Share of search value, Oct 2025 → Oct 2026 | Non-branded value/mo, Oct 2026 | Share of top-3 rankings, Oct 2025 → Oct 2026 | Map-pack positions | What is happening |
| Brothers Plumbing, Heating & Electric | 28.7% → 34.5% | $2,576,400 | 38.3% → 46.6% | 55 → 199 | Leads the regular results; page one on 7 of 8 core searches |
| Heart Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electric | 11.1% → 22.2% | $1,660,300 | 0.4% → 0.3% | 174 → 956 | The group’s map-pack leader |
| Right Away Heating & Cooling | 3.3% → 14.4% | $1,073,800 | 0.0% → 0.3% | 104 → 159 | Lowest authority in the group, third in value |
| Multi-trade company A | 22.0% → 10.6% | $793,800 | 35.5% → 29.6% | 59 → 159 | Second in the regular results, but losing ground |
| Jim Needham Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Drain | 2.1% → 5.1% | $382,700 | 1.1% → 3.8% | 32 → 193 | #2 for "water heater replacement denver" |
| Roots Heating & Air | 4.6% → 4.9% | $365,300 | 0.2% → 0.1% | 106 → 283 | Value built almost entirely in the map |
| Multi-trade company B | 14.3% → 3.4% | $251,800 | 9.9% → 4.0% | 47 → 130 | The only company whose top-3 rankings fell |
| Multi-trade company C | 8.6% → 2.4% | $177,200 | 8.0% → 8.2% | 103 → 254 | Held its organic share; fell behind in value |
| HVAC and plumbing company | 2.6% → 1.9% | $141,000 | 2.5% → 3.3% | 37 → 100 | Growing organic share from a small base |
| Multi-trade company D | 2.7% → 0.6% | $44,100 | 4.1% → 3.8% | 17 → 67 | Ranks for about a third fewer keywords |
| All 10 companies | 100% | $7,466,400 | 2,362 → 3,454 rankings | 734 → 2,500 |
Share of the group’s combined monthly non-branded Organic Search Value, Semrush US database. See the methodology below.
Semrush US database · share of the 10 companies’ combined non-branded Organic Search Value, Oct 2025 vs Oct 2026
Five companies gained share and five lost it. The gains went to companies that dominate Google’s map results; the losses include established brands that grew their own numbers but fell behind the market.
Semrush US database · share of the 10 companies’ combined top-3 organic rankings, Oct 2025 vs Oct 2026
The top-3 rankings tell a different story from the dollars. In the regular search results, two companies hold more than three-quarters of all top-3 rankings, and Brothers widened its lead. The companies that gained the most search value barely register here; they win in the map instead.
Who wins Denver’s core home-services searches
We reviewed Google’s top 10 organic results for eight searches a Denver homeowner might use. (The map pack, which appears above these results for most local service searches, isn’t part of this sample.)
| Search | #1 result | Notable page-one results |
| plumber denver | Brothers #2, Roto-Rooter #5 | |
| hvac denver | Brothers #4, Major Heating #10 | |
| furnace repair denver | Brothers | Blue Sky #5, Applewood #6, Bell #7, Roots #9 |
| ac repair denver | Brothers | The Weather Changers #4, Roots #10 |
| water heater replacement denver | Brothers | Jim Needham #2, Plumbline #3, Applewood #4 |
| electrician denver | Brothers #4, Mister Sparky #5 | |
| emergency plumber denver | Roto-Rooter #2, Blue Sky #3, Brothers #7 | |
| drain cleaning denver | Roto-Rooter #2, Plumbline #3 |
Semrush top-10 organic results, US database, October 2026.
Three patterns stand out:
- Brothers Plumbing, Heating & Electric is everywhere. It appears on page one for seven of the eight searches and ranks #1 for furnace repair, AC repair and water heater replacement.
- Reddit ranks first for five of the eight searches. Denver homeowners are asking each other for recommendations, and Google is surfacing those conversations above every company’s website. Reviews, reputation and being the company people recommend now shape search visibility directly.
- National franchises and directories take much of page one. Roto-Rooter, Mister Sparky, Yelp, Angi and Thumbtack compete for the same clicks, leaving fewer spots for local companies.
