Profit Acuity's new report shows contractors still win most leads through referrals, but online research and AI search now shape which contractor homeowners actually call in 2026.
-- Profit Acuity has released a report examining how contractors and home service businesses generate leads, and the central finding runs counter to a common assumption. Referrals remain the top source of new business, but a personal recommendation no longer guarantees the call. Homeowners now run an online check before they pick up the phone, and that step is reshaping how contractors need to show up.
More information on how do contractors get leads is available in the full guide on the Profit Acuity site.
Research from Buildertrend indicates that most builders still generate the majority of their work through referrals and word-of-mouth. A separate Roofing Contractor and Owens Corning survey found that 74% of homeowners would follow a recommendation from a neighbor, friend, or family member. Referrals still carry the most weight, but the report notes that more than 60% of homeowners who receive one still research that contractor online, with half of them starting the process with a Google search. A referral opens the door; what a homeowner finds afterward decides whether it closes.
The report also points to a newer factor in that research phase: AI search. In 2026, 11% of roofing customers said they used an AI search tool to find a contractor, a category that did not appear on the survey the year before. That figure signals how quickly homeowners are folding AI tools into a discovery process that once ran through search engines and word of mouth alone.
Taken together, the findings suggest that homeowners frequently compare several contractors online before making a decision, whether they arrived through a referral, a search, or an AI query. A complete Google Business Profile and a website that answers common questions can determine which contractor gets the call when a referral is being verified or an AI tool is asked for a recommendation, and response time also factors into the outcome since a slow follow-up can undo the advantage of showing up well online.
Profit Acuity built its approach around this shifting market reality. The company provides a Precision Profit Plan, a 12-month revenue roadmap built on more than 500 data points covering search visibility, referral patterns, and AI presence for a given business. Rather than deploying tactics across the board, the company applies only what the data supports for each contractor and bills much of that work on performance rather than flat fees.
Contractors and home service business owners weighing their 2026 lead generation strategy can use the report's findings as a starting point. Checking how a business appears in referral-driven searches, standard Google results, and AI search queries provides a clearer picture of where leads are being won or lost. Profit Acuity encourages business owners to request a Precision Profit Plan to build a roadmap grounded in their own data rather than guesswork.
For more information about Profit Acuity and its approach to lead generation for contractors, visit the Authority Content System.
Contact Info:
Name: Bryon Wenrich
Email: Send Email
Organization: Profit Acuity
Address: Concord Drive, Center Valley, PA 18034, United States
Phone: +1-877-624-1229
Website: https://profitacuity.com/authority-content-system/
Source: NewsNetwork
Release ID: 89204719
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