Every HVAC owner eventually asks the same question: what does a click actually cost? Google's Keyword Planner gives a number, and the number looks scary. The trouble is that it isn't the price you pay, and it isn't a Tulsa number.
What Google's Tool Shows
On September 15, 2026, I pulled Google Keyword Planner data for common HVAC searches, US-wide, Search network only. The "top of page bid" range is Google's own measure. In its Keyword Planner definitions, the low range is "an approximation of the 20th percentile" and the high range is "an approximation of the 80th percentile" of what advertisers have historically paid for a keyword's top of page bid.
- "ac repair near me": about 201,000 average monthly searches, top-of-page bid range $13.98 to $100.00, Medium competition.
- "hvac repair near me": about 49,500 searches, $13.27 to $100.00, Medium.
- "hvac maintenance near me": about 8,100 searches, $17.35 to $86.77, Medium.
- "furnace repair near me": about 74,000 searches, $6.85 to $62.34, Low.
- "heating and furnace repair near me": about 40,500 searches, $9.87 to $80.00, Low.
What the Numbers Don't Tell You
It isn't what you pay. Google explains in its auction overview that a bid is "the maximum amount you're willing to pay for a click," and that what you actually end up paying "is often less." The range is a record of bids at the top of the page, not a price list.
It isn't Tulsa. The tool let me choose a country, not a city, so these are national figures. A Tulsa shop's real numbers live in its own account's search terms report.
It's a snapshot. Mid-September is the tail of cooling season and before heating season. The same terms will read differently in January.
One Thing That Surprised Me
I expected emergency-style terms to sit well above routine ones. The data doesn't show that. The low end for "hvac maintenance near me" ($17.35) was higher than the low end for "ac repair near me" ($13.98). Plenty of blog posts will tell you emergency clicks always cost more. Google's own tool didn't back that up in this pull, so check your own account before you assume it.
A Made-Up Example, Not a Benchmark
Here's the math that matters more than any range. Say a click costs $40, and one in five clicks turns into a booked job. That's $200 in ad spend per booked job, before you count labor or parts. If the same account paid $30 per click but only one in ten booked, the cost per booked job would be $300. The cheaper click lost. I'm using round numbers to show the arithmetic, not to describe any real account.
That's why I push HVAC companies to track booked jobs by campaign, not clicks. The click price is the input. The cost per booked job is the number you run the business on.
How To Use the Range
- Treat it as a competition signal, not a budget. A gap as wide as $13.98 to $100.00 means advertisers are paying very different amounts for the same term.
- Start with your own search terms report. The searches that already turn into calls tell you more than any national range.
- Bid for calls that book jobs, not for the top spot on every term. Track cost per booked job, not cost per click.
This is also the number behind the June spike I wrote about in why HVAC ads get more expensive every summer. More companies bidding on the same searches pushes the range up for everyone. For the bigger picture, see my page on Tulsa HVAC marketing.