Where your competition is in Illinois
The largest concentrations of restoration companies in our Illinois data are in Chicago, Naperville, Skokie, Schaumburg, Northbrook, Joliet, Elk Grove Village and Rockford. Competition for the map pack is heaviest there, and so is the reward: the same review count that dominates a small town is invisible in Chicago.
The map pack in Illinois
In Illinois, 39.7% of restoration companies have fewer than ten reviews. That is the good news if you have twenty: most of your local competitors are not trying. The bad news is that the three shops in the map pack for Naperville searches are not in that group. They are near 157 reviews and they ask every customer.
The website gap in Illinois
A website is the clearest marker of a restoration company that is going to compete for the map pack, and 12.9% of restoration companies in Illinois do not have one linked. Across the country the median review count with a site is 22, without one 2. If your shop is in the 12.9%, start there.
Hours and after-hours calls
78.3% of Illinois restoration companies list themselves as open 24 hours. If you take after-hours calls, say so in your profile hours, because Google shows "Closed" in red on a profile that says it is closed. If you do not, list real hours and let missed-call text-back cover the gap, so the caller gets a reply instead of dialing the next name.
How Illinois compares
Of the 50 states in our data, Illinois ranks 6th for the number of restoration companies, 29th for median review count, and 16th for the share with no website, which leaves more room than most states for a shop that builds a real site. The review bar sits in the middle of the pack.
| State | Listed | Median reviews | No site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 489 | 19 | 12.9% |
| Indiana | 224 | 27.5 | 8% |
| Iowa | 103 | 13 | 6.8% |
| Kansas | 105 | 24 | 10.5% |
| Michigan | 420 | 27 | 11.2% |
| Minnesota | 191 | 34 | 5.2% |
| Missouri | 222 | 18.5 | 14.4% |
| Nebraska | 39 | 46 | 10.3% |
| North Dakota | 19 | 24 | 10.5% |
What to do first in Illinois
- Set a review velocity. One review per job day, asked at the door, moves a 19-review shop past the Illinois 75th percentile (61) within a year. The guides have the scripts.
- Finish the Google profile: primary category, every service you offer, real job photos, and hours that match reality. It is free and it is where Illinois customers decide.
- Turn on missed-call text-back. Run the calculator with your own numbers to see what unanswered calls cost.
- Then, and only then, spend on ads. Pointed at a profile with 19 reviews and no website, ads pay for your competitor's education. Pointed at a finished profile, they work.
The full national picture, with percentiles, ratings and hours, is in the benchmark report. The method is on the about page.