Thumbtack vs Angi vs Houzz: which do AI assistants actually use?
By Matvei Belov, founder of Glowsearch · Updated
Thumbtack, Angi and Houzz all sell you leads or visibility. There's a newer question too: when a homeowner asks ChatGPT or Google's AI Mode for "a good kitchen remodeler in Denver", which of these sites do the assistants link? We collected about 450 AI answers about remodelers, movers and injury lawyers in 2026 and counted. The answer depends a lot on which assistant your customers use.
The short version
- Houzz is linked most overall. For remodeler questions, it was linked in 34% of AI answers, mostly by ChatGPT and Gemini.
- Thumbtack is Google AI Mode's pick. AI Mode linked it in 38% of its October remodeler answers and 29% of its injury-lawyer answers. ChatGPT almost never did.
- Angi sits in the middle: linked in about 18% of remodeler answers, on all three assistants.
- Yelp shows up only on AI Mode. ChatGPT and Gemini didn't link it once in our answers.
- Costs: Thumbtack and Angi charge per lead, Houzz Pro is a monthly subscription. None publishes a rate card for leads, so the price you'd pay is the one in your own account.
Which do AI assistants link most: Thumbtack, Angi or Houzz?
For home remodelers, across 191 answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Mode in September and October 2026:
| Site | Share of remodeler answers linking it |
|---|---|
| Houzz | 34% |
| Angi | 18% |
| Thumbtack | 17% |
| HomeAdvisor | 8% |
| BBB | 8% |
| Yelp | 5% |
September: Denver and Kansas City, 72 answers from ChatGPT and AI Mode. October: Denver, Charlotte, Tampa and Phoenix, 119 answers from all three. "Linking" means the site was among the answer's links. We left out September's Gemini answers because our collector then missed most of Gemini's links.
The totals hide the real story, which is that each assistant has its favourite.
Which sites does each AI assistant link for remodelers?
| ChatGPT | Gemini | Google AI Mode | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houzz | 35% | 50% | 18% |
| Thumbtack | 3% | 10% | 38% |
| Angi | 13% | 13% | 13% |
| HomeAdvisor | 10% | 3% | 0% |
| Yelp | 0% | 0% | 13% |
October 2026, about 40 remodeler answers per assistant in Denver, Charlotte, Tampa and Phoenix. September, in Denver and Kansas City, showed the same order: ChatGPT linked Houzz in 22 of 36 answers and Angi in 12; AI Mode linked Thumbtack in 10 and Angi in 8.
ChatGPT and Gemini lean on Houzz. Houzz has a profile, photos and reviews for most remodelers, and both assistants linked it far more than any other directory. ChatGPT also linked state licence lookups and BBB pages.
Google's AI Mode leans on Thumbtack. It linked Thumbtack in 38% of its remodeler answers and Houzz in 18%. It was also the only assistant to link Yelp.
Angi is steady but second. About one answer in eight on every assistant linked it.
Does it change by trade?
A lot. Thumbtack and Angi barely appeared outside home services, with one exception: AI Mode linked Thumbtack in 11 of its 38 answers about personal injury lawyers, more than any legal directory. In the other trades we checked, different sites led:
| Trade | Sites linked most |
|---|---|
| Moving companies | MoveBuddha, linked in 26 of ChatGPT's 36 mover answers. Thumbtack and Angi in 2 each of the 72 ChatGPT and AI Mode mover answers |
| Personal injury lawyers | Super Lawyers, Avvo, Justia; Thumbtack on AI Mode only |
| Med spas | RealSelf; booking pages on Vagaro and Zenoti on AI Mode |
| Dentists | Zocdoc, and the practices' own sites |
| Auto repair shops, tattoo studios | Yelp on AI Mode only (10–11% of answers); Carfax for auto repair on ChatGPT |
| Hair salons | Birdeye's review pages on ChatGPT; Yelp in 2% of answers |
So "is Thumbtack worth it for AI visibility" is mostly a question for home-service pros whose customers use Google.
How do Thumbtack, Angi and Houzz charge?
- Thumbtack charges pros per lead. You set your services, area and budget, and the price of a lead depends on the job.
- Angi sells leads through Angi Leads (formerly HomeAdvisor), paid per lead, and advertising through Angi Ads.
