Guides

Yelp for Contractors: Ads, Request a Quote and Review Rules

How HVAC, plumbing, electrical and roofing shops should use Yelp: the free page, Request a Quote, what Yelp Ads cost, Verified License and Yelp Guaranteed, and why you shouldn't ask for Yelp reviews.

Ijharul Islam October 21, 2026 9 min read

Yelp for contractors, in short: claim the free Business Page, turn on Request a Quote (free to set up) and answer every request within minutes. Yelp Ads start from $150 a month on Yelp's pricing page and charge per click up to a monthly budget you set. Don't ask customers for Yelp reviews: Yelp's rules forbid it, and its software may hide prompted reviews.

More on this topic: Marketing, leads and reviews, every guide in one place.

Yelp works differently from Google for a trade business. Google lets you ask every customer for a review; Yelp doesn't let you ask anyone. Yelp sells ads by the click, while its quote requests are free to receive. And a homeowner can send one project to several shops at once. This guide covers what a small HVAC, plumbing, electrical or roofing shop should set up for free, what Yelp's paid products cost according to Yelp's own pages, and how to tell whether ads are paying off.

Key takeaways

The free page is worth claiming. You can update details, respond to reviews and messages, and receive quote requests at no cost.
Request a Quote is free to set up. Requests land in your Yelp inbox with the customer's answers; some go to several businesses at once, so speed wins.
Yelp Ads: from $150 a month, charged per click at a price that moves with demand, never above the monthly budget you set. No term contract.
Never ask for Yelp reviews. Yelp's policy says don't ask anyone, and its software tries to spot and not recommend requested reviews.
Judge ads on cost per booked job, not clicks.

Is Yelp worth it for contractors?

The free page is worth it for almost every shop; paid ads depend on your town and trade. Yelp's reach varies a lot by market, so the only reliable answer is what you measure. A sensible order:

Claim and complete the free page.
Turn on Request a Quote and answer every request fast for 60 days.
Only then test Yelp Ads for two or three months with a budget you can afford to lose, and track cost per booked job.

How do you set up a Yelp Business Page as a contractor?

Claim the page and use your real business name, phone and website, matching your Google Business Profile.
Pick specific categories (plumbing, heating and air conditioning, electricians, roofing) and the services you want calls for.
Set your service area and true hours, including how emergencies are handled.
Add real photos of trucks, team and finished jobs, with short captions.
Write the “From the business” section in plain words: what you do, where, since when, licensed and insured.
Turn on Request a Quote and notifications, so requests reach a phone, not just a desktop inbox.

How does Yelp Request a Quote work?

A homeowner taps the button on your page (for a plumber it may read “Get pricing & availability”), answers trade-specific questions, and the request lands in your Yelp for Business inbox, with an email alert if you enable it. Yelp says it's free to set up. Yelp also lets consumers start a project that goes to several businesses that can do the job, which turns those requests into a race. Yelp offers a Leads API and a Zapier app to move requests into other software.

Answer with something useful in your first reply: a price range, two time slots and one question. “Thanks, Maria. Most water heater replacements like yours run $X to $Y installed. I can come Thursday at 9 or 1 to confirm. Is it gas or electric?” Our speed to lead guide has follow-up texts for the ones that go quiet.

How much does Yelp advertising cost?

Product	Price on Yelp's pages	What you get
Business Page	Free	Your listing, quote requests, replies to reviews and messages
Yelp Ads	From $150/month	Ad spots above and below search results and on competitors' pages; location and keyword targeting
Upgrade Package	$180/month	Page upgrades such as offers, and no competitor ads on your page
Ads + Upgrade Package	From $270/month	Both, plus the option to show a Verified License badge
Yelp Guaranteed	No cost to the business, per Yelp	Customers who hire through Request a Quote may be covered up to a $2,500 lifetime maximum

Inside the budget, Yelp charges per click. Its help center says the price per click changes with competition, ad inventory and consumer interest, so daily spend varies, but you're never charged more than your monthly budget. Yelp says you can spend as little as $5 a day on average and edit or cancel any time. Yelp doesn't publish a set click price for your trade; ask your rep for the expected cost per click and lead in your ZIPs before you sign up.

Verified License is a paid add-on in certain categories and regions: Yelp's moderators check your trade license against the issuing authority, which can take up to five business days. Yelp Guaranteed badges may be shown for businesses with Yelp Ads and Request a Quote on; coverage includes things like unsatisfactory work and fees outside a written quote, subject to Yelp's terms.

