We pulled the Google Maps top 20 for "solar installer" in 26 US cities and measured what it takes to reach the top 3: review counts, ratings, categories, websites, and how often AI assistants name the map pack. Then a 10-step playbook.
In our October 2026 study of 520 Google Maps listings for "solar installer" across 26 US cities, the median top-3 listing had 57.5 Google reviews, and in 7 of the 26 cities the median top-3 listing had fewer than 25. The map pack for solar is thinner than most owners assume, which is good news if you are starting from a small profile. This page shows what the top 3 looks like city by city, how review count tracks map rank, which category labels the top listings use, and how rarely the AI assistants name the installers who hold the pack. It ends with a 10-step playbook built on those numbers and on Google's own Business Profile guidance. Orkkid sells SEO and GEO services to solar companies, so read the playbook as what we do for clients.
TL;DR
- Across 520 Google Maps listings for "solar installer" in 26 US cities (October 2026), the median listing in spots 1 to 3 had 57.5 Google reviews, against 29.5 in spots 4 to 10 and 25 in spots 11 to 20.
- 27 of the 78 top-3 listings (34.6%) had fewer than 25 reviews, and in 7 cities (Boston, Newark, Sacramento, Chicago, Charlotte, Phoenix and Austin) the median top-3 listing had fewer than 25.
- 59 of the 78 top-3 listings (75.6%) used the primary category "Solar energy company"; listings categorized as "Solar energy equipment supplier" had a median of 4 reviews and were named by an AI 10.1% of the time.
- 71 of the 78 top-3 listings (91%) linked to a website, and of the 84 listings with no website, only 1 was named by any of the five AI assistants we tested.
- Holding the map pack did not carry over to AI answers: 23 of the 78 top-3 listings (29.5%) were named by at least one AI, and in 9 of the 26 cities none of the top 3 were named.
What the Google Maps top 3 looks like for solar installers
Google says local results are ranked on three things: relevance, distance and prominence, and that prominence includes review count and score (Tips to improve your local ranking on Google). Our data puts numbers on the prominence part for one trade. The top-3 listings in the 26 cities held a median of 57.5 Google reviews and a median rating of 4.9. 69.2% were rated 4.8 or higher, 30 of the 78 had a perfect 5.0, and 26 (33.3%) had 100 or more reviews.
The spread matters more than the median. The lowest-reviewed listing inside a city's top 3 had 1 review or fewer in 9 cities (Raleigh, Newark, Boston, Charlotte, Phoenix, Seattle, Atlanta, Minneapolis and San Diego), and 2 of the 78 top-3 listings had no reviews at all. At the other end, Raleigh's top 3 held a median of 588 reviews and the number one listing in San Diego had 1,580. The same search phrase produces a very different fight depending on the city.
Median Google reviews by Google Maps rank band for "solar installer"
The middle review count of listings in each rank band, across 26 US cities
The map top 3 held a median of 57.5 reviews, about double the 29.5 in spots 4 to 10 and the 25 in spots 11 to 20.
Source: Orkkid Solar AI Study, October 2026 (520 Google Maps listings: 78 in spots 1 to 3, 182 in 4 to 10, 260 in 11 to 20)
Rank and review count are related, but loosely. The number one listing was the most-reviewed listing in the city's top 20 in only 4 of 26 cities, and the top 3 contained the most-reviewed listing in only 6 cities. 65 of the 142 listings with 100 or more reviews sat in spots 11 to 20. Distance and relevance explain the rest: Google ranks for the searcher's location, so a well-reviewed installer across town can sit behind a small one nearby.
Median reviews, ratings and websites by map rank band
The table below splits the 520 listings into the three bands a homeowner actually sees: the map pack (spots 1 to 3), the first scroll (4 to 10) and the rest (11 to 20).
| Map rank band | Listings | Median Google reviews | Listings with 100+ reviews | Listings with under 25 reviews | Rated 4.8 or higher | Website linked | Named by at least one AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 78 | 57.5 | 26 (33.3%) | 27 (34.6%) | 69.2% | 91.0% | 29.5% |
| 4 to 10 | 182 | 29.5 | 51 (28.0%) | 83 (45.6%) | 63.2% | 81.3% | 30.2% |
| 11 to 20 | 260 | 25 | 65 (25.0%) | 127 (48.8%) | 53.8% | 83.5% | 18.1% |
Three things stand out. The share of listings rated 4.8 or higher falls steadily from the pack to the back of the list (69.2% to 53.8%), so rating quality is doing some work. The share with a website is highest in the pack (91%). And the AI naming rate is almost identical for spots 1 to 3 and 4 to 10, which is the first sign that the map pack and the AI shortlist are built on different inputs. Our companion post on how many Google reviews a solar company needs covers the review side in depth; the chart below is the summary, with a tab for map rank.
