How Does HomeAdvisor Work?

HomeAdvisor, now operating as part of Angi, is a pay-per-lead marketplace for licensed trades and home-improvement pros — plumbers, HVAC technicians, electricians, roofers, remodelers. A homeowner submits a project, HomeAdvisor matches it to a short list of local pros, and pros pay for that introduction whether or not the job closes. Two separate signals shape how a homeowner chooses between the matched pros: the star rating built from verified reviews, and a Screened & Approved badge built from a background check.

Those two signals do different jobs, and understanding the difference matters for a pro trying to improve their standing — a strong background check doesn't substitute for a thin review history, and a strong rating doesn't substitute for an unverified business.

Who uses HomeAdvisor, and how a lead gets matched

Homeowners submit a project description — category, location, sometimes a timeline or budget — and HomeAdvisor matches it to a short list of pros serving that trade and area. Which pros get shown, and how favorably they're presented, is influenced by profile strength: rating, review recency and volume, and completeness, alongside category and location fit.

Because every match is a paid lead for the pro, a stronger profile does double duty — it increases the odds of being matched into more of the leads a pro is already paying for, and it increases the odds the homeowner picks that pro once shown a short list of options.

How reviews get submitted and verified

Reviews on HomeAdvisor are collected from homeowners tied to jobs actually booked through the platform, not open to the general public. After a matched job, HomeAdvisor prompts the homeowner to rate the experience, and that review attaches to the pro's public profile alongside the overall star rating.

That transaction requirement is the core verification mechanism — a review has to trace back to an actual homeowner match, which is what keeps the review pool tied to real completed work rather than open to anyone with an opinion.

The Screened & Approved badge, and how it differs from reviews

Separately from reviews, HomeAdvisor runs a business and background check on pros — and relevant principals — to award the Screened & Approved badge. It's a check on baseline legitimacy: is this a real, verifiable business, not a signal about whether the actual work is any good. A business can carry the badge with a mediocre rating, and a business without it can still have strong reviews if it hasn't completed the screening step.

Homeowners tend to use both together: the badge answers whether a pro clears a basic trust bar, and the star rating and reviews answer whether this specific pro is actually good to hire. Neither replaces the other in a homeowner's decision.

Requesting reviews compliantly

Pros can and should request reviews after every job booked through the platform — HomeAdvisor won't accept reviews from homeowners who weren't matched with that pro through the platform, so consistent follow-up on real jobs is the only reliable source of new reviews.

• Request a review from every homeowner after a job booked through HomeAdvisor, not just the ones you're confident were happy.
• Follow up promptly while the job is still fresh — response rates drop the longer a pro waits.
• Never offer a discount or incentive in exchange for a review.
• Keep the profile itself current — services offered, service area, licensing, and photos — since that also affects whether a pro is matched into relevant leads to begin with.

Because every homeowner match is a paid lead, a pro effectively pays twice for a weak profile: once for the lead itself, and again in a lower win-rate against better-reviewed competitors shown alongside them. Improving the rating and review flow is one of the few levers a pro directly controls that lowers the real cost of leads already being purchased.

Thumbtack runs a comparable pay-per-lead model across a broader range of service categories and, unlike HomeAdvisor, lets pros invite reviews for work completed off-platform. See our Thumbtack vs. HomeAdvisor comparison for how the two differ and which deserves more attention for a given trade.