Five patterns behind the numbers
1. Two contests: the regular results and the map
Denver home services is really two markets. In the regular search results, two companies dominate: Brothers and one other multi-trade company hold 76% of the group’s top-3 rankings. In Google’s map results, a different set of companies wins. Two of the three most valuable websites in this study barely appear in the regular search results. Heart Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electric holds just 11 top-3 organic rankings but 956 map-pack positions, and doubled its share of the group’s value to 22%. Right Away Heating & Cooling holds 11 top-3 rankings and the lowest Authority Score in the group (12), yet ranks third in value. Roots Heating & Air has only five top-3 rankings but nearly 300 map-pack positions. Across the group, map-pack positions more than tripled, from 734 to 2,500. Dollar values are Semrush estimates, but these position counts show the same shift without relying on traffic estimates.
For emergency and repair searches, homeowners often call a company straight from the map. The Google Business Profile, reviews, service-area coverage and location pages that support them are now as important as the website’s main pages.
2. Nine companies grew; one went backward
One established multi-trade company was the only company in the study to lose traffic, down 19%. Its top-3 rankings fell 41% while the group’s grew 46%, and its share of the group’s top-3 rankings fell from about 10% to 4%. Its estimated search value still rose, but competitors’ rose far faster, and its share of the group’s value fell from about 14% to about 3%. Many of the rankings it lost belonged to location and service pages, a pattern consistent with a website change that removed or consolidated pages without preserving their rankings.
In a year when every competitor grew, standing still would have cost ground. Losing pages cost far more. Website redesigns caused similar hidden losses in our study of Denver SaaS companies, where combined non-branded search value fell 29% and only two of 10 companies grew.
3. Growing isn’t the same as gaining ground
Two companies grew their own numbers and still lost more than half of their market share:
- One multi-trade company grew traffic 42% and top-3 rankings 22%, but its share fell from 22% to under 11%. It also lost about a quarter of its AI Overview appearances.
- Another multi-trade company grew traffic 72% and top-3 rankings 51%, but its share fell from about 9% to about 2%.
Both would see healthy growth in a report that compares them only to last year. Against competitors that grew several times faster, both lost ground. We found the same pattern in our studies of Colorado orthopedic practices and fertility providers.
4. Homeowners ask each other first
Reddit ranks #1 for five of the eight core searches we sampled, including "plumber denver" and "hvac denver." Directories and national franchises fill much of the rest of page one. Local companies compete not only with each other but with the conversations homeowners trust most. Reputation, reviews and being the company people recommend by name now feed directly into search visibility. The same thing is happening in healthcare. In our study of Denver dental practices, Reddit ranks on page one for "best dentist in denver" and "invisalign denver.
5. Authority isn’t the constraint
Right Away Heating & Cooling has the lowest Authority Score in the group (12) and links from fewer than 800 websites, yet earns 14% of the group’s search value. Meanwhile, one company with links from more than 4,000 websites lost more than two-thirds of its share. In Webolutions’ four-stage framework, first introduced in our benchmark of Denver technology companies, the gap between Authority Capacity and Ranking Strength shows up clearly here: in local services, map-pack presence and focused service pages matter more than backlinks alone. Other markets show the same gap. Among mental health platforms, Rula earned roughly four times the non-branded value of a peer with the same authority score, and in Denver dental search, practices with Authority Scores of 11 to 22 outrank dental groups scoring 34 to 59.
What the winners did differently
Brothers Plumbing, Heating & Electric: visible everywhere homeowners look
Brothers is strong in both the regular search results and the map. It grew its top-3 rankings by nearly 80% (905 to 1,608), grew the number of keywords it ranks for by half, nearly quadrupled its map-pack positions and now earns about a third of the group’s non-branded value. It ranks on page one for plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical searches alike, so a homeowner sees Brothers whatever the problem. Almost none of its value comes from its own name: it wins homeowners who haven’t chosen a company yet.
Heart Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electric and Right Away Heating & Cooling: winning the map
Heart grew its map-pack positions from 174 to 956, the most in the group, and doubled its share of the market. Right Away more than quadrupled its share with the lowest Authority Score in the study. Neither depends on top-ranked web pages. Both show how much of Denver’s home-services demand is now captured in Google’s map results, where reviews, service areas and business profiles carry the most weight.
Jim Needham Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Drain: focus on high-value services
Jim Needham more than doubled its share of the group’s value, grew its top-3 rankings fivefold (26 to 131) and ranks #2 for "water heater replacement denver," one of the market’s highest-value searches. Its AI Overview appearances grew from 5 to 76. Focused, detailed service pages, on water heaters, boilers and water treatment, are doing the work.
