LOCAL BENCHMARK · SPARSE
HVAC in Des Moines, IA.
Every business below was observed on Google Maps for "hvac repair" targeted at Des Moines. Review counts, ratings, and ranks are from the IMPIOUS benchmark snapshot (internal benchmark, Apr 2026).
MEDIAN REVIEWS — TOP 3
836
P25 — MIN TO COMPETE
18
AVG RATING — TOP 3
4.86
DENSITY TIER
SPARSE
TOP-3 MEDIAN REFERRING DOMAINS
257
TOP-3 MEDIAN DFS RANK
153
AI MENTIONS — TOP 3 CITED
2 / 3
AI PLATFORMS
GPT
| # | BUSINESS | REVIEWS | RATING | REF. DOMAINS | AI CITED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Moines Heating and Cooling | 18 | 4.8★ | — | cited |
| 1 | True Comfort Heating, Cooling and Plumbing | 1017 | 5.0★ | 248 | — |
| 2 | Midwest Comfort Heating & Cooling | 836 | 4.9★ | 257 | — |
| 2 | Des Moines Heating & Cooling | 18 | 4.7★ | — | cited |
| 3 | Holt Plumbing & Heating, Inc. | 3493 | 4.8★ | 502 | — |
| 4 | Des Moines Heating & Cooling, LLC | 693 | 4.9★ | — | — |
Market read
Des Moines's HVAC market shows an inverted quality signal: top-3 businesses average 4.86 ratings despite 25% spam rates and just 53/100 Google Business Profile completeness (internal benchmark, Apr 2026). The median top performer holds 836 reviews against a p25 entry floor of 18—a 46x gap typical of sparse markets where reputation compounds disproportionately. Top-3 review velocity averages 3.83 monthly submissions, while median referring domains reach 257 per competitor, with AI citations reinforcing two of Google's top-3 in ChatGPT responses. For p25 businesses, the path upward requires sustained review generation above market cadence and GBP profile optimization beyond current category norms. Backlink and citation presence differentiates tier placement more than absolute rating strength in this density tier.
See "The Review Gap Is Smaller Than Everyone Thinks" for the cross-city pattern and "What the Top-3 Actually Have on Their Backlink Profile" for the backlink + AI-citation breakdown.