Original research
Lincoln, NE lawn care and landscaping: 357 businesses, a 4.55 average rating, and map visibility concentrated in three listings
Measured market study of 357 lawn care and adjacent landscape businesses in Lincoln, Nebraska — rankings, review counts, website practices, published programs and estimated search demand. Measured 2026-08-10; business websites captured 2026-09-25.
- Key findings
- 9
- Method steps
- 6
- Sources
- 7
- Owner implications
- 7
This study covers lawn care and adjacent landscape businesses observed in Lincoln, NE. Map visibility figures come from sampled searches and are not a market-wide ranking. Website observations cover six captured business sites. All figures are as measured; nothing here was estimated or recomputed.
The evidence
Key findings
The market contains 357 observed lawn care and adjacent landscape businesses; 281 had a rating, with an average rating of 4.55. 90% of listings were claimed and 268 businesses had a website.
- Number
- 357 businesses; 281 rated; 4.55 average rating; 90% claimed; 268 with a website
- Basis
- Observed Lincoln, NE lawn care and adjacent landscape businesses as of 2026-08-10. Whether a business is claimed or has a website says nothing about its workmanship or price.
Sampled map visibility is concentrated at the top: the leading business appeared in the first three results in 35% of sampled searches, the second in 27.5%, the third in 22.5%, and shares fall to 2.5% by the bottom of the observed set.
- Number
- Top-three share: 35% / 27.5% / 22.5% at the top, 2.5% at the bottom of 25 observed businesses
- Basis
- Percent of sampled searches in which each business appeared in the first three results. Not a market-wide ranking; map visibility is not a measure of workmanship, price or service quality.
Method
How the study was built
- 01
Market counts, ratings, claim status and website presence: observed Lincoln, NE lawn care and adjacent landscape businesses as of 2026-08-10 (357 businesses observed, 281 with a rating).
- 02
Top-three share: percent of sampled searches in which a business appeared in the first three results. Sampled rank is not a market-wide ranking and says nothing about workmanship, price or service quality.
- 03
Review medians: median review count for the first three businesses in the observed set (34) versus the rest (12).
- 04
Search demand: Keyword Planner monthly estimates for a fixed set of eight terms, totaling 230 monthly searches. These are estimates for those terms only, not counts of people or customers.
- 05
Website findings reflect what each business states about itself on its own site. Program contents, pricing statements and promises were not independently verified.
What it means
In a market of 357 observed businesses (281 rated, average rating 4.55, 90% of listings claimed, 268 with a website), sampled map visibility is concentrated at the top: the leading listing appeared in the first three results in 35% of sampled searches, the second in 27.5% and the third in 22.5%, while shares fall to 2.5% at the bottom of the observed set. The top three also hold a median review count of 34 versus 12 for the rest of the set. No captured website publishes list prices; all five that state a pricing approach invite a quote or free estimate.
For owners
What to act on
Claiming the listing is table stakes here — 90% of observed listings are claimed — so any differentiator has to come from what the listing and website disclose, not from claiming alone. Review volume and visibility move together in this data (median 34 reviews for the top three versus 12 for the rest), so systematically requesting reviews is a testable lever. It is an experiment to run, not an assured outcome: the data shows association, not causation. Every captured competitor quotes on request and none publish list prices. Publishing a starting price or a price-per-service band would make a business the only one in this set doing so; measure whether it changes quote requests before relying on it. Three different businesses took first place on three different narrow terms (fertilization, landscape design, excavation) without holding the largest review base, while the visibility leader held 35% top-three share without a first place. Tracking which queries surface your own listing is the way to test whether category association earns placement. The supplied demand set is weighted toward broader terms ("landscaping near me" 90/mo, "lawn care near me" 50/mo), so pages and listings that cover landscaping as well as mowing may reach more searchers. Verify against your own quote sources, since these eight terms are not the full search picture. With 268 of 357 businesses having a website and no websites listed for Lawn Pro Mowing or Liberator Lawn Care in the top ten, a site with clear service pages and a quote path is a plausible separator. Measure lead quality, not just volume. Naming a program (five- or six-step), a response time (Newton's: quote within 24 hours) and a target segment (Batenhorst: residential and commercial, same-day "make it right") are the disclosure choices competitors make on their sites. Validate any of these with call and quote tracking before adopting them.
Questions
Frequently asked
Keep reading