South Bay plumbing
This map shows how the plumbing shops across South Bay show up on Google Maps — the visibility that decides who gets the call — so you can compare your shop to the market and see where the openings are.
PUBLIC MARKET INTELLIGENCE — AGGREGATED FROM OBSERVABLE SOURCES165 Businesses analyzed · 163 with visibility measurements · 98.8% market completeness — see How we measured this.
The big picture — 3 things this data says
How the market scores
The Territory Score (0–100) measures map visibility, competitive position, and public trust (rating + review count) — the same grid measurements that build this map, scored identically for every measured shop, so your private score is directly comparable to the market median. Across 163 measured businesses the middle 50% sit between 21 and 28 (full range 0–47). 0% score above 60; 95.1% score below 40.
Website quality is scored separately in the private Scorecard, so it never blurs the market comparison. Scores measure relative position in this territory's competitive field — in a fragmented market even the strongest observed company can sit near the middle of the 0–100 scale. It is a market-position measure, not a school grade.
Score distribution
Each bar counts businesses whose score falls in that range. A score averages the signals we could measure for that business; where a signal was unavailable, the score uses the signals observed.
Google Maps visibility
Visibility in the map pack — the top-three Google Maps results — decides who gets the call. We check a grid of locations across the territory and record where each business appears.
Top-3 coverage — the share of checked locations where a business appears in Google's top three map results. Top-10 — first page of map results. Average best position — among appearances, the average best rank reached (lower is better). Coverage = share of checked map points where the business appears in the top N. Measured on a standardized grid per territory.
Where competition is strongest
Google Maps competition across South Bay.
Fewer shops in the Top 3 → more whitespace. 44 checked locations with complete returns (each cycle checks 49 locations × 5 search intents — see How we measured this). Each circle is one location where we checked Google Maps rankings. The number shows how many different businesses held a Top-3 position. More businesses fighting for the Top 3 means stronger competition. Checked locations only — not every spot in the territory.
| # | Area | Avg Top-3 | Avg Top-10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Otay Ranch | 5% | 11% |
| 2 | Chula Vista | 5% | 12% |
| 3 | Otay Mesa | 5% | 11% |
| 4 | Eastlake | 5% | 11% |
| 5 | National City | 4% | 9% |
| 6 | San Ysidro | 4% | 10% |
| 7 | Bonita | 3% | 12% |
| 8 | Imperial Beach | 3% | 11% |
| 9 | Coronado | 2% | 7% |
Median share of checked points per area where a measured business appeared in Google's top three (or top ten) map results. Areas where stronger competitors cluster are harder to appear in. Median Top-3 per area is 0% in this market — the typical shop holds no top-three slot anywhere; averages show where visibility concentrates.
Where the searches are
Estimated monthly searches for a fixed set of local service terms, by area — 2,380 searches/mo across the checked areas.
| Area | Est. searches/mo | Biggest single term | Ad cost per click |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chula Vista | 1,760 | plumber · 1,600/mo | $47.70 |
| Coronado | 290 | plumber · 260/mo | $47.22 |
| National City | 210 | plumber · 170/mo | $64.31 |
| Imperial Beach | 120 | plumber · 110/mo | $87.48 |
Cost per click is what shops pay Google for one ad click on that search. These are demand averages for the checked terms — they show where customers search, not a promise of work.
The openings in this market
This page shows the whole market. Request Your Territory Scorecard — your shop scored on this same data: your score, the points you hold, and the gaps around you.
Get My Territory ScorecardMarket leaders
Leaders are ranked by measured public metrics only. Position in these lists is not a claim about service quality.
Highest Territory Score
| 1 | Above and Beyond Drains & Plumbing, Inc | 47.1 |
| 2 | Premier Rooter & Plumbing Inc | 45.8 |
| 3 | California Plumbing | 44.4 |
Based on 163 measured businesses.
Highest top-3 map-pack coverage
| 1 | Eastlake Plumbing | 28.6% |
| 2 | Friar's Plumbing Heating and AC Repair | 26.5% |
| 3 | Above and Beyond Drains & Plumbing, Inc | 24.5% |
Based on 163 measured businesses.
Largest public review count
| 1 | Elite Rooter Plumbers | 2713 |
| 2 | Core Plumbing | 1410 |
| 3 | Rooter Hero Plumbing of San Diego | 1216 |
Based on 159 measured businesses.
Who else ranks
The map pack is not the whole game. Directories and review sites (like Yelp) plus AI-answer lists sit between local shops and the customer in the organic results. Across 5 checked keywords, directories and review sites hold 19% of the top-10 organic slots; local shops and franchises hold 10%.
- ■Top-10 organic slots — local shops 4 · franchises/nationals 0 · directories/aggregators 8 · unclassified 30.
- ■Google showed an AI overview for 0 of 5 checked keywords.
- ■Google put its own boxes above shops on 5 of 5 checked searches — map packs 15 · question boxes 5 · featured snippets 0.
Frequent non-shop domains: yelp.com · thumbtack.com · angi.com
Local shops that crack the organic top-10: bobtheplumbersd.com · coastalrooterca.com
Organic web results, checked keywords only, point-in-time — measured alongside the Maps grid. Unclassified slots are domains not yet grouped; the directory and shop counts above are the confirmed minimums. Get My Territory Scorecard to see where your shop fits in this picture.
What changed this month
This map is the first measured baseline (August 2026). From the next refresh on, this section lists what moved: shops that showed up, shops that dropped out, review swings, and visibility shifts.
Compared against the previous measured period only — no guessing between checks.
AI answers on Google
We checked the 5 ways customers most often search for plumbing help in this territory. Google showed its own AI answer on 0 of 5 (September 2026). Same as the last check (August 2026).
Google's AI answer box on the checked searches only — other AI tools are not measured. Point-in-time fact, not a prediction. When an AI answer shows up, we record which sites it cites — that list is one of the first places future customers may look.
Partnership slots in this county
Radical Red Rocket works with one plumbing shop and one HVAC shop per territory — that is company policy, 0 of 10 slots spoken for today. Open means no active partnership right now.
The maps, Scorecards, and reviews stay open to every shop — the partnership slot is the only limited thing. Get My Territory Scorecard to see where your shop stands first.
What most shops are missing
These are the most common observable gaps across the measured market — each one is a place a shop can lose customers to a competitor who simply shows up better.
How we measured this
- ■Territory: South Bay (San Diego County, CA). Trade: plumbing.
- ■Data collected August 2026 (2026-08-26 – 2026-08-29).
- ■Businesses considered: 165 analyzed of the valid market; market completeness 98.8%.
- ■Maps grid: 49 locations × 5 search intents = 245 point-keyword checks per cycle; 44 locations with complete returns are shown on the map.
- ■Scores use one public-signal model applied identically to every measured shop; shops are ranked against the measured market (groups under 5 are flagged, never published as precise claims).
- ■Full grid-based visibility measurements were completed for 163 of the 165 analyzed businesses this period; profile and website signals cover all analyzed businesses where observable.
- ■Re-checked as new periods close — this edition covers August 2026; the next edition replaces these numbers when the new grid lands.
Sources
- Google Maps visibility checks at standardized points across the territory
- Public business profiles (ratings, review counts, photos, status)
- Public website observation (pages, forms, speed, mobile experience)
- A standardized public-signal scoring model (Territory Score, 0–100)
What this report cannot see
This report shows the market. Your Territory Scorecard shows where your shop fits inside it — the map and your score in one report, with a Website Grader alongside.
Get My Territory Scorecard