Public records only: city permits, our own check of local websites on a phone, what AI assistants say, and government data.
No company is named except where an AI assistant named it.
Built 2026-10-14 · free to share with credit
31%
of Orleans plumbing permits went to ten contractors
28 of 53
local plumbing websites can't be booked from the first phone screen
City of New Orleans permits, 2025-10-01 to 2026-09-30
2,538 plumbing permits named 258 contractors in the last 12 months. The top ten pulled 31% of them.
The city records the licence holder, usually a person rather than the company, so contractors are shown by rank only.
Contractor #1216
Contractor #299
Contractor #377
Contractor #473
Contractor #562
Contractor #660
Contractor #757
Contractor #853
Contractor #950
Contractor #1048
Source: City of New Orleans open data, "Permits - BLDS" (data.nola.gov dataset 72f9-bi28), https://data.nola.gov/resource/72f9-bi28.json, permits issued 2025-10-01 to 2026-09-30. Permits track installs and replacements, not repair calls.
Can a customer book from a phone?
autoants first-screen check of 53 New Orleans-area Plumbing websites, 2026-10-14; a Free Estimate, Get a Quote or Request an Inspection button counts as a request control, since that is how these trades take a job
We opened 53 local plumbing websites on a phone and looked at the first screen, the one a customer sees with water on the floor.
28 of them had no way to book there. We count them; we don't name them.
Book button on the first screen12
Booking below the first screen6
No way to book online22
Unclear or didn't load13
Who AI assistants recommend
The New Orleans AI Recommendation Index · October 2026 (autoants, draft edition data content/ai-index/2026-10/data.json), asked 2026-10-05
When people ask an AI assistant who to call for plumbing in New Orleans, these are the names it gave most often. Full answers are in the
New Orleans AI Recommendation Index.
Roto-Rooter3×
Saia Plumbing3×
Surgi's Heating, Cooling & Plumbing3×
Bob's Plumbing2×
Mr. Rooter Plumbing2×
Acadian Plumbing1×
All Hours Plumbing1×
Bienvenu Brothers Plumbing1×
The bigger picture
Government sources only, each dated
50%
of Orleans homes built before 1960 U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, tables B25034 (Year Structure Built) and B25035 (Median Year Structure Built)
$30.03
median hourly wage, New Orleans metro U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Rule changes that reach the trade
2023-09-01 Business texting must be registered: carriers began blocking texts from unregistered business numbers (10DLC). Twilio changelog, '[U.S. A2P 10DLC] Full blocking of traffic sent from unregistered numbers'
2029-05-06 New water-heater efficiency standard from the Department of Energy takes effect. DOE final rule, Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Water Heaters, 89 FR 37778 (2024-05-06)
How we did it
Permits: City of New Orleans open permit data for the last 12 full months; contractors by rank, because the city records the licence holder.
Booking readiness: our own phone check of each website's first screen, counted, never named.
AI answers: the New Orleans AI Recommendation Index, as recorded on the date shown.
Context: the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and NOAA, each with its date.
Want this for your own shop?
We do the same homework on one business, add a 45-minute conversation, and turn it into a bound, printed report with its own report number: where jobs slip, the one fix worth doing first with its payback in your numbers, your market, and what's changing in your trade. $500, credited toward setup.