The common thread
The winners show up wherever homeowners look: in the map, in the organic results and, increasingly, in AI answers. Each built visibility for the specific services homeowners search for, rather than relying on a well-known name.
What this means for your marketing
Whether you lead marketing for a home-services company or another local service business, these findings point to five questions worth asking:
- Are you measuring against your competitors or against last year? In this market, nearly every company grew. Share of non-branded value shows who actually gained ground.
- How strong is your map presence? Map-pack positions drove the biggest gains in this study. Your Google Business Profile, reviews, service areas and supporting location pages deserve the same attention as your website.
- Did a website change cost you rankings? Redesigns and content consolidation can quietly remove the pages that ranked. Check which pages and keywords you’ve lost, and restore or redirect them.
- Does every core service have its own strong page? Furnace repair, AC repair, water heater replacement and emergency plumbing are separate searches with separate winners.
- Are you the company homeowners recommend? With Reddit ranking first for most core searches, reputation and reviews now shape search visibility directly.
Our SEO services address questions 2 through 4, and our AI search optimization services help companies earn citations in AI answers. For clients, we track these measures continuously through our Performance Intelligence™ dashboards.
Methodology
The companies. We combined two lenses. Search competitors come from Semrush’s Organic Competitors report, which identifies the domains that share the most keywords. Business competitors are Denver-area residential plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical companies serving the same homeowners, confirmed through Google’s top 10 results for eight core Denver searches. National franchise sites, directories and endorsement networks were excluded.
The data. All figures come from the Semrush US database. Current figures are live data pulled October 30, 2026; year-ago figures are from Semrush’s October 2025 snapshot. Measures include estimated traffic, top-3 positions, map-pack positions, Organic Search Value, AI Overview positions and Authority Score. Comparing October with October holds the heating and cooling season constant.
Non-branded value. We identified branded keywords as those containing each company’s name and subtracted their value (estimated traffic × cost per click) from each company’s total. For the year-ago snapshot, branded value was calculated from each company’s highest-value branded keywords.
Share of value. Semrush’s traffic and value estimates for this group rose far faster than real demand could, most likely because of how map-pack positions are now credited. We therefore compare each company’s share of the group’s combined non-branded value rather than raw year-over-year changes, and pair it with each company’s share of the group’s top-3 organic rankings, which is a count rather than an estimate.
Limits. Organic Search Value is a modeled estimate of what traffic would cost to buy through Google Ads. It isn’t revenue, and it doesn’t measure calls or jobs booked. Map-pack visibility varies by the searcher’s exact location, so these figures are estimates of overall presence.
Frequently asked questions
Which Denver home-services company has the most search visibility?
In our study of 10 Denver plumbing, HVAC and electrical companies, Brothers Plumbing, Heating & Electric earns about a third of the group’s non-branded Organic Search Value and appears on page one for seven of eight core Denver searches.
How important is the Google map pack for plumbers and HVAC companies?
Very. Two of the three most valuable websites in our study hold almost no top-3 organic rankings; their value comes from map-pack positions. For repair and emergency searches, homeowners often call directly from the map. Our local SEO services focus on exactly these signals.
Why would a home-services company lose search traffic while competitors grow?
A common cause is a website change that removes or consolidates pages without preserving their rankings. Redesigns, platform migrations and content cleanups can all do it, and the losses often go unnoticed until competitors have taken the positions.
How can a home-services company improve its search visibility?
Measure your share against competitors, not just last year. Strengthen your Google Business Profile and reviews, give every core service and service area its own strong page, and protect existing rankings during website changes. A Marketability Audit identifies exactly where a company’s authority, rankings and AI visibility break down.
The Webolutions perspective
For more than 30 years, since John Vachalek founded Webolutions in Denver in 1994, we have helped organizations adapt each time search changed the rules: the rise of Google, the shift to mobile, the arrival of local search and now AI-generated answers. Home services may be the clearest example of how fast those rules change. Being well known in Denver still matters, but the company that gets the call is the one a homeowner sees in the map, in the results and in the recommendations they trust, at the moment something breaks.
This study shows the patterns across one market. A Marketability Audit shows exactly where your company stands within it. The audit is a confidential, in-depth engagement that compares your non-branded Organic Search Value year over year, benchmarks you against the competitors that matter most to your growth and pinpoints where your authority, rankings and AI visibility break down. You receive a prioritized plan to fix them.
Contact Mike at Webolutions to discuss a competitive analysis and website Marketability Audit.
Explore more studies in our Digital Marketing Research series, and see our SEO results.
