---
title: "Small-Town Google Maps Results: 41.4% Show Distant Plumbers"
url: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/small-town-map-pack-out-of-town-businesses
description: "Small-town Google Maps results for plumbers show an out-of-town business in the top three 41.4% of the time, against 17.9% overall. See the data."
lang: en
---
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In **41.4%** of small-town Google Maps searches for a plumber, at least one of the top three businesses is based in another town, against 17.9% across 20 local services. ChatGPT shows the same strain: it names 15.3% fewer businesses per answer in smaller cities than in large ones, and fewer of them check out.
Analysis of 580 Google Maps searches in 29 small US towns and 3,160 AI local answers in 79 US cities · Google Maps results, ChatGPT and Gemini answers and Google Business Profiles, September 2026
## Key Findings
1. 1. In **41.4%** of small-town Google Maps searches for a plumber, an emergency plumber or a moving company, at least one of the top three businesses is based in another town. Copy stat
2. 2. In **17.9%** of small-town Google Maps searches, at least one of the top three businesses listed has an address in a different town, and 7.6% of all top-three spots go to out-of-town businesses. Copy stat
3. 3. Small-town Google Maps searches for hair salons and restaurants showed an out-of-town business in the top three **0%** of the time. Copy stat
4. 4. In Lewiston, Maine, **65%** of Google Maps searches show a business from another town in the top three, the only one of 29 small towns where it happens in more than half of searches. Copy stat
5. 5. ChatGPT names **10.6** local businesses per answer in smaller US cities against 12.6 in large cities, 15.3% fewer. Copy stat
6. 6. **68.1%** of the local businesses ChatGPT recommends in smaller cities are confirmed as operating and inside the city asked about, against 74.6% in large cities. Copy stat
7. 7. ChatGPT names **28%** fewer house cleaning services per answer in smaller cities than in large ones, the widest gap of any service, while restaurants show no gap. Copy stat
## Summary
A pipe leaks in a small town. The homeowner searches Google Maps for a plumber and calls one of the first three results. In more than four searches out of ten, at least one of those three plumbers is based in a different town, one that drives in for the job. Ask ChatGPT the same question and the list is shorter than a big-city resident would get, and a few of the names turn out to be closed, missing or based in the next town over.
The top three Google Maps results, which Google calls the map pack, sit above the ordinary search results and take most of the calls, and AI assistants are becoming a second place where customers pick who to call. For a small-town business, a spot in either is often the difference between a busy week and a quiet one. When a spot goes to a business from the next town over, the local businesses have one fewer place to win.
Across 20 local services, **17.9%** of small-town map packs include at least one business from another town. For services where the business travels to the customer, the rate more than doubles: 41.4% for plumbers, emergency plumbers and moving companies. For services the customer travels to, such as hair salons and restaurants, it is zero. ChatGPT names 10.6 businesses per answer in smaller cities against 12.6 in large ones, and 68.1% of its small-town picks are confirmed as operating and in the right city, against 74.6% in large cities.
## What we measured
On September 23, 2026 we analyzed Google Maps results for 20 local services, including plumber, dentist, electrician and hair salon, in each of 29 small US towns, from Lewiston, Maine to Bend, Oregon, 580 searches in all. We used the plain service name, without "near me", and recorded the address of each of the three businesses in the map pack. On September 23 and 24 we also asked ChatGPT and Gemini for the best businesses in 20 local services in 79 US cities, 50 large metros and 29 smaller cities, for 1,580 answers from each assistant, and counted the distinct businesses named in each answer.
A business counts as out of town when the city in its Google address differs from the town searched, and a map pack counts as including one when at least one of its three businesses is out of town. Rates by service cover that service's 29 searches, one per town; rates by town cover that town's 20 searches, one per service. To test the AI picks, we looked up 10,000 recommended businesses on Google Business Profiles: a pick counts as accurate when its profile is found, the business is operating, and it is located in the city the question asked about. We also recorded how many listings Google Maps returned for each search, as a measure of how many businesses each city has to choose from.
