What Google has confirmed
Three things come from Google itself.
- The attribute exists. In May 2020, Google announced online attributes for Business Profiles and named online estimates as one of them, alongside online classes and online appointments.
- Attributes can affect where you appear. Google's help page on business attributes says adding some attributes may help your business show up in searches for places with those attributes.
- Not every business gets every attribute. The same page says some attributes can only be changed in certain locations, countries or categories, and Google's developer documentation says the list differs by category and country.
That is the whole of it. Google hasn't published a definition of an online estimate, a list of eligible categories, or how the filter in search results chooses businesses. Everything else you read about the filter, including the next section, is someone's observation.
What vendors and agencies report
Since December 2025, marketing agencies and software vendors began writing about an Online estimates filter at the top of local results for home service searches. Here is what three of them say.
| Source | Date | What they report |
|---|---|---|
| Demand IQ | Dec 16, 2025 | The filter sits at the top of results for searches like "HVAC contractor near me" and hides contractors that don't support online estimates. It ties the filter to the Business Profile attribute. It says guided questions with an immediate price range count, and a callback form doesn't. |
| AltaVista Strategic Partners | Jan 30, 2026 | The filter narrows local results to contractors offering online pricing or estimates on their sites or through digital tools. It advises keeping profile details consistent with the pricing on the website. |
| Footbridge Media | Feb 11, 2026 | Google hasn't made a formal announcement. In early tests, mentioning free estimates on a site was enough to appear. It doesn't mention the profile attribute. |
The reports name HVAC, roofing, plumbing, windows, solar and landscaping searches. Nobody outside Google knows the full list of trades or how often the filter shows.
How to turn on the attribute
Google's help page gives the same steps for every attribute:
- Sign in with the Google account that manages your Business Profile, and open the profile.
- Select Edit profile, then More.
- Find Online estimates in the attribute list and select Edit next to the group it's in.
- Set it to Yes and select Save.
Google reviews edits to verified profiles. Its help page on edits says a review usually takes about 10 minutes and can take up to 30 days, and an edit may not go live if Google can't confirm it's accurate.
If Online estimates isn't in your list, it may not be offered for your category or country. Don't switch categories to get it. Pick the category that describes your business.
What should count as an online estimate
Google hasn't drawn the line, so here is the one we'd hold a contractor site to. A homeowner should be able to get a price for their own job on your website, without waiting for a call back.
| On your site | Online estimate? |
|---|---|
| A price range for the homeowner's own house, from their address and a few questions | Yes |
| A calculator that turns their measurements into a price | Yes |
| A published price list for fixed jobs | Yes, for those jobs |
| A form that says "free estimate" and promises a call | No. It's a request for an estimate. |
| A scheduler for an in-person visit | No |
Demand IQ's report draws a similar line. Whatever Google ends up checking, a homeowner who filtered for online estimates expects to see a number.
A range works better than a single price for exterior jobs. The final price depends on things nobody can see from the street, like rot behind a gutter or the number of paint layers. A range for their own house tells the homeowner what to budget and leaves room for what you find on site.
Put a real estimate on your website
For exterior work, the price depends on the house. A per-foot number means little to a homeowner who doesn't know how many feet of gutter they have. The estimate that holds up is one built from their own roof.
Measured Bid's instant quote widget does that for gutters, painting, siding, roofing, permanent lighting, Christmas lights and pressure washing. The homeowner types their address, confirms the house, answers two or three questions and sees a price range built from your rates. Their contact details come to you as a lead with the measurements attached.
What the homeowner sees on your site
Your rates, your brand. The widget wears your colors and uses your price sheet. Homeowners don't see a Measured Bid badge.
A range, not a bait number. The range widens when the roof data is less clear.
No dead ends. When an address has no roof data, the widget offers a visit request instead of a price.
Install it with the WordPress plugin or the embed code on any site builder. The sample above uses the sample house and sample rates. Try it on a real address.
Keep it consistent and track it
- Make the estimate easy to find. If your profile links to your home page, put the widget on that page or one click away.
- Match what the profile says. If the profile says online estimates, the trades you estimate online should match the services on your profile.
- Tag the profile link. Add UTM tags to the website link in your Business Profile so those visits show up as their own source in your analytics.
- Carry the source into the lead. The Measured Bid WordPress plugin passes UTM tags and Google Ads click IDs into each lead, so you can see which leads came from your profile.
Give it a month, then compare. Look at how many leads came from the profile link before and after, and how many of them asked for a visit after seeing a price. If the numbers don't move, the filter may not be showing for your searches yet, or the estimate may be too hard to find on the page.
What to avoid
- Turning the attribute on with no estimate on the site. Google says edits it can't confirm may not go live, and a homeowner who finds only a contact form has a reason to go back to the results.
- A bait price. A "starting at" number that doesn't match the job costs you trust when the real price comes in. Show a range for their house and say what can move it.
- Hiding the price behind the form. If the homeowner has to give a phone number before seeing a price, it reads as a lead form. Measured Bid shows the range before the contact form.