The more Google reviews a solar installer has, the more often AI names it
Share of Google Maps top-20 solar installers named by at least one AI, by review count
Installers with 500+ reviews were named 58.8% of the time, against 4.6% for those with under 25.
- Under 25 reviews4.6%
237 listings
- 25-9928.4%
141 listings
- 100-24945.1%
71 listings
- 250-49959.5%
37 listings
- 500+58.8%
34 listings
Source: Orkkid Solar AI Study, October 2026 (520 Google Maps listings in 26 cities)
City benchmarks: the solar map pack in 26 US markets
Use this table to set your target. "Median reviews" is the middle value of the three top listings, "lowest in top 3" shows how thin the pack gets, and the last two columns show how many of the three had a website and how many were named by at least one of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude or Google AI Mode when asked for the best solar installer in that city.
| City | Median reviews, map top 3 | Lowest reviews in top 3 | Median rating, top 3 | Top-3 listings with a website | Top-3 listings named by an AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh, NC | 588 | 0 | 4.95 | 3 | 2 |
| Tampa, FL | 287 | 42 | 4.9 | 2 | 1 |
| Las Vegas, NV | 234 | 29 | 4.9 | 3 | 1 |
| Tucson, AZ | 223 | 73 | 4.4 | 3 | 1 |
| Honolulu, HI | 215 | 127 | 4.9 | 3 | 3 |
| Orlando, FL | 208 | 29 | 4.8 | 3 | 1 |
| Baltimore, MD | 151 | 8 | 4.9 | 3 | 2 |
| Miami, FL | 87 | 3 | 5.0 | 2 | 0 |
| San Diego, CA | 87 | 1 | 4.8 | 3 | 1 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 81 | 1 | 4.9 | 3 | 1 |
| Dallas, TX | 80 | 10 | 4.8 | 3 | 1 |
| San Antonio, TX | 75 | 33 | 4.7 | 3 | 2 |
| Atlanta, GA | 70 | 1 | 4.9 | 3 | 2 |
| Denver, CO | 69 | 26 | 5.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Albuquerque, NM | 58 | 42 | 4.7 | 3 | 0 |
| Seattle, WA | 50 | 1 | 5.0 | 3 | 1 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 49 | 9 | 4.9 | 3 | 1 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 28 | 8 | 5.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Houston, TX | 26 | 12 | 5.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Austin, TX | 18 | 17 | 5.0 | 2 | 1 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 17 | 1 | 5.0 | 3 | 1 |
| Charlotte, NC | 12 | 1 | 4.7 | 2 | 1 |
| Chicago, IL | 9 | 2 | 5.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Sacramento, CA | 7 | 3 | 3.9 | 3 | 0 |
| Newark, NJ | 5 | 0 | 4.85 | 3 | 0 |
| Boston, MA | 4 | 1 | 5.0 | 2 | 0 |
The interactive version below adds the top-20 median and the installer the AIs agreed on most in each city. Search for your market or sort by any column.
