How Contractors Can Compare Lead Services and Permit Research (2026)

Not every contractor-growth channel delivers the same thing. Some services route consumer enquiries; others sell paid contacts or profile visibility. Public permit research is different: it organizes government-published project activity so a team can investigate it in context. This guide separates those workflows so a buyer can choose a fit without treating a public record as a request for service. (Updated August 2026.)

First, the distinction that matters:

• Consumer lead services — a marketplace or search product routes a consumer contact according to its own current terms. That is an inbound-demand workflow.
• Direct inbound — a consumer contacts a contractor through that contractor's own marketing. The consumer has initiated the conversation.
• Public-record research — not an enquiry. It is source-published project activity that a business evaluates independently, with the source, date, jurisdiction, and named role kept visible.

Compare the workflow, not a promise

Provider eligibility, availability, pricing, and routing rules vary by market and can change. Confirm a provider's current terms directly before treating any paid channel as part of a forecast.

Google Local Services Ads

Local Services Ads is an inbound advertising product: a consumer begins at Google and can contact a participating business. That differs from permit research because the consumer has initiated an enquiry. Review Google's current eligibility, verification, coverage, and dispute rules before treating it as a fit for a specific trade or market.

PermitGrab (public-record research)

Full disclosure: this is our product. PermitGrab organizes available public building-permit records. Depending on the jurisdiction and record, a team may see a project description, date, location, and a source-published or separately verified role. It never turns those fields into a homeowner enquiry, a bid invitation, or a claim that a person wants contact.

Where it fits: a supplier, complementary commercial-service team, facilities group, or contractor can use a covered market to research published project context alongside its existing sales, compliance, or operations process. The city page shows the relevant source, newest displayed record, and available field coverage before a visitor relies on a workflow.

The honest catch: a public record can be historical, incomplete, amended, or differently labelled by its publisher. A contractor, applicant, owner, permit contact, and decision-maker are not interchangeable. If a team needs consumer-initiated demand, an inbound advertising or lead-service workflow is the more direct category.

Angi Leads, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack, Networx

Marketplace products can be useful for testing inbound demand, but their delivery, cost, eligibility, and contact-routing terms are provider-specific. Evaluate each provider's live terms and a team's real capacity to respond before committing. They are a distinct category from source-published permit research.

Bottom line

• Want inbound homeowner inquiries? Google Local Services Ads.
• Want to test a marketplace channel? Compare its current terms, market coverage, and response requirements directly.
• Want source-dated activity to research alongside your existing process? PermitGrab, after checking city coverage.

A team can use an inbound channel and a separate project-research workflow together, but should measure each independently. Neither a permit nor a marketplace contact guarantees a booked job.