Most owners have no idea how many people search for their service every month — or what a single click is worth. So we pulled the real numbers.
The last column is the Google Ads cost per click: what businesses pay for one visitor — whether that click was an accident, and whether or not the person ever buys from them.
Rank in search organically and naturally, and you earn those visitors without paying for a single click.
| Category | Searches / month | Busiest month | Ad cost / click |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | 1,000,000 | 1,220,000 | $0.54 |
| Dentists | 14,800 | 18,100 | $10.86 |
| Gyms & fitness | 9,900 | 14,800 | $1.47 |
| Plumbers | 8,100 | 14,800 | $39.68 |
| Chiropractors | 8,100 | 8,100 | $11.50 |
| Hair salons | 8,100 | 9,900 | $1.11 |
| Auto / car insurance | 6,600 | 18,100 | $123.50 |
| Dog groomers | 5,400 | 5,400 | $3.13 |
| Veterinarians | 4,400 | 5,400 | $6.64 |
| Auto repair | 4,400 | 5,400 | $4.96 |
| Daycares | 3,600 | 5,400 | $10.30 |
| Electricians | 3,600 | 4,400 | $28.11 |
| Personal injury lawyers | 3,600 | 6,600 | $144.69 |
| Garage door repair | 2,900 | 8,100 | $38.26 |
| Air conditioning repair | 2,900 | 6,600 | $40.87 |
| Roofers | 2,400 | 2,900 | $27.43 |
| Pest control | 2,400 | 3,600 | $28.36 |
| Movers | 2,400 | 4,400 | $21.28 |
| Car accident lawyers | 1,900 | 5,400 | $335.75 |
| Tree services | 1,900 | 2,400 | $13.22 |
| Handymen | 1,300 | 1,600 | $6.83 |
| Lawn care | 1,000 | 2,900 | $9.00 |
| Home insurance quote | 880 | 1,300 | $212.45 |
| Med spas | 880 | 1,000 | $5.76 |
| Painters | 880 | 1,000 | $12.95 |
| Landscapers | 720 | 1,600 | $14.95 |
Source: Google Ads search-volume data for the St. Louis, MO market (metro/DMA level), pulled September 2026. “Busiest month” is the highest month in the trailing year — demand is seasonal, so timing matters.
Here’s what those numbers really mean
Take car accident lawyers: about 1,900 searches a month here, and each click costs $173 on Google Ads. Or plumbers: 8,100 searches a month at $38 a click. That’s the market your competitors are paying to reach. The businesses that show up in those searches — in Google, on the map, and now in AI answers like ChatGPT and Copilot — win the customer. The ones that don’t are invisible, no matter how good they are.
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