Angi listings rank in Google whether you buy leads or not. Here's how to optimize your profile and turn Angi into a local SEO asset.
If you're a plumber, electrician, HVAC contractor, roofer, or any other home service provider in the US, Angi (formerly Angie's List) is a platform you can't afford to ignore. Not because Angi generates the same lead volume as Google, it doesn't, but because Angi listings rank in Google for local home service searches, which creates a secondary visibility layer that works whether you pay for leads or not.
This guide covers how to optimize your Angi presence, get more reviews, respond effectively, and make your listing work as part of your broader local SEO strategy.
This playbook adapts well to other industries, for example local SEO for bbb accreditation.
Angi operates on a different model than Google or Yelp. Understanding the distinction shapes how you invest in the platform.
Angi's two primary revenue models:
Lead marketplace: Homeowners submit project requests, Angi sells those leads to contractors. Contractors pay per lead. This is Angi's primary business model.
Directory listings: Businesses maintain free or paid profiles that rank in search. Homeowners browse and contact businesses directly.
Why Angi matters for local SEO even if you don't buy leads:
Angi pages rank on the first page of Google for searches like "plumber reviews [city]", "best HVAC company [city]", and "electrician near me." When a homeowner clicks one of those Google results and sees your Angi profile with 4 stars and 60 reviews next to your competitor's profile with 2 stars and 8 reviews, your listing wins the click and the call.
Your Angi presence also provides a citation (business name, address, phone) and a high-authority backlink to your website, both of which support your Google Maps rankings.
📊 Flento Data: Home service businesses with complete Angi profiles and 30+ reviews see their Angi listing rank in the top 5 Google results for "[service] reviews [city]" searches 67% of the time.
Claiming your profile: Go to pro.angi.com and search for your business. Most established home service businesses already have an Angi profile created from old Angie's List data. Claim it, this is free and required before you can edit content.
Profile sections to complete:
Business basics:
About your company (this matters for conversions):
Business description (500+ words recommended): Write a compelling description that covers: what services you provide, what makes your approach different, specific qualifications, service guarantees, and a brief origin story if it helps build trust. This content feeds both Angi search and Google's understanding of your business.
Services section: Like your GBP, list every service individually rather than one general category. For a plumber: water heater repair, drain cleaning, pipe repair, emergency plumbing, bathroom remodel plumbing, sewer line, etc. Each service creates additional matching opportunities for Angi's internal search.
License verification: Angi allows you to upload your license and insurance documents. Verified credentials appear as badges on your profile, significant trust signals for homeowners comparing multiple contractors.
Angi reviews require that the reviewer be an Angi member (have used Angi for their project or created an account). This is a higher barrier than Google reviews, which explains why most Angi profiles have fewer reviews than the same business's Google profile.
Who can leave an Angi review:
The invitation system: From your Angi Pro dashboard, you can send email review invitations to past customers. The customer receives a direct link to leave you an Angi review (they need to create a free Angi account if they don't have one).
Who to request reviews from: Prioritize customers who are likely already familiar with online reviews, homeowners who mentioned finding you online, customers who mentioned doing research before calling you, and younger customers who are more likely to have Angi accounts already.
When to ask: Within 48 hours of job completion, when satisfaction is high and the experience is fresh. For multi-day projects, ask on the final day when you present the completed work.
What to say: "I really appreciate your business. We maintain a profile on Angi to help other homeowners find reliable contractors. If you're willing to share your experience there, I'll send you a direct invitation. It takes about 2 minutes. Would that be okay?"
Send the invitation from your dashboard that evening.
Angi's internal search algorithm weights review content. Reviews that mention specific services, locations, and quality signals improve how your profile ranks within Angi searches.
What to encourage clients to include (naturally, not scripted):
Reviews that contain these elements rank your profile higher in Angi's internal search for those service types and build more compelling social proof for browsers comparing multiple contractors.
Response rate matters to Angi's algorithm. Businesses that respond to reviews are ranked higher than equivalent businesses that don't respond.
