Best-of lists: how to get on them, and why they matter now

Search "best plumber in [your city]" or "top 10 HVAC companies near me" and you will see them: articles from local news sites, city blogs, and trade publications listing the businesses someone decided are worth recommending. These best-of lists have always sent you customers. What changed is that they now do double duty - they help your own local SEO, and they are one of the main sources AI tools read when they recommend a local business.

Why best-of lists matter more than they used to

A mention on a respected local site does two things for your rankings. It acts as a local citation - another trustworthy place online that confirms your name and what you do - and it often comes with a link back to your website. Both feed the "prominence" that Google weighs when it decides who to rank, alongside relevance and distance.

The newer reason is AI search. When a customer asks ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, or a similar tool "who is the best electrician near me," the tool does not have its own opinion. It summarizes what it finds across the web - and best-of lists are some of the easiest sources for it to read and trust, because they are already structured as recommendations. If you show up on several of those lists, the AI has a clear reason to name you. If you show up on none, it names whoever does. That is exactly what your AI Visibility Score tracks: whether the tools your customers now use are recommending you or your competitors.

How to find the lists that matter

Start by searching the way your customers do: "best [your trade] in [your city]," "top [trade] near me," and "[trade] [city] reviews." Write down every article on the first page or two. Those are the lists already ranking for your searches, which means they are the ones sending real customers and the ones AI tools are most likely to read. You want to be on those, not on obscure directories nobody visits.

Note who publishes each one. A local newspaper, an established city or neighborhood blog, and a well-known trade publication are worth real effort. A thin "award" site you have never heard of, especially one that asks for a fee up front, usually is not.

How to earn a spot

1. Make yourself an easy yes. Most people who write these lists check Google before they include anyone. A complete Google Business Profile with strong, recent reviews tells them you are legitimate and worth recommending. If that foundation is shaky, fix it first with more Google reviews and a fuller profile - it pays off everywhere, not just here.
2. Reach out to the publishers. Many local lists are updated periodically and the writer is open to suggestions. Email them, be brief, and explain plainly why customers in your area trust you - years in business, a specialty, your review rating. Some city sites and trade roundups even take direct submissions.
3. Give them something to point to. A clear website, real photos, and a track record make their job easy and make you look like an obvious pick. The same on-page work that helps your website rank locally also makes you a credible listing.
4. Earn the organic mentions too. Sponsoring a local team, supporting a community event, or doing genuinely good work that gets talked about leads to the kind of write-ups and links that no amount of pitching can buy. This is the heart of local link building.

A few things to avoid

Skip the pay-to-play "best of" badges from sites you have never heard of. They rarely send customers, they do little for your rankings, and they can read as bought to both Google and the people who land on them. Do not try to get on lists for cities you do not actually serve either - a mention that does not match where you work confuses customers and is the wrong kind of signal. The aim is honest recommendations in places your real customers look.

Where this fits

Best-of lists are not a standalone trick - they are the payoff of doing the basics well. A strong profile, steady reviews, and a clear website make you the business writers want to feature and the one AI tools want to recommend. Whether you run a plumbing company, a dental practice, or any other local service, getting onto the lists that already rank for your searches puts you in front of customers and, increasingly, inside the AI answers they now trust. To see who is winning that race today, start with how to show up in AI search.