Yelp vs. Thumbtack vs. Google LSA: where local-services leads actually convert in 2026
A live, opinionated breakdown of the three biggest local-services lead sources - cost per lead, conversion rates, integration depth, and which businesses each fits.
Terry Lennon
Founder, Responsebird
Every week we talk to an owner who is paying for two of these and getting almost nothing from one. The mistake is almost never the platform - it's a mismatch between the platform's intent model and the business's economics. Here's how to figure out which one (or two) actually deserve your budget.
Quick map
- Yelp: high intent, premium leads. Best for trades with $500+ average ticket. Painful if you can't respond in <10 minutes.
- Thumbtack: lower intent, broad volume. Best when your booking funnel is tight and you can qualify fast.
- Google LSA: highest intent, but capped supply in most markets. Always include - but don't expect it to be the whole answer.
Yelp leads close at >35% with sub-5-minute response and <8% past 30 minutes. The same lead is worth roughly 4× more on Yelp than Thumbtack if you have the response infrastructure.
Where Responsebird fits
We pull every source into one inbox and reply in under five seconds with the same intelligence behind each. So the question stops being 'which source is best?' and becomes 'which sources fit my margin model?' - which is the better question anyway.
Ready to put the playbook into production?
Responsebird replies, qualifies, and books - across every source you connect. Seven days free, no card required.