Shared leads vs. being named: the cost-per-job math

Oct 12, 2026 · 5 min read · ontheshortlist.ai

Every roofer in Texas gets the same pitch: leads, by the piece or by the month. The prices are public if you look for them, and they do not agree with each other, so here they are side by side with their source and date. The math at the end is yours to run with your own numbers.

What a lead costs, by channel

Shared lead: $40 to $120, sold to up to four roofers at once, plus an annual membership of about $288 to $300 (The Roofing Brief, October 2026; Profit Acuity, 2026). Four companies call the same homeowner.
Paid search lead: $124 to $253 depending on the study. SearchLight measured $124 in Q1 2026, PPC Chief $126 in May 2026, LocaliQ $228 in 2025 and 99 Calls $253 across 105 roofing advertisers from January 2024 to June 2026. The four disagree, so we show the range and name each one.
Local Services Ads lead: $135.09 on average, median $114.57, across 13 roofing campaigns (99 Calls, October 2026).
A roofing agency: $2,500 to $6,000 a month (US Tech Automations, July 2026, a vendor). Local SEO at the US average: $1,557 a month (Ahrefs, 439 providers, August 2024).

Paid search also varies with what the homeowner typed. In the 99 Calls data a "roof repair" click cost $36.58 and turned into a lead 18.3% of the time, about $200 per lead. "Storm / emergency" came to $215, "replacement / installation" to $243 and "inspection / estimate" to $285.

From cost per lead to cost per job

Cost per lead is the number the vendor shows you. Cost per job is the one that goes into your margin. The formula is one line: cost per job = cost per lead ÷ close rate.

Take it with an example, and treat the close rates as placeholders for your own. A shared lead at $80 looks cheap. If four roofers call the same homeowner and you close one in eight, the job cost you $640. A paid search lead at $200, closed one in four, costs $800 per job. An LSA lead at $135, closed one in three, costs $405. Change the close rates and the ranking changes; that is the point of running it with your figures rather than ours.

Now add the lead that has no price per piece. When a homeowner asks an AI assistant which roofer to call and your company is one of the four names in the answer, the homeowner can call you without filling in a lead form. In Sagapixel's January 2026 study, with 54 people and healthcare tasks, 40% were ready to call and book from the answer alone. Nobody auctions that call or sells the same homeowner to three other roofers.

What that channel costs

Being named takes work on the things the models read, and that work is measurable. Our Texas roofing package is one payment of $500, or two of $250: we measure your city, fix what the models read (website, Google profile, the directories AI cites, and the pages that answer the insurance claim, financing and storm response questions), and measure again on day 45. The models decide the number; we answer for the work. Nothing goes live without your approval, and if you change your mind at the kickoff we refund you.

We promise the measurement, never a position. The same list repeats less than 1% of the time (SparkToro and Gumshoe, January 2026), so anyone who guarantees "#1 on ChatGPT" is selling something that cannot be delivered. What we publish is the before and after: how often you were named in 96 answers on day 0 and on day 45, in writing.

Run the free check first. It costs nothing, takes 25 seconds and gives you a number no lead invoice shows: how often the homeowner's AI assistant already says your name.

Does AI name your roofing company? Check free, 25 seconds, no sign-up.

Sources

The Roofing Brief, Roofing cost per lead by channel (LocaliQ 2025; SearchLight Digital Q1 2026) · rev. Oct 7, 2026 theroofingbrief.com
Profit Acuity, Angi and HomeAdvisor leads for roofers · 2026 wboc.com
PPC Chief, Google Ads cost, roofing · rev. May 22, 2026 ppcchief.com
99 Calls, Google Ads lead costs for roofing contractors (105 advertisers, Jan 2024 to Jun 2026) · upd. Sep 16, 2026 99calls.com
99 Calls, Roofing contractor Local Services Ads cost per lead (13 campaigns) · Oct 2026 99calls.com
US Tech Automations, Roofing SEO cost 2026 (vendor tiers) · Jul 13, 2026 ustechautomations.com
Ahrefs, SEO pricing survey (439 providers) · Aug 15, 2024 ahrefs.com
Sagapixel, How users find local services using ChatGPT (54 participants, 177 sessions) · Jan 7, 2026 sagapixel.com
SparkToro and Gumshoe, via Search Engine Journal · Jan 2026 searchenginejournal.com