Structure for positive review responses: Short, personal, and specific. Acknowledge what they mentioned. Don't use generic templates, Angi reviewers and potential customers can tell.
"Thanks, Mike! Replacing the water heater on a Friday afternoon isn't always easy to schedule, so we're glad we could make it work. Looking forward to being your go-to plumber."
Responding to negative reviews on Angi:
Angi's review system allows businesses to flag reviews that contain false information and request mediation. But most negative reviews represent genuine dissatisfaction that requires a thoughtful response.
Structure: Acknowledge → take responsibility where appropriate → take it offline.
"Hi Linda, we're sorry to hear this wasn't the experience we aim for. We take quality seriously, and a service call that resulted in this kind of issue falls below our standards. Please call our office directly at [phone], we want to make this right."
Never: accuse the reviewer of lying, provide identifying client information in the response, or promise refunds publicly (handle that offline).
Free tier (Angi Business Profile):
Angi Ads / Lead buying: Angi sells leads through its matching system. Cost varies by category and market, plumbers might pay $30–$80 per lead in competitive markets; roofing leads can cost $100–$250.
Our assessment of paid leads: Angi leads are shared leads, the same homeowner inquiry is sent to multiple contractors. Lead quality varies significantly. For businesses with strong close rates and the capacity to respond quickly (within 5 minutes of lead notification), Angi lead buying can be profitable. For businesses with slow follow-up processes, the ROI is poor.
The free profile provides citation and backlink value regardless of whether you buy leads. Start with the free tier and evaluate whether the lead marketplace makes sense based on your response capacity and close rate.
Angi works best as part of a multi-platform review and citation strategy, not as a standalone channel.
How Angi connects to Google Local SEO:
Citation value: Your Angi listing (NAP) is a citation that supports your Google Maps ranking. Consistent NAP across Angi, Google, HomeAdvisor, Yelp, and the BBB builds the citation foundation that Google uses to verify your business legitimacy.
Backlink: Angi provides a backlink to your website, modest domain authority contribution but real.
Second-page Google presence: Your Angi listing often appears in Google searches where you're not ranking organically. This gives you two chances to be visible for the same search, your GBP in the Maps Pack and your Angi listing in organic results.
For managing citations across Angi, Google, Yelp, and dozens of other directories, use Flento's Business Listing Management Software to monitor inconsistencies and ensure your NAP is uniform across all platforms.
How important are Angi reviews compared to Google reviews? Google reviews are more important for local Map Pack rankings. Angi reviews matter most for: ranking within Angi's own search, converting browsers who are comparing multiple contractors side-by-side on the platform, and ranking your Angi profile in Google for "[service] reviews [city]" searches. Both matter, but Google is higher priority for most home service businesses.
Can I transfer Google reviews to Angi or vice versa? No. Reviews on each platform are separate and cannot be transferred. You need to build each platform's review count independently.
What happens if I stop buying leads from Angi, does my profile disappear? Your free profile listing remains active regardless of whether you purchase leads. Lead buying is an opt-in advertising product that doesn't affect your profile's organic visibility.
How do I flag a fake or malicious review on Angi? Log into your Angi Pro account, find the review, and click "Report this review." Provide documentation or explanation of why the review is fraudulent. Angi's moderation team reviews flagged content. For reviews that contain false statements, provide documentation refuting the claim (project records, communications).
Does Angi affect local Google rankings directly? Not directly. Google's algorithm doesn't weight Angi reviews in your Google Maps ranking the way it weights Google reviews. But Angi contributes indirectly: your listing provides a citation, a backlink, and a corroborating entity signal that collectively supports your domain authority and local ranking factors.
Angi is one piece of a local home services marketing ecosystem, not the entire strategy. A free, complete, well-reviewed Angi profile provides citation value, local backlink authority, and a second visibility opportunity in Google results for key local searches.
Optimize your profile, build reviews systematically from every completed job, and respond to every review. That baseline effort captures the majority of Angi's value for home service providers, whether or not you ever buy a single lead from the platform.