Solar installer benchmarks in 26 US cities
Google reviews held by the top 3 map listings, and the installer most AIs agreed on
| Raleigh, North Carolina | 588 | 37.5 | 5.0 | NC Solar Now | 5 |
| Tampa, Florida | 287 | 134 | 4.7 | Florida Electric & Solar | 4 |
| Las Vegas, Nevada | 234 | 27 | 4.8 | Sol-Up | 3 |
| Tucson, Arizona | 223 | 64.5 | 4.8 | Net Zero Solar | 4 |
| Honolulu, Hawaii | 215 | 25 | 4.6 | Independent Energy Hawaii | 5 |
| Orlando, Florida | 208 | 35 | 4.9 | Goldin Solar | 4 |
| Baltimore, Maryland | 151 | 20 | 5.0 | Lumina Solar | 5 |
| San Diego, California | 87 | 8.5 | 5.0 | Stellar Solar | 4 |
| Miami, Florida | 87 | 56.5 | 5.0 | Goldin Solar | 4 |
| Minneapolis, Minnesota | 81 | 12 | 4.9 | All Energy Solar | 5 |
Source: Orkkid Solar AI Study, October 2026 (520 Google Maps listings, 130 AI answers)
The cities where the solar map pack is beatable
In 7 of the 26 cities, the median top-3 listing had fewer than 25 reviews, and in 19 cities it had fewer than 100. Two cities, Newark and Chicago, had all three top listings under 25 reviews, and 18 cities had at least one top-3 listing under 25. A solar company with 50 honest reviews, a complete profile and a verified address inside the city would have out-reviewed the median pack listing in 10 of these markets.
How many of the 26 cities have a beatable solar map pack?
Number of cities where the median review count of the Google Maps top 3 is below each threshold
In 7 of 26 cities the median top-3 listing had fewer than 25 Google reviews, and in 19 cities it had fewer than 100.
- Under 10 reviews4
Boston, Newark, Sacramento, Chicago
- Under 25 reviews7
Adds Charlotte, Phoenix, Austin
- Under 50 reviews10
Adds Houston, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City
- Under 100 reviews19
- Under 250 reviews24
- Under 500 reviews25
Only Raleigh (588) is above
Source: Orkkid Solar AI Study, October 2026 (78 top-3 Google Maps listings across 26 US cities)
A thin pack cuts both ways. In Boston the median top-3 listing had 4 reviews while the number one listing, EnergySage, had 1,033, and in Charlotte the number one listing had 1 review while the number two had 3,170. Google is mixing distance and relevance with prominence, so a low median tells you the pack is reachable, and the biggest listing in it tells you what the long-term ceiling looks like.
The category labels top solar listings use
Google's guidelines for representing your business say the primary category should describe the business as a whole and be as specific as possible. In our data, the top of the map is dominated by one label.
| Primary category | Listings in top 20 (of 520) | Listings in top 3 (of 78) | Median Google reviews | Named by at least one AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar energy company | 365 | 59 | 37 | 28.2% |
| Solar energy equipment supplier | 79 | 9 | 4 | 10.1% |
| Solar energy system service | 37 | 6 | 30 | 32.4% |
The remaining 39 listings were spread across labels such as Roofing contractor, General contractor, HVAC contractor and Electrician, and only 2 of them were named by an AI. Four top-3 spots were held by businesses that are not installers at all: a consumer advice center in Denver, a general contractor in Dallas, an engineering consultant in Raleigh and an energy advisory service in Albuquerque.
The "Solar energy equipment supplier" row is the one to notice. Those 79 listings had a median of 4 reviews and were named by an AI about a third as often as "Solar energy company" listings. We cannot tell from the data whether the category caused the weak results or whether thinner businesses happen to pick it, but if you install systems and your profile says "equipment supplier", you are in the weakest group in the sample.
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Holding the map pack does not get you named by AI
This is the finding that changes the plan. We asked ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Mode for the best solar installer in each of the 26 cities and matched every answer against the Maps top 20. Only 23 of the 78 top-3 listings (29.5%) were named by any of the five, and only 9 of the 26 number one listings were named. In 9 cities (Boston, Newark, Sacramento, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Denver and Miami) none of the top 3 were named by any AI. Honolulu was the only city where all three were.
Engine by engine, Claude named 17 of the 78 top-3 listings, Google AI Mode 14, Perplexity 13, ChatGPT 12 and Gemini 10. Looking at it from the answer side, Claude included at least one top-3 map listing in 50% of its answers, Perplexity in 42.3%, ChatGPT in 38.5%, Google AI Mode in 34.6% and Gemini in 30.8%. Across the whole study, 70.3% of the installers the AIs recommended were missing from the Maps top 20 entirely, which we cover in the solar installers AI recommends by city.
