We analyzed 259 HVAC companies across 13 cities using the Google Places API. The numbers tell a clear story, but probably not the one you’d expect.
The average HVAC company in our dataset has 2,003 reviews and a 4.85 star rating. Every single company rated between 4.0 and 5.0 stars. Only 1.2% had fewer than 10 reviews. Just 3.1% had no website at all.
In other words, most HVAC companies have already won the ratings game. They have the stars. They have the volume. HVAC ranks third in average review count of any vertical we studied, behind only restaurants (3,880) and plumbers (1,442).
So what’s the problem? The problem is what happens after the reviews come in. Almost nobody is responding. And that silence is costing them jobs every week.
Your ratings are strong. Your response rate is the gap.
When nearly every competitor has a 4.8+ rating and hundreds of reviews, ratings alone stop being a differentiator. The homeowner scrolling through “HVAC near me” at 2 PM on a Saturday in July sees a wall of 4.8s and 4.9s. What makes one company stand out isn’t the stars. It’s whether someone at that company is actually paying attention.
According to ACHR News industry data, 73.9% of homeowners consult online reviews before choosing an HVAC company. And Podium’s 2024 consumer survey found that 92% of consumers require a minimum 4-star rating before they’ll even consider a business. With every HVAC company in our dataset clearing that bar, the deciding factor shifts to engagement: who responds, and who stays silent.
Invoca’s 2024 data backs this up: businesses rated 4 stars and above generate 32% more revenue than those below. The rating gets you in the game. The response activity is what wins it.
What HVAC customers actually complain about on Google
FIELDBOSS surveyed HVAC customers in 2025 and broke down the most common complaints in negative reviews:
- 21% cite costs higher than the original estimate
- 13% cite the technician arriving late
- 7.1% cite the problem not being fixed on the first visit
Look at that list. Not one of those complaints is about equipment quality. Not one is about a catastrophic failure. They’re about communication, timing, and expectations. Things you can address in a two sentence response.
A customer who writes “they charged me $400 more than the quote” isn’t necessarily wrong. Maybe the job was more complicated once your tech opened up the unit. But when that review sits there with no reply, every future customer reads it and assumes the worst: this company overcharges and doesn’t care.
A response that says “We understand how frustrating unexpected costs are. The additional work was due to [specific reason], and we’d welcome the chance to walk through the invoice with you” changes the entire story. The complaint stays. But the silence disappears. And silence is what kills you.
The three HVAC review situations that cost you the most jobs
“Technician showed up 2 hours late with no call.”
Without a response, a prospective customer reads this and thinks: if they can’t show up on time and don’t bother calling, what happens when my furnace dies in January? With a response that says “We apologize for the delay and the lack of communication. That’s not how we operate and we’ve addressed this with our dispatch team. Please call our office directly at [number] if there’s anything else we can help with.” Now the prospect sees a company that holds itself accountable.
“Charged $400 more than the original estimate.”
No response: this company will rip you off. Response: “Thank you for your feedback. The additional cost resulted from [specific finding during the job]. We should have communicated that more clearly before proceeding, and we’d like to make this right. Please reach out to our office so we can review the invoice together.” Now the prospect sees a company that explains its pricing and wants to fix the problem.
“They came out twice and the AC still isn’t working right.”
No response: they don’t know what they’re doing. Response: “We’re sorry to hear the issue isn’t fully resolved. Intermittent problems can sometimes require additional diagnosis, and we want to get this right for you. We’ll be reaching out directly to schedule a follow up at no additional charge.” That’s a company the prospect would actually trust with their own system, because they clearly stand behind their work.
In every case, the complaint stays visible. But the response controls what the next 200 people think when they read it.
HVAC reviews compound across seasons
Here’s something most HVAC companies don’t think about: your summer reviews carry you through winter, and your winter reviews carry you through summer.
Peak season is when you get the most reviews. It’s also when you’re least likely to respond, because every tech is booked and the phones won’t stop. So the reviews pile up, unanswered, right when the most people are searching.
Then the off season hits. Search volume drops. But the people searching during shoulder months are planning bigger jobs: full system replacements, maintenance contracts, efficiency upgrades. They’re reading more carefully and paying closer attention to how you handle complaints.
An active profile with thoughtful responses during peak season keeps you ranking when demand dips. Google rewards engagement. More responses lead to better rankings, which lead to more calls, which lead to more reviews. The companies that go dark on reviews every summer are handing that compounding advantage to the competitor who doesn’t.
The real cost of “I’ll get to it later”
Every HVAC owner we talk to knows they should be responding to reviews. It never gets done because you’re running trucks, managing techs, quoting jobs, and trying to keep the schedule from falling apart. That’s not a motivation problem. It’s a bandwidth problem.
With 2,003 reviews on average and more coming in every week, the response gap only grows. And in a vertical where ratings are nearly identical across competitors, the company that actually engages with its reviews is the one that stands out.
If your team is out on jobs all day and review responses keep falling to the bottom of the list, that’s the problem ReplyProof was built to fix. Every review, responded to the same day. In your voice. So your profile works for you even when your crew is on a roof in August.
Related reading:
Reviews data by city
See how HVAC companies compare in specific markets:
Methodology: Data from 259 HVAC businesses surveyed via Google Places API, April 2026.
Sources: ACHR News, HVAC Industry Review Compilations 2024 · FIELDBOSS, 2025 HVAC Customer Survey · Podium, Consumer Review Survey 2024 · Invoca, Home Services Marketing Data 2024 · BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2024 and 2026