## One in six small-town map packs includes an out-of-town business
17.9%
of small-town Google map packs include at least one business from another town.
Counted spot by spot, 7.6% of all top-three places in small-town map packs go to out-of-town businesses, about one spot in thirteen. The effect is widespread: 27 of the 29 towns had at least one search where an outside business made the top three. Only Ames, Iowa and Cookeville, Tennessee had none.
In a small town, the best-rated or best-reviewed option is often one town over, and Google weighs those signals alongside distance. A business with a stronger profile in the next town can outrank a weaker one down the street, which means a small-town business is competing with its whole region, not only its neighbors.
## Trades that drive to the customer cross town lines most
41.4%
of small-town plumber, emergency plumber and moving company map packs include a business from another town.
Locksmiths follow at 34.5%, then HVAC companies, electricians, landscapers and veterinarians at 31% each. These are mostly businesses that come to the customer, so their location matters less than their reach, and Google treats a plumber serving the whole county as a fair answer in each of its towns.
Map packs with an out-of-town business by service searched
Plumber
41.4%
Emergency plumber
41.4%
Moving company
41.4%
Locksmith
34.5%
HVAC company
31%
Electrician
31%
Landscaper
31%
Veterinarian
31%
Pest control
20.7%
House cleaning service
17.2%
Roofer
10.3%
Accountant
6.9%
Dentist
3.4%
Hair salon
0%
Restaurant
0%
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 580 Google Maps searches in 29 small US towns and 3,160 AI local answers in 79 US cities · Google Maps results, ChatGPT and Gemini answers and Google Business Profiles, September 2026
Services the customer visits in person stay local. Hair salon and restaurant map packs never included an out-of-town business, and dentists, auto repair shops, gyms, personal injury lawyers, real estate agents and chiropractors each did so in one of 29 towns, 3.4%. Nobody drives to the next town for a haircut when there is a salon on Main Street, and Google reflects that.
## Some towns see far more outside competition than others
Lewiston, Maine stands out: 65% of its searches showed a business from another town in the top three, the only town above half. Burlington, Vermont follows at 45%, then Beaufort, South Carolina, Hattiesburg, Mississippi and Sandpoint, Idaho at 30% each.
Map packs with an out-of-town business by town
Lewiston, ME
65%
Burlington, VT
45%
Beaufort, SC
30%
Hattiesburg, MS
30%
Sandpoint, ID
30%
Mankato, MN
25%
Asheville, NC
25%
Bozeman, MT
25%
Santa Fe, NM
20%
Bismarck, ND
15%
Traverse City, MI
10%
Bend, OR
5%
Flagstaff, AZ
5%
Cookeville, TN
0%
Ames, IA
0%
Towns with close neighbors share their map packs with businesses just across the line. More isolated towns keep their results to themselves. If your town sits next to another one, assume your competition includes theirs.
## ChatGPT names fewer small-town businesses, and fewer that check out
15.3%
fewer local businesses are named per ChatGPT answer in smaller cities than in large ones.
ChatGPT names 12.6 businesses per answer in large cities and 10.6 in smaller ones, with medians of 13 and 10, about two fewer chances per question for a small-town business to be named. Gemini's answers are much shorter everywhere, at about 2.7 businesses per answer in both groups, so the gap is a ChatGPT pattern.
Large cities
ChatGPT businesses per answer
12.6
Gemini businesses per answer
2.7
Google Maps listings per search
100
| Measure | Large cities | Smaller cities |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ChatGPT businesses per answer | 12.6 | 10.6 |
| Gemini businesses per answer | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| ChatGPT picks confirmed accurate | 74.6% | 68.1% |
| Google Maps listings per search | 100 | 68 |
Supply is part of the story. Google Maps returns 68 listings per search in smaller cities against 100 in large ones, so both Google and ChatGPT have fewer local businesses to draw on. Google fills the gap with strong businesses from the next town; ChatGPT, which builds its lists from reviews, directories, local news and business websites, gets a thinner online record to work from. Nearly a third of its small-town picks fail the accuracy check: the business is closed, cannot be found on Google, or sits outside the town the customer asked about.