Inside the pack, reviews still separated the named from the unnamed. Of the 26 top-3 listings with 100 or more reviews, 15 were named; of the 27 top-3 listings with fewer than 25 reviews, 1 was named. The AIs also send homeowners back to the profile to check. Claude, in Minneapolis, told the homeowner to check "recent reviews on Google and the BBB, not just the rankings above", and Google AI Mode, in Baltimore, said homeowners "can check reviews and request consultations directly via platforms like Google Maps Search". Your profile is both the ranking asset and the place a skeptical homeowner is sent to verify an AI's pick.
The 10-step playbook for ranking a solar company on Google Maps
Each step below ties to a number from the 520 listings and to a Google help page. The order is the order we work in.
1. Benchmark your city before you set a target
The median top-3 review count ranged from 4 in Boston to 588 in Raleigh, so a national target is useless. Find your city in the table above, or search "solar installer" in Google Maps from an address inside the city and write down the review count, rating and category of the top three. Your first target is the median of those three; your second is the largest count in the pack, because that is the listing Google will keep returning for prominence.
2. Verify the profile and claim it from the real address
Google only ranks a verified profile, and its verification guide explains the video, postcard and phone options. Solar companies that work from a warehouse or a home office should set up as a service-area business under Google's guidelines rather than renting a mailbox, because a suspended profile loses every review it has. Distance is one of Google's three ranking factors, so the address or service area you verify decides which searches you can appear for at all.
3. Set the primary category to "Solar energy company"
59 of the 78 top-3 listings (75.6%) used "Solar energy company" as the primary category. Add "Solar energy system service" as a secondary category if you service and repair systems, and keep "Solar energy equipment supplier" as a secondary label at most, since listings using it as the primary category had a median of 4 reviews and were named by an AI 10.1% of the time. Add "Electrician" or "Roofing contractor" only if you hold those licenses and sell those services.
4. Use your real business name, with no city or keywords stuffed in
Google's guidelines say the name on the profile must match the name on your signage and legal paperwork, and names padded with locations or services are grounds for suspension. The data supports leaving the name alone: only 6 of the 78 top-3 listings contained the city name, and the 78.2% that contained the word "solar" did so because it is part of the brand. If you want the city in front of homeowners, put it in your website title and your service area, where Google wants it.
5. Get past 25 reviews, then chase your city's median
27 of the 78 top-3 listings had fewer than 25 reviews, and in 7 cities the median pack listing had fewer than 25, so the first milestone is small. The second milestone is the median from step 1, and the third is 100, the point where AI naming rates jumped in our review study. Send a direct review link on the day the system is switched on, ask every customer with the same message, and never offer anything in return, which breaks Google's Maps user-generated content policy. Our free Google review link generator builds the link in under a minute.
6. Protect the rating by replying to every review
69.2% of top-3 listings were rated 4.8 or higher, against 53.8% of listings in spots 11 to 20, and the median top-3 rating was 4.9. Google's guide to managing customer reviews explains how owners respond, flag policy violations and recover from mistakes, and homeowners read those replies when an AI sends them to the profile to verify a pick. Reply within a few days, name the specific job, and explain what you did when something went wrong.
7. Link a website that says the same things your profile says
91% of top-3 listings linked to a website, and of the 84 listings in the full sample with no website, 1 was named by an AI. The site itself needs to confirm the profile: same name, address and phone, the city in the homepage title, and a services page for each category you selected. In our audit of 335 reachable installer homepages, only 25.5% of top-3 sites carried the city in the title tag and 31.3% listed service areas, so this is an easy place to be ahead of the pack. The full list of signals is in our solar installer website study.
8. Add LocalBusiness structured data and keep it consistent with the profile
69.1% of top-3 installer sites had LocalBusiness or equivalent schema, against 65.1% of all reachable sites. Structured data is how Google confirms that the entity behind the profile and the site are the same business, and Google documents the fields in its local business structured data guide. Our free LocalBusiness schema generator produces the markup from your profile details; keep hours, address and phone identical in both places.
9. Fill the profile: services, service areas, photos, posts and Q&A
Relevance is Google's first ranking factor, and relevance is judged on the information in the profile. List every service you sell as a separate service item with a description (residential solar, battery storage, EV chargers, roof and solar, repairs), set the service area to the cities you actually serve, and add install photos from real jobs. Google's posts guide covers offers and updates; a post about the current federal credit status or a battery promotion gives the profile fresh content each month. Answer the questions homeowners ask in the Q&A section before someone else does.
10. Treat the map pack as the start, because AI shortlists are built elsewhere
Only 29.5% of top-3 listings were named by any AI, and in 9 of 26 cities none were. The engines built their shortlists mostly from solar review and quote sites, best-of lists and media, with EnergySage cited in 81.5% of the 130 answers. Once the profile is in shape, the next work is the review platforms and lists the AIs read, which we break down in the sites AI reads before recommending a solar installer, and the website signals that help an engine describe you, which is what generative engine optimization means for a solar company. Run your domain through the free AI citation checker to see where you stand today, and see how we put the pieces together on our SEO and GEO for solar companies page and in the solar company SEO guide.
How we got this data
On 7 and 8 October 2026, Orkkid pulled the Google Maps top 20 for the keyword "solar installer" in 26 US cities, with the city set as the search location, through the DataForSEO Google Maps API. For each of the 520 listings we recorded rank, business name, rating, review count, primary category and whether a website was linked. The cities were Denver, Austin, Phoenix, Charlotte, Seattle, Tampa, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Tucson, Boston, Newark, Baltimore, Chicago, Minneapolis and Honolulu.
- AI answers: on the same days we asked ChatGPT (gpt-5.5), Perplexity (sonar-pro), Gemini (gemini-3.8-flash) and Claude (claude-sonnet-5-5), all with web search on, "Who is the best solar installer in {City}, {State}? Give me your top picks." through the DataForSEO AI Optimization API, plus Google AI Mode for "best solar installer in {City}". That gave 130 answers.
- Matching: a Maps listing counts as named when any of the five assistants recommended that business in the same city. 125 of the 520 listings were named, 23 of them in the top 3.
- Website audit: we fetched the homepage of every listing with a website and checked 23 signals with a script; 335 homepages were reachable, 55 of them from top-3 listings.
- Statistics: medians are used throughout because review counts are skewed; listings with no reviews count as zero. Percentages are rounded to one decimal.
- Limits: this is one Maps pull per city and one run per prompt and engine, so it is a snapshot. Maps results shift with the searcher's exact location and time of day, and AI answers change from day to day. The data shows what the top listings have in common; it cannot prove which factor caused the ranking.
The full study, including engine-by-engine results, is in our AI recommendation study.
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Check my AI visibilityFAQ
How many Google reviews does a solar company need to rank in the Google Maps top 3?
It depends on the city. Across 26 US cities in October 2026, the median top-3 listing for "solar installer" had 57.5 Google reviews, but the city medians ranged from 4 in Boston to 588 in Raleigh. 27 of the 78 top-3 listings had fewer than 25 reviews. Check your city in the benchmark table and aim for its median first, then 100.
What Google Business Profile category should a solar installer use?
"Solar energy company" was the primary category on 59 of the 78 top-3 listings (75.6%) and on 365 of the 520 listings overall. "Solar energy system service" suits repair and maintenance work as a secondary category. Listings using "Solar energy equipment supplier" as the primary category had a median of 4 reviews and were named by an AI 10.1% of the time.
Does ranking in the Google Maps top 3 mean ChatGPT will recommend my solar company?
Usually not. Only 23 of the 78 top-3 listings (29.5%) were named by at least one of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude or Google AI Mode, and in 9 of the 26 cities none of the top 3 were named. The AIs built their shortlists mostly from review sites and best-of lists, with EnergySage cited in 81.5% of answers.
Does a solar company need a website to rank on Google Maps?
91% of top-3 listings linked to a website, against 81.3% in spots 4 to 10. A profile can exist without one, yet of the 84 listings with no website in our sample, only 1 was named by an AI, and the site is where Google confirms your name, address, services and service area.
Why does a solar company with 1 review rank above one with 3,000?
Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence together. In Charlotte the number one listing had 1 review and the number two had 3,170, which is distance and relevance outweighing prominence for that search location. The number one listing was the most-reviewed in its city's top 20 in only 4 of 26 cities.
How long does it take to rank a solar company on Google Maps?
Our data is a snapshot and cannot measure time. What it does show is the size of the gap: in 7 cities the median pack listing had fewer than 25 reviews, and in 19 cities fewer than 100, so a company that collects a review from every install can close the review gap within a season in most of the markets we checked, while the profile, category and website steps can be done in a week.