- Houzz sells Houzz Pro, a monthly software subscription for remodelers and designers with project tools and a profile, and sells advertising on Houzz separately.
- Yelp lists businesses free and sells ads on top.
None of the three publishes a table of lead prices. Lead costs vary by trade, job size and market, and you see them inside your account. Third-party guides quote very different numbers, so we're not repeating them here.
One history note: in 2023 the US Federal Trade Commission finalized an order requiring HomeAdvisor to pay up to $7.2 million to service providers, after alleging it misled them about the quality of its leads. The order bars false or misleading claims about its leads, including how often they turn into jobs. Read any lead platform's refund terms before you commit.
Is Thumbtack worth it?
It depends on your numbers, not ours. For leads, work it out from your own account: what a lead costs in your trade and area, what share of leads become jobs, and what a job is worth. If a lead costs $50 and one in five becomes a $2,000 job, that's $250 to win $2,000. If one in twenty does, it's $1,000.
For AI visibility, our data adds one thing: if your customers use Google, Thumbtack is the directory AI Mode linked most for both remodelers and injury lawyers. A complete Thumbtack profile with reviews may help you get named there, even if the leads alone don't pay.
Is Angi worth it?
The same sum applies to Angi's leads. For AI visibility, Angi showed up on all three assistants, in about one remodeler answer in eight, which no other marketplace did as evenly. If you're on it, keep the profile complete and your reviews coming.
Is Houzz worth it for contractors?
For AI visibility, Houzz was the site linked most for remodelers: by ChatGPT in 35% of its answers and Gemini in half. A complete Houzz profile, with project photos and reviews, is the first directory to get right if you remodel, build or design. Whether Houzz Pro's subscription or its advertising pays is a separate question, and depends on what you get from it beyond the profile.
What should a contractor do?
- Claim and complete your Houzz profile. It's what ChatGPT and Gemini link most for remodelers.
- Have a Thumbtack profile if your customers use Google, with your services, area, photos and reviews. Decide on paid leads by your own lead-to-job rate.
- Keep Angi and Yelp profiles accurate. They're linked less, but by more assistants (Angi) or by AI Mode (Yelp).
- Keep your licence and BBB listing current. ChatGPT links them.
- Get Google reviews. In our study of 2,035 businesses, businesses with more reviews were named much more often.
- Check your own questions. Ask ChatGPT and AI Mode what your customers ask, and look at the links. Directories differ by city too.
Glowsearch does step 6 for you every week, from $19.99 a month: it asks your customers' questions on ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Mode, shows which directories each one links for you and your competitors, and lists the ones you're missing.
How we collected this
We make Glowsearch. We asked the questions homeowners and clients ask, like "best kitchen remodeler in Denver" and "who should I hire for a bathroom remodel in Phoenix", on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Mode, in real browsers, signed out, from the US, a new chat each time.
- September 2026: 628 answers across six local trades, including 108 about remodelers in Denver and Kansas City and 108 about movers in Kansas City and Tampa.
- October 2026: 581 answers across five business types, including 119 about remodelers and 118 about injury lawyers in Denver, Charlotte, Tampa and Phoenix.
We counted a site once per answer when it was among the answer's links. We didn't check which sentence each link supports. For Gemini we use October only; our September collector missed most of Gemini's links. About 40 answers per assistant per trade is a small sample, so treat single percentages as rough and the order as the finding.
Questions people ask
For AI visibility in our data, it depends on the assistant. In October, Google's AI Mode linked Thumbtack three times as often as Angi for remodelers. ChatGPT linked Angi four times as often as Thumbtack. For leads, compare your own cost per job won on each.
Yes, Thumbtack is a large US marketplace for local services, and Google's AI Mode linked it more than any other directory for remodelers in our answers. Pros' complaints are mostly about lead cost and quality, so track what each lead turns into.
A Houzz profile gives you a page on a site Google and the AI assistants read often. In our data, ChatGPT and Gemini linked Houzz in a third to a half of their remodeler answers, more than any other directory.
You can have a Houzz profile without Houzz Pro or ads, and a Thumbtack profile costs nothing until you pay for leads. Thumbtack and Angi charge for leads; Houzz charges for Houzz Pro and advertising. Check each one's current terms before you sign up.