## Home services feel the small-town squeeze on both
The services that cross town lines most on Google Maps are also the ones ChatGPT struggles to fill in small towns. ChatGPT names 28% fewer house cleaning services per answer in smaller cities, followed by pest control (26%), plumbers and dentists (22% each) and veterinarians (20%). Restaurants show no gap: ChatGPT names as many in a small town as in a big city, just as Google Maps never sends a small-town diner to another town.
Fewer businesses named by ChatGPT in smaller cities by service
House cleaning service
28%
Pest control
26%
Plumber
22%
Dentist
22%
Veterinarian
20%
HVAC company
17%
Accountant
17%
Hair salon
16%
Personal injury lawyer
15%
Real estate agent
14%
Gym
12%
Chiropractor
11%
Roofer
11%
Emergency plumber
3%
Home-service businesses in small towns often run on word of mouth, with little online presence beyond a Google listing. Restaurants, by contrast, are reviewed and written about everywhere, so both Google and ChatGPT find plenty of them close to home.
## What this means for small-town businesses
If you are a plumber, mover, locksmith or other trade that drives to customers, the neighboring towns' map packs are within reach. Set your Google Business Profile service area to the towns you actually serve, and add a page to your website for each one, with the jobs you have done there, local reviews and photos. That also helps AI assistants answer for the right town instead of reaching for a business in the next one.
If you are losing top-three spots to a business from the next town, compare the two profiles side by side: review count, recent reviews, photos, business categories and whether a website is linked. Where the outside business has the stronger profile, every one of those gaps can be closed. In AI answers, fewer small-town businesses are named, so each slot is easier to win once ChatGPT can confirm you are open and in the town people ask about: keep the same name, address and phone number on your Google Business Profile, website and directory listings, and build the record it reads through reviews, local directories and local news.
Businesses customers visit in person, such as salons and restaurants, compete mostly with their own town, so the fight is with local rivals. Our local seo packages (https://www.suffdigital.com/seo/local-seo-services) help small-town businesses win the map pack in their own town and the ones next door.
## Embed this research
Paste this on your site to embed the charts. It links back to the source automatically.
Source: Google Maps Shows an Out-of-Town Plumber in 41.4% of Small-Town Searches vs 17.9% Overall - Suff Digital
## Cite this study
APA
Suff Digital. (2026). Google Maps Shows an Out-of-Town Plumber in 41.4% of Small-Town Searches vs 17.9% Overall. https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/small-town-map-pack-out-of-town-businesses
Plain link
Google Maps Shows an Out-of-Town Plumber in 41.4% of Small-Town Searches vs 17.9% Overall - Suff Digital - https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/small-town-map-pack-out-of-town-businesses
## Frequently asked questions
### Does Google show businesses from other towns in the map pack?
### Which services are most affected by out-of-town competition on Google Maps?
### Which small towns see the most out-of-town businesses in Google Maps?
### Does AI recommend fewer businesses in small towns?
### Are AI local recommendations less accurate in small towns?
## Related studies
- Local SEO 72.4% of Google Map Pack Businesses Are Within a Mile of the Search Location: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/map-pack-distance-from-searcher
- Local SEO Adding "Near Me" Changes the Google Map Pack 57.1% of the Time: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/near-me-changes-map-pack
- AI SEO AI Recommends a Business Outside the City You Asked About 17.4% of the Time: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-recommends-business-wrong-city
- AI SEO 88.4% of the Local Businesses ChatGPT Recommends Aren't in Google's Map Pack: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/chatgpt-picks-vs-google-map-pack
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