How Accountants Get Found and Chosen Locally

Referrals lead, while online search also brings clients

In TaxDome’s 2025 survey of 353 businesses that use accountants, 58% said referrals were the primary way they found their current firm, and 17% named online search, including Google or Yelp. The survey covers business clients, not all U.S. tax filers.

Responsiveness influences the choice

In the same survey, 85% rated responsiveness very or extremely influential when choosing an accountant. A marketing path should make it easy for prospective clients to get a timely response.

Local visibility depends on several factors

Google says local organic results are shaped mainly by relevance, distance, and prominence. Complete business information helps with relevance; links, review count, and positive ratings can contribute to prominence. Google says businesses cannot request or pay for better local ranking.

Reviews and listing details help prospects assess a firm

In BrightLocal’s 2026 local-business consumer research, people checked proximity, star rating, number of reviews, and complete listing information when researching businesses. This is broad local-business research, not accountant-specific evidence.

Advertising estimates are not client costs

Keyword CPCs and broad-industry cost-per-lead benchmarks do not establish an accountant’s cost to acquire a client. A firm needs its own spend, qualified lead, and signed-client data to assess that.

Published marketing offers vary in scope and price