Can contractors ask customers for Yelp reviews?

No. Yelp's support page is blunt: don't ask anyone to review your business, including customers, mailing lists, friends and family. Don't ask after a survey, don't let staff compete for reviews, and don't offer freebies or discounts. Yelp's software tries to identify requested reviews and not recommend them, and Yelp may put a Consumer Alert on your page if it finds paid reviews. Yelp says the recommendation software is automated and treats advertisers and non-advertisers the same.

Practice	Yelp	Google	FTC rule (16 CFR 465)
Ask every customer for an honest review	Not allowed	Allowed	Allowed
Ask only happy customers	Not allowed	Not allowed	Could be deceptive
Discount or gift for a review	Not allowed	Not allowed	Banned if tied to a positive review
Threaten a reviewer to remove a review	Consumer Alert possible	Not allowed	Banned

So keep your review asks for Google, where asking everyone the same way is allowed, and let Yelp reviews come on their own. Our guide to getting more Google reviews has the templates.

How do you get more Yelp reviews without asking?

Complete the page. Customers who look you up there are the ones who leave reviews.
Be easy to find. Link to your Yelp page from your website, the same way you list other profiles. That's information, not a request.
Do memorable work. On-time arrival, booties, a clean site and a clear price are what Yelp reviewers write about.
Reply to the reviews you get. Readers notice owners who answer.

How should you respond to Yelp reviews?

Reply from your free Business Page, calmly and briefly, and write for the next reader. Thank the reviewer, state the issue in neutral words, give one sentence of context at most, and offer a direct number. Never threaten legal action over an honest review: Yelp runs a Questionable Legal Threats alert, and the FTC rule bans groundless legal threats used to suppress reviews.

“Tom, thanks for telling us. The first visit didn't fix the leak, and you shouldn't have had to call twice. Please call me at [number] so I can make it right. - Dana, owner”

More scripts are in how to handle customer complaints.

How do you tell if Yelp Ads are paying off?

Track four numbers each month: ad spend, leads (calls, quote requests, website clicks), booked jobs, and gross profit from those jobs. Then compute cost per booked job. Example, with made-up round numbers:

Line	Example month
Yelp Ads spend	$600
Leads from Yelp	20
Booked jobs (30% of leads)	6
Cost per booked job	$600 ÷ 6 = $100
Average gross profit per job	$250
Profit after ad cost	6 × $250 − $600 = $900

If cost per booked job is below what you earn per job, keep going; if not, fix response speed first, then cut the budget. Compare the same numbers with your other channels, like Google Local Services Ads and Angi leads.

Where CrewRobin fits

CrewRobin has no Yelp integration, and its review request goes to your Google page only: one text once an invoice is paid in full. That fits Yelp's rules, since nothing asks for a Yelp review. Where it helps with Yelp is the phone: when a homeowner finds you there and calls, the AI receptionist answers 24/7 and books the job, and a missed call gets a text back within a minute. Quote requests sent inside Yelp still need an answer from your Yelp inbox.

Frequently asked questions

Is Yelp free for contractors?

Yes, the Business Page is free: you can update your details, respond to reviews and messages, and receive Request a Quote leads. Ads and page upgrades cost extra.

How much does Yelp advertising cost for contractors?

Yelp's pricing page lists Yelp Ads from $150 a month, the Upgrade Package at $180 a month and both from $270 a month. Ads are charged per click at a varying price, never above your monthly budget.

Can I ask customers to review me on Yelp?

No. Yelp's policy says not to ask anyone for reviews, and its software may not recommend reviews that look requested. Ask for Google reviews instead, the same way for every customer.

What is Yelp Request a Quote?

A free button on your Yelp page that lets homeowners send a project request with trade-specific answers to your Yelp inbox. Some requests go to several businesses, so reply fast.

Why are my Yelp reviews not recommended?

Yelp's automated software doesn't recommend reviews it sees as less reliable, such as those from less active users, from one IP address, or that look requested by the business.

Put it to work this week

Answer every call from Yelp, Google or your website, day or night. CrewRobin is free until your first 10 booked jobs, no card up front. Start free or see pricing.

Sources

Figures from outside CrewRobin were checked against these pages in October 2026. Most industry benchmarks come from vendors and agencies, so treat them as ranges